ABSTRACT
Cultivated plants differ widely in growth responses to acid soils. Crops are classified roughly into categories of acid-tolerant and acid-sensitive species. Generally, crops that have origins in the tropical or humid temperate regions of the western hemisphere are acid-tolerant because they have become adapted to the acid soils of this region. Corn, tomatoes, potatoes, garden beans, and pumpkin are acid-tolerant crops with origins in the western hemisphere. Conversely, crops that originate from the neutral or alkaline soils of the Mediterranean region, western and southern Europe, Asia Minor, and northern Africa are likely to be acid-sensitive. Many of our commonly grown vegetable crops, herbs, and flowering bulbs have been domesticated from neutral or alkaline soils of these regions.
