"Science is my passion." Senku answered, and he couldn't help but explain things like this, like it was a compulsion so talking to him for any length of time was likely to lead to a wealth of information that no one asked for.

"It doesn't hurt the plants, exactly, but it makes it extremely difficult to cultivate crops that way. The more acidic the soil, the least likely you are to get a successful yield. A balanced, neutral pH produces much better crops. In short, they don't like acid."