How to Get Rid of Ammonia in Dirt

Till into the soil excessive amounts of carbon-based organic material such as shredded leaves, straw, hay, wood chips or even shredded cardboard. The bacteria will use the current nitrogen in the soil in an attempt to decompose the carbon material, which will soon create a nitrogen deficiency as it is used up. The more the nitrogen that is used up, the less is available for conversion to ammonia, which also soon disappears from the soil. It doesn't take long for the bacteria to renew their soil presence, though.

Planting successive crops of heavy feeding plants such as peppers and tomatoes over several years in the same spot without renewing any fertilizers or organic material in the soil will greatly reduce the available nitrogen. Draining rainwater off before it soaks into the ground also helps as rain naturally contains nitrogen. Without nitrogen, the bacteria will not convert it to ammonia.

Sterilize the soil, killing off all the bacteria. No bacteria -- no conversion of nitrogen to ammonia. Soil sterilization can be done with chemicals or with heat by trapping the sun's energy during the summer under a blanket of clear poly sheets. The heat can rise sufficiently high enough to sterilize the soil down to 12 inches or so, which is where the majority of bacteria live.

Leaching, or pouring large amounts of water over the soil, removes the nitrogen salts from the area. If this is done on a consistent basis, the ammonia content of the soil will drop to a very low level as it will not be replaced as it is used up.