I don't put any sulfur in the holes of the roses pictured. The other holes with sulfur didn't bloom well. My heavy clay is very retentive, there is no leaching here. Here's a quote from Nutrient Stewardship site: "Phosphorus is the nutrient most affected by pH. ..Nitrogen, Potassium, and sulfur are less affected. At alkaline pH values, greater than pH 7.5, phosphate ions tend to react quickly with calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) to form less soluble compounds. At acidic pH values, phosphate ions react with aluminum (Al) and iron (Fe) to again form less soluble compounds." It's good to test if one's tap water is alkaline, some cities add lime to water so pipes won't corrode. Calcium in lime will bind with phosphorus, and less is available. In my 12 years of growing flowers in pots, the year that I got continuous MOST blooms despite my pH 8 water was when I used high phosphorus SOLUBLE fertilizer, and low nitrogen. Granular phosphorus like bone meal and 46% superphosphate are useless in the planting hole here in alkaline clay. My results confirmed what University of Colorado stated "bone meal and rock phosphate can only be utilized at or below pH 7". My pH 7.7 soil was tested most deficient in phosphorus. Here's a quote from David Neal, CEO of Dyna-Grow Plant Nutrition in CA: "There is some evidence to believe that low N helps to convince a plant to stop its vegetative growth and move into its reproductive phase (flowering), but environmental factors are probably more important. P is typically 5th or 6th in order of importance of the six macronutrients. There is little scientific justification for higher P formulas, but marketing does come into play ...." He's right, just a tiny bit of SOLUBLE phosphorus made more blooms and more roots - but beyond that is wasteful. The site, Robert Morris NOBLE plant foundation, rated the mobility of NPK: "Let's compare the mobility of NPK on a scale of 1 to 10. Nitrogen is a 10 ... extremely mobile and can be lost to leaching. Potassium is a 3. It has limited movement in the soil. Phosphorus has a rating of 1. It is immobile in the soil and is likely to stay wherever it is placed." Here is a link that might be useful: Soil pH and availability of plant nutrients

Which lime? Calcitic or Dolomitic? Since lime takes several months to work in the soil, no matter which one you use, it is best applied in the fall. You do need to use the right lime however since an excess of Calcium in your soil can interfere with the uptake of Magnesium, and that will give you indications of a Calcium deficiency, and an excess of Magnesium in your soil can interfere with the uptake of Calcium which will give you indications of a Calcium deficiency. Do not rely on a 2005 soil test to determine how much or what type now in 2009. Have another soil test done, especially if you have added organic matter since then.

Should have posted this sooner but here is a reply I got back from an inquiry - Thank you for your interest in the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Regarding your question: (My sent message) Background, I am a home food preservationist with an extensive history of home sausage making (both with hot ((refrigeration required)) and some cold smoking ((humidity and temperature controlled to produce country cured sausage, no refrigeration required)), home canning (pressure canning only, I do not trust water bath under any circumstances) and extensive dehydrating experience. I have done a little pickling under the recommendations that the USDA has out in regards to fish and hardboiled eggs (including the need for refrigeration). However in my research into historic preservation techniques I have found references to pickling (especially) fish preserved at room temperature. The references also stated that the vinegar solution used at the time was homemade and was of strength higher then the present 5% available for modern commercial sales. Given that botulism spores growth is inhibited at a PH of 4.6 and they can not therefore produce the toxins, the fact that! a 10% or 15% acetic acid can be readily produced using food safe glacial acetic acid (99.85% available commercially mixed in proper ratio with water (yes, acid to water, I remember basic chemistry) and the PH of the 10% solution is approximately 2.4 and given that 1.5â x 1.5â x 0.75â pieces of fish would readily equalize PH is this theoretically a safe preservation method. Please do not give me the standard rely of not recommended or approved due to lack of experimental data etc. brush off, I am just looking for a theoretical answer. (The reply) This is Elizabeth Andress, Director of the National Center. I personally apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but we have been trying to keep up with people needing help with more standardized recommendations and methods of preserving. I can tell you that under the circumstances you describe with the low pH environments, that theoretically botulism spore germination and toxin production does not seem likely. But that is indeed as much as I can say. You would want to make sure the fish pieces get below pH 4.6 throughout fairly quickly to keep it longer at room temperature (probably at least within 24 hours). It is not a brushoff but a fact that no one here has any practical experience with pickling fish at room temperature (or for that matter, at any temperature). We do not have USDA pickling or smoking for fish on our website or in the USDA canning guide, but there is information from Oregon State University we have shared on smoking fish. I have pretty much relied on contacts in Alaska, or formerly in Oregon, for issues related to smoking and pickling of fish. You also might find an actual food microbiologist actively researching with bacteria at Univ. of Wisconsin who knows more in detail of C. bot. patterns. Thank you, Elizabeth Andress

Hi Prairie_north: Very pretty bloom on your mini-rose. Thank you for the l info. that cracked corn changed from pink (acidic) to purple (neutral) fast. I'm happy with cracked corn in the planting hole (did that last year), so is Momscottagegarden (clay soil). I like what you wrote: "The bed around it was originally amended with peat moss, and has cedar shavings on top. Today I pushed the shavings away, dug up the soil around it, put down some sheep manure, and red lava rock." Peat moss mixed with clay becomes hardened a year later. Cedar shavings is acidic (pH 4) that would leak acid down when it rains (pH of rain is 5.6). Since mini-rose is own-root, the roots are nearer the surface, and is sensitive to acid leaching down. Own-roots do best with organic fertilizer, since it's nearer the surface ... some are wimpy like alfalfa sprouts, versus big-woody-bush-trunk Dr. Huey. Red lava rock is a strong buffer at pH 8. I mulched roses with that during our wet months .. kept roses clean. Blooming takes up lots of potassium & calcium to make those firm petals. After blooming, potassium and calcium are both depleted, plus rain leaches out potassium & calcium & trace elements. Red-lava rock in the planting hole, plus on top provide a continuous supply of potassium to prevent diseases, plus more blooms. Calcium is a strong buffer: I use that in many ways: as granular gypsum (calcium sulfate) to break up clay. If it rains a lot, I put gypsum on top of red-lava-rock. But for Dr. Huey-rootstock, I put dolomitic lime on top, since Dr. Huey likes it alkaline. Best ratio in hydroponics setting is equal nitrogen to potassium, 1/2 phosphorus, and 1/2 calcium. I burnt a few own-roots with either salty manure in hot weather, or high-phosphorus fertilizer like bone meal. My best result in hot weather is alfalfa hay for nitrogen. Timothy hay is much softer, easier to mulch .. that's what I plan to test next. I got amazing result mulching with alfalfa hay in hot weather, best nitrogen-source ever, which beat anything I tested: blood meal, compost, Milorganite, alfalfa pellets, alfalfa meal, corn meal. The problem with alfalfa in smaller particles: they gunk up on top, either souring, or hardening clay further. Alfalfa hay is fluffy, which cools and shade the roots in hot sun, plus it's a strong buffer: neutralize both acidic rain, and alkaline tap water.