lowering my soil pH organically, will citrus work?
cabrita
15 years ago
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justaguy2
15 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Soil pH vs Water pH
Comments (16)The closest large seller of farm fertilizer is about 50 mi south of here, but I can arrange a stop there on my way to getting pastured meat in the Fall. There used to be one not 15 miles from here but no more. As some of you know, my pH=9.2 water coupled with pH=7.7 soil can be a handful. Only grapes need it in the orchard, and I give it to tomatoes and potatoes in the garden, and of course I add more organic matter than most (21% OM in the garden). Anyhow, IIRC in late 2011 one 50lb bag of sulfur was $20. I had to sign a declaration that it and the rest of the stuff was intended for food production not to pay the sales tax. If you have relatively large holdings, it pays to go to such a place. A single 50 lbs urea bag allows many years of fertilization between trips. The 2011 trip was concomitant to starting the orchard in horrible, lifeless, compacted P=7ppm soil, so I got 25lbs of superP, 100 lbs of sulfur, microminerals solution to be added in the sprayer, and 50lbs of urea which will take me to 2020 or so. I have now added over 30 tons of wood chips to the orchard, and the soil is less horrible, but to start it you have to do a first amending....See MoreLower soil pH or wait?
Comments (8)It is a "planting soil" and is supposed to contain compost and I think it does given the test results including near 6% organic content. My inclination is to go slow and watch what's happening. The plants are generally happy keeping in mind that everything (60 trees and similar number of shrubs plus hundreds of perennials) was just planted this spring. There's some transplant shock and we have lost a few trees and shrubs but overall they look pretty good. We have had a very dry (for NE) cool summer. Surprising to me the blueberries all look great. Their leaves look good, starting to turn normal red. The azaleas are also mostly happy. The perennials were looking nitrogen starved and i have now fertilized them. On the advice of an arborist I'm not adding any fertilizer this year to the trees as they settle in....See MoreSulfur calculation to lower soil pH
Comments (8)I am using agricultural sulfur to lower pH around our blueberry shrubs, for 14 years now, so I know how to apply and also how to measure pH. Sulfur is not an acid, it must be metabolized by bacteria in the soil, and slowly converts to sulfuric acid, over time, typically one year. The soil pH will be variable during this time, and after all the sulfur has been used up, it will very gradually rise, due to the effect of the surrounding soil and subsoil. If you are watering your roses with tap water that contains calcium and/or magnesium, then the pH will rise over time. Soil pH can be measured by taking a soil sample, mixing it with distilled water, and filtering the mixture to get about one teaspoon of filtrate. This sample is then mixed with several drops of bromothymol blue indicator, and the resulting color indicates the pH. Blue = pH 7.6, or higher. Yellow = pH 6.0, or lower, and varying shades of green mean the pH is between 6.0 and 7.6....See MoreLowering Soil pH- in Louisiana- Organically
Comments (7)ditto on the grounds. i can get like 20lb a week from Starbucks here in Kenner its too cold to compost, so i cant use all i have now suggested reading... diatomaceous earth is cheap, and helps keeps bugs down. also adds minerals mycorrhizal fungi seems to have helped me condition my soil, Rock dust , could help as well most of those dont affect the PH a lot, but some dust might at higher levels This post was edited by greenman62 on Mon, Feb 3, 14 at 11:41...See MoreKimmsr
15 years agogargwarb
15 years agocabrita
15 years agopeter_6
15 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
15 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
15 years agodicot
15 years agonandina
15 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
15 years agoKimmsr
15 years agocabrita
15 years agoDan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
15 years agomaifleur01
15 years agoMichael
9 years agopeter_6
9 years agolittle_minnie
9 years agoMichael
9 years ago
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