How to create acid soil ??

brandtkarl

21 years ago

How do I create acid soil from normal purchased bagged garden soil?

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Comments (6)

popi_gw
21 years ago
Firstly I would do a pH test, so you know what you are dealing with and whether you do in fact what to alter the pH.

To make your soil acid, your pH will be on the low side.

Adding organic matter, such as manure, compost aids in making the soil more acid. Sulphur also makes it more acid, but that seems a bit extreme.

Hope this is of assistance to you in the Canary Islands.

Popi
Robert_NSW
21 years ago
Is the bagged soil you are getting really soil or potting mix? It is very likely that it is potting mix, if that is the case then much of the mix will be partly decomposed sawdust and/or peat.

I that is the case then it is going to be difficult to regulate the acidity. You will need a ph tester for sure, because if the base of your "soil" is potting mix then the pH will alter as the mix decomposes (it gets even more acid). You can alter the pH right away by applying iron Chelate, however it is expensive if you are treating a large area. You can also use Iron Sulphate which is cheaper but takes a few weeks to react in the soil to give the desired effect. Sulphur is the cheapest but takes even longer to alter the ph as it needs to convert to a Sulphate in the soil. This involves reactions etc. with Bacteria etc.
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No, contrary to folklore, pine needles have little power to acidify soil- their virtue is relatively low calcium compared to some other materials so they won't drive up the pH either. Use granular sulfor and don't waste a year. If you don't believe me, test the pH of some water and then run some needles in that water through a blender and test again. Pine needles make a fine mulch, but I doubt they are best for blueberries when establishing the plants. You may be better off with woodchips or something that breaks down quickly. As the mulch decomposes, I theorize that the thin layer of soil beneath the mulch is acidified by the decomposing mulch which releases enough available iron to feeder roots near surface. Peat moss is good because it is capable of helping in the acidifying process, but it is much more affective to use forest compost (such as the black spongey layer under decomposing pine needles) to increase the organic matter of the soil, because the peat breaks down quite quickly once mixed. Humus is much more stable. I have often observed healthy blueberries of many varieties in near neutral soil with ample organic matter and mulch. Maybe the literature is based on commercial production where generous mulching is not feasable economically. If the plants don't stay green and healthy looking (and I think they will) use a water soluble iron source you can spray the leaves with until soil acidifying efforts click in.
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Comments (9)
Are the plants in the ground or in pots? Mixing peat moss into the soil will lower the pH pretty quickly. Adding garden sulfur is easier, but it takes several months for the pH to drop. I'd use sulfur, and make sure the plants are mulched with some kind of organic mulch, like compost or wood chips. As long as there is a lot of organic matter on top, the pH is not so critical to their survival, although they may not produce well until the pH is lower. You can find bags of sulfur at a lot of garden centers. I also see it at Home Depot and Lowes in the garden section with the garden fertilizers. Directions on the bag will tell you how much to use. Alex
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Comments (7)
There are several ways of lowering soil pH. The problem is, what is the starting pH, and what is pH after an application? Soil testing labs use pH meters, but these cost between 50 and 500 dollars, and they must be calibrated with standard solutions before use. The best way I have found for measuring soil pH is indicator dye. A 2 dollar bottle of indicator dye solutions might do 100 tests. Since cranberries grow best with soil pH between 4.2 and 5.5, the appropriate indicator dye would be bromocresol-green, which turns yellow at pH=3.8, and blue at pH=5.4. How much sulfur to use depends on where you are starting from. If you have tap water from municipal water supply, there should be an annual water quality report available, and this will give the water pH. If there is limestone in your area, your native soil might have a starting pH over 7.
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Comments (25)
I second the suggestion of vinegar. I'm growing some blueberries in containers and needed to lower the pH in their pots from 6.5 to 5. I didn't need enough to buy a large bag of soil sulfur, so I added a cup of vinegar to a gallon of water. While watering the plants, I would add a few cups of the dilute vinegar. When they needed to be watered again, I tested the soil with a pH meter and added a bit more of the dilute vinegar until I had the pH down to 5. I got my meter on eBay just as DH12 said. Some people say they aren't accurate, but mine is working fine as long as I insert the probes fully into the dirt and make sure the dirt is moist. Some people don't read the instructions that say these meters won't work in liquid, and then say these cheap meters don't work. I have an aquarium test kit and and tested the pH before I got the meter, but it was difficult sometimes because water raised the readings unless I used distilled water to mix with the soil sample. The meter is quick, cheap, easy, and gave me the same results as a reagent test kit. Because of having to water frequently this summer with hard tap water, the pH creped back up to 5.5 after a month, so I added a bit more vinegar, and the pH is holding now. Greg
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annabel__WA
21 years ago
Isn't potting soil for Camellias and Azaleas on the acid sside as they need an acid soil??
mudlark
21 years ago
Yes, you can buy a special mix for them here in SA distributed by Nu-erth, it is also used for blueberries, which also love acid soil.

mudlark
wollemia_TC
21 years ago
you can pee in the garden - thats quite inexpensive but it would take you quite a while to get around a big garden. I've used this method successfully with ferns in pots. Additional benefit is that it adds nitrogen.
Tony
Robert_NSW
21 years ago
South Australia is a long way from the Canary islands.

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How to create acid soil ??

Comments (6)

popi_gw

Robert_NSW

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annabel__WA

mudlark

wollemia_TC

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