halocline(5b - CO) "Hi dert, my neighbor just gave me, 5 cuttings off of a 50 year old spider plant". Hi, Rob. Thank you for this information. I can never imagine that Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum) can live so long. It's very interesting. UPDATE: I have found this information in Internet: "Spider Plants are no different than any other plants. They will live as long as they have ample sunlight, water and nutrient rich soil. My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother planted a spider plant she obtained from a trip to South Africa as a child in the mid 1850's. It was Willed to me by my Grandmother and it's still happy and alive, currently residing in my living room. It's roughly 160 years old, about 3 feet at the base and about 3½ feet tall. It has almost 100 vines and well over 200 baby spiders. Every one of my friends and coworkers has at least 1 or 2 spider plants. We named it "Audrey II" back in the mid 80's". Sourse: http://www.answers.com/Q/How_long_does_a_spider_plant_live_for

Howdy Neighbor! The short answer is no for a mixture for a specific pH. The longer answer is that the more organic matter the more lower and more stable the pH is. Organic amendments will help prevent the pH of the soil from fluctuating, just as it helps keep soil moisture and temperatures stable. If you want to grow blueberries, don't get lime anywhere near where you want to plant blueberries. Don't even get the bag of lime near the blueberries. Blueberries need soil that with lots of organic matter and a low pH. They have very shallow root systems, so you don't have to amend the soil very deeply to give them the organic matter they need. You don't need to add any additional top soil, just lots of organic matter to your existing soil. Where you are going to plant the blueberries, remove a few inches of existing sod and soil if you can. If not, you can add a few inches of peat moss and pine mulch and/or compost to the top of the existing soil, and plant the blueberries on a slightly raised berm. Blueberries need consistent moisture, but not wet soggy soil, so a slightly raised planting area can work well with heavy soils. If you have any experience growing azaleas, other Rhododendrons, or mountain laurel, then blueberries are in the same plant family, Ericace. Blueberries have much the same soil and fertilizer requirements, except more so. One of the cheap soil pH meters that costs less than $10 will help you get the soil pH right, which is essential to growing blueberries. As chemicals in the soil react, its pH will change over time. For example, watering with hard tap water that contains calcium will raise the pH. Acidifying soil amendments and sulfur will take some time to lower the soil's pH. If you are planning to plant only a few blueberry bushes, a gallon jug of cider vinegar is a cheap, easy, and fast way to lower the soil pH. First, mix a cup of vinegar with a gallon of water. Then as you water the blueberry plants, add a cup of the dilute vinegar mixture, wash the vinegar into the soil well, and then wait a few days to retest the soil's pH before adding any more. A pH of 4.5 to 5.5 is okay, and 5 if better. Once you get it right, test again every few months until you have a feel for how stable the pH is. The soil here is East Tennessee is slightly acid that will need to be lowered a bit usually, but will be fairly stable once you add plenty of organic matter. If your blueberries are already planted and you are adding amendments, be careful when trying to incorporate the amendments, because the roots are very shallow. The easiest way is to put the organic amendments on top as a mulch and let nature incorporate it, and it is fairly effective as well. For adding organic matter to your soil, you can pile up any of the following and allow them to rot to prepare an area for planting blueberries: grass clippings, tree leaves, hay, straw, peat moss, wood chips. Small amounts of manure are great, but don't use too much. I've got three blueberries growing in containers I planted this spring. You must plant more than one variety for pollination. I planted Chippewa because it is a compact medium size bush that is a good size for containers that produces in mid-season. I planted a Brigitta because it is a very late season producer. I planted a Chandler, because it is supposed to have larger berries that any other kind. They all three have survived our hot summer in 18 gallon containers without any problems this year. They were about 2 inches tall when I planted them in late March. The Chandler and Chippewa have grown several branches about 18 inches long this summer. My Brigitta has grown almost twice as fast to nearly 3 feet, even though they've all had the same soil, water, sun, fertilizer, etc. The link below from the UT Extension Office has some general info on growing blueberries here in East Tenn, including some recommended varieties. Good Luck, Greg - West Knoxville Here is a link that might be useful: UT Extension Office - Blueberries in Home Gardens

seysonn, that's a good point you make. If neutral distilled water won't make a noticeable difference compared with tap water, then the only problem I have is finding a reliable way to test for pH. I thought my cheapo test strips might be off by a little bit, but the vinegar test does show them to be worthless. So what is the liquid test kit you're referring to. What brand is it?. I've been looking at better quality test strips, ColorpHast is a good brand (used by my scientist friend) , and also Phinex (4.5-9 pH range). I'd like to find some with a range of 2-9 pH so I can use vinegar as a low end standard. ColorpHast makes that range, but seems to be out of it every time I check. And does it matter if a test kit is labelled for saliva and urine...is that just because of the range, and can any pH test kit/method be used to test a soil sample? Any opinions on favorite pH testing methods? I think I'll start a new thread to ask that questions, or has this been done many times already?

michaelg, Thank you for your quick reply. Your point about peat is very helpful as previously I put it into the mix dry then into pot with the plant and flooded the pot; obviously the wrong way. I shall use the correct method in the future. Initially I will give the Tapla Gritty mix a go with two 20+ gal terra cotta containers as I already bought the Turface MVP (which I cannot return), chicken grit, and small orchid bark. I always tell my children to read up first and buy second; I should follow my own advice. I do have further questions for you, one is the small orchid bark is for the most part the correct size, some pieces are larger, is this an issue? The second is if I do take them down to bare root what is the best way? Using the hose at full pressure to remove the soil or what would you suggest? I noticed in one post that the Turface has to be charged with "P" or it states it might cause "P" deficiency, I thought of soaking the Turface MVP in a high bloom solution first to get it charged up so this is not an issue. I wonder if you or anyone else encountered this issue. What pH meter do you recommend? A link to the site would be helpful. Lastly I did get one thing right, I realized "It is the soil stupid", me previously being the stupid person. I amended my very heavy garden clay soil, known here as LaC3 (Lahaina Clay Soil 3), using the "Grow More Vegetables Method" this has produced astonishing results, here is a case where I did read first. But digging out one section of 40 x 5 we found the builders of the house a dumped large amounts of rock which I screened out down to 2 feet. Fortunately I have very nice neighbors who all came and helped, it took three days digging into rock hard compacted clay, I finally had to take a "Back Hoe" to it, we got very tired of digging. Oh for my old Georgia soil. This truly was a case of a $50 hole for a $15 plant. The end result was the roses took off like a rocket, growing from beat-up little local nursery roses, and I do mean beat up, into 2' to 4' beauties, over the last 4-5 months. I now get daily compliments on the bed and they are still growing strongly. Needless to say the neighbours are delighted, a little piece of England or maybe the South of France in Honolulu. Once again thank you and as we say here, Aloha