Eric: Yes, I do know, but it is a good reminder for anyone reading this thread that it is not a good idea to play with acid without proper precautions and understanding. It would be all too easy to become blind making a thoughtless error like wrong mixing order. HM: I've read many of the threads on here re blueberries, and your comments re neutral or near-neutral soils with high OM have been noted (at least by me). Your theory of zonal variation seems to have merit. Makes me want to plant a few plants in a hole with one side native soil, and just off to the side in the opposite direction some peat/acid amended soil. See if even with majority of roots in 7.5 ph soil they can thrive. Eh, I'll save that for some later year of investigation. While you are in Z6, by chance are the bushes you observe largely Southern? Conventional wisdom indicates they are more tolerant of higher ph. Of course, the plants don't read the books, or the forums, so whatever works despite what is written is what's best. I recall the thread, and the discussion with the 1,000 or so plants you are referring to. Part of my plan, starting with pots this summer is influenced by that thread and your comments about it in a later thread. And hence my decision to modify my irrigation to go with drip rather than try keeping on top of it by hand. Re neutral or near-neutral ph soils with lots of OM, it could be that in your area the soil is more consistent, and the OM is just enough to modify. I know that in some areas of the country, while the surface soil may be neutral, sublayers are highly alkali. Makes me curious about Drew's experience if there is soil nearby that was strongly influencing ph even though tested areas were reasonable ph.

I just planted some blueberry plants. Ive never tested my soil, but every single house in the entire area have hydrengea, and none of them are blue... Either way, just to be sure, I planted them in a 2:1 ration of peat to soil. I then took a liter of coffee grounds, ans dpread them around the plant about a foot away. I then Put 2 inches of pine needles my neighbor gave me ( they dont use anything nasty at all, we call them the "hippies".)and worked them both into the soil lightly. I then covered the area with a thin layer of news paper, and then multched with leaves/pine needles. My logic was that the peat will only make the ph acidic, where I placed it, and isnt really long term. So by the time its effects are gone, the layers of compost/leaves/pine needles will already be acidifying the soil. Since ive read blueberries like really acid soil, I wasnt too paranoid about over acidifying the soil. THey seem to love it. ITs almsot time for more coffee grounds, seeing as we are getting tons of rain. If you have the room, you might want to plant some pine trees near or around your blue berries, and dont bother raking up the needles. If anything spread them around. How can you get more organic then pine needles from trees that are already there?

I had a similar problem with discolored leaves on pansy plants and some other bushes also such as Ternstroemia japonica 'Burnished Gold' . I thought it could be PH, I posted about it a lot. I finally decided it was a fungal problem as using a fungicide regularly, keeps it from coming back. But if you want to eat the berries you should not spray it. It looks like the older leaves and not the younger leaves have turned, and that could be fungus. You could maybe trim off the discolored leaves, and hope for new growth. It does not look well, but I don't know blue berries. The water is san Francisco is very alkaline and they are not recommended. In fact, no one grows them here, we can grow black berries.

You jumped the gun in planting into unprepared soil, much like I did years ago. My thoughts are that 1. Forget about the water pH, 2. Don't try to add too much sulphur (and definitely no fertilizer) for the first few years. The option I suggest is to use a foliar spray regularly of chelated iron. That will offset the anemia in the plant caused by high soil pH.