Acidifying Soil Amendments
bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years ago
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Monyet
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Acidifying soil for Blueberries.
Comments (26)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....See MoreTo amend or not to amend? Clay soil...
Comments (22)"It seems that it is highly recommended to plant peach trees in raised beds from the experience on this board. Does anyone have a good link or more detailed directions as far as how to do that? What type of soil do I need? How deep do I dig the hole? How high should the bed be?" For my peach trees I use mounds and terraces. It doesn't seem to make a difference how tall the mound is. Some of my mounds are 1' tall, others started out 4' tall (before settling). The peach trees do about the same either way. Some people enclose their raised beds with a raised border of some kind. I think that's fine too. I don't think it makes much difference what soil you use for the raised beds/mounds. Several years ago, I installed drain tiles in the orchard area (The drainage was horrid and I was tired of losing peach trees.) In places we had to excavate to a depth of 4' to install the tile. What we dug out was pure clay. I used this material for some of the mounds. The peach trees have done fine in the clay mounds. Per the above posts, I would only use mounds if the drainage is poor. But since you mention puddling, I strongly suspect you could benefit from raised beds/mounds. Mounds not only provide good drainage, they also loosen the dirt so there is minimal resistance for the roots to spread. Mulching on top keeps the soil moist longer into the growing season, further encouraging root growth. It's hard for peaches not to succeed when they have moist (but not overly wet) loose soil with no weed competition and plenty of sunshine. Here's a picture that's a couple years old. You can see some tall and shorter mounds. Some of the older trees aren't in mounds. The drainage tile helped them. Here's a pic of some terraces I built last fall for planting peaches this spring. By the way, I don't bother with mounds for more water tolerant trees like apple, pear and plum, unless the drainage is really bad....See MoreEncore Azalea not growing
Comments (2)When planting azaleas it is best to run a claw, box cutter, or something down the sides of the root ball or root cylinder. When done, there should be roots sticking out. You are roughing up the root clump and roots should be sticking out. The soil surrounding the root clump you plant should be a mixture of native soil and an acidifying soil amendment such as sphagnum moss. The roots should already be in the surrounding soil after you plant. Many people complain that plants grown in bark dust won't leave the original root clump. They go to the extreme of removing most of the bark dust and replanting in the native soil/soil amendment mix. Some use bark dust as the amendment. Azalea roots are very shallow, but they should grow sideways out of the original root clump. It may take a while since the plant is shocked when first planted and conserves its strength until it gets comfortable with its new habitat. That could take a couple months or a couple years....See MoreCan I use Soil Acidifier after HollyTone?
Comments (47)Baking soda won't do a thing to incease the blue coloration of Hydrangea macrophylla, so feel free to toss that idea in the can :-) The pigmentation of most blue or pink colored hydrangeas is determined by the amount of aluminum available in the soil. Adequately acidic soil will release AL freely, resulting in blue flowers - more neutral to alkaline soil pH will tie up aluminum or make it less available, resulting in pinker flowers. Baking soda will tend to neutralize soil pH or push to the alkaline side of the scale (if applied in quantity) so will prevent the bluing rather than enhance it. Blue hydrangeas that are more on purple side are generally indicating that the soil is not sufficiently acidic or that aluminum levels may be low. Using aluminum sulphate, aka hydrangea bluing, helps to both acidify the soil (sulphur) and provide adequate levels of AL, should that be low. The greening you are seeing is very common to the aging of hydrangea flowers, regardless what their original color was. Just part of the natural color changes they go through as the flowers age....See Morebonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
3 years agoMonyet
3 years agobonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
3 years agobonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years agoMonyet
3 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
3 years agobonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years agoMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agobklyn citrus (zone 7B)
3 years agobonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
3 years agoMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
3 years agoMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
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3 years ago
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