Is my soil too high?
Michael Robinson
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ShadyWillowFarm
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Very High Calcium levels in soil good for my apples?
Comments (10)The sweet spot for apples seems to be at about 7 although they grow fine in more acidic soil- I've seen healthy trees down to the low 5's. I suspect your soil in Greece is excessively alkaline. Certainly anything over 7.5 will begin to create nutritional problems for apples. The theory is that if you have a pH around 7, apples will be better able to draw the calcium they need from the soil but it doesn't seem to work out that way with the varieties you mention or many others as it is very common for commercial growers to apply foliar calcium even if their soil is neutral. Some of this need is to address storage issues....See Morecan I use high-nitrogen soil from my crawlspace?
Comments (3)The old houses round here have loads of nitrogen loving nettles growing between the old flagstones in the backyard, and cabbages growing between the cobblestones in the street by the front doors. I put it down to centuries of having no bathrooms and needing to pee somewhere. Maybe something similar has been happening where your new house now is?...See Morewill my soil pH be too high?
Comments (16)I used to live in Akron, and spent some time around Columbus. Although it did seem that I saw somewhat fewer A. rubrums around, I still saw some, and they didn't look chlorotic. In the wooded areas, I saw a lot of beech, white oak, black oak, and some red, scarlet, and chinkapin oak from what I remember. I think you'll be OK. I think I saw some pin oaks, that looked OK. What's funny, is even in Akron, and here in MD, I see chlorotic pin oaks, and our native soils are in the low 6's or lower. A bigger issue, IMHO, than native soil is site - most of the chlorotic trees I see are planted in tree lawns or islands of concrete. The only things I'd be a bit leery about would be Azaleas, blueberries, and other true acid-lovers. You might see issues in an area that is more alkaline than the "default" such as near concrete, however, moreso than you did in Pittsburgh....See MoreCracks opening up in my backyard, soil too dry
Comments (6)Clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, explaining the cracks. Your clay is lacking in vegetative matter which would change your soils structure and provide the spaces required for oxygen and water. It will take a year or two but you can make your soil into good garden soil. Don't try and amend the hole for the plant you want to plant at the moment. Bite the bullet and buy truck loads of municipal waste compost. It is the cheapest and you are better off with lots of the cheap stuff than a meager amount of bagged high priced compost. Do your whole yard at once. You should only work your soil when the moisture content is right. This means watering a couple of days in advance of digging. This year you should get enough compost to cover your whole yard to at least 6 inches, and with the soil moisture ready rototill it in. From now on every year you will only need to apply about 3 inches as a mulch to the top of the soil and the soil life will work it into the soil. Soon you will be bragging about how good your soil is and how easy it is to work. Al...See MoreMichael Robinson
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