Re: Soil pH

From: Ellen Gallagher <sibrob@ncia.net>

John Bruce wrote:

> While conventional wisdom says neutral soil is best,
> bearded iris seem to tolerate a wide range of pH.  I
> have a tract of land where more than 200 iris were planted
> last summer. A lot of them were not what is considered
> bloom sized.  This spring, the bloom performance was
> incredible, with many growing well over their registered
> height. Increase has been better than average as well.
> 
> The pH is around 5.8 there. I guess you could call it the acid
> test on pH effects <G>

	I had my soil tested 3 yrs. ago and it has a pH of 5.7 occuring 
naturally without any additives. *All* iris grow well here including 
bearded of all classes and bloom well without *any* fertilizer added 
yearly but I do amend the soil when first planting.

	I also have a pine needle mulch around the Japanese and Siberian irises
and they do extremely well in their bloom habits. Unfortunately, I am 
worried about our new property that I just had soil tested last week 
since I had to move two new Siberians that were languishing. Glad I did 
since I took the easy way out and used an established old veg. garden 
that the soil looked 'iffy' to me. Iffy is not a scientific term but 
dirt gardeners usually understand it. :))

	Anyway, the pH was 6.4 and, horrors to me, the CA was extremely high	. 
Anybody who grows Japanese irises has to make sure that the CA is low.
They must have done a lot of amending to this particular garden to bring 
the pH up and the CA so high. Around here, a quite acid soil is the 
norm.

	I am waiting for two other soil test to be completed at the state 
university in Durham, NH. Hopefully, one of them will be suitable for 
the JIs - or the head goes in the oven. (BG)

Cheers,

Ellen Gallagher / sibrob@ncia.net / Northern New Hampshire / Zone 3


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