CULT: acid v alkaline (was Epson Salts, etc.)

--- crook <zone1_5@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>> Perhaps there is a difference between the chemical structure
of fir and the spruce & pine needles. No fir
grows up here. <<<

I dunno about the chemical difference but we have mostly spruce
and pine as well as a few fir in these mountains. The higher pH
soil mentioned just happened to be near the only conifer near
our property..the tree is right over the fence from where I took
the soil test. There are an abundance of spruce, balsam as well
as pine here. 

Dr. McEwen oversaw some testing of some years that measured the
pH of soil around irises that were planted with a pine straw
mulch and and the resulting pH change if any. There was no
change in the original pH in any of the gardens which surprised
Dr. McEwen. *Actually, I think he told me that the pH in some
registered higher as the mostly Japanese irises fed on the pine
needle breakdown into the soil.*

I still mulch with pine needles since they are free and in
abundance here. I don't expect the pine needles to lower the pH
but it certainly makes a great mulch. :-)
 
>>>  Most lilies prefer an acidic soil <<<

That is correct and I was speaking from my acid soil base...my
lilium do like a medium of about 6.1 pH...slightly acid whereas
the beardless like it as low as we get here. 

>>> There are a few species, and hybrids derived from them that
do like an alkaline soil.Examples are
L.Amabile,L.Philadelphicum. 

Again I speak from my own gardening world...I belong to the
Species Lily Group of NALS and prefer species lilium. I am able
to grow trumpets (my favorite and some just finished) and
orientals (some still in bloom) which I like because of the
fragrance but the Asiatics are certainly here in abundance.

Ocomote was mentioned on the Lilium list on Yahoogroups as being
beneficial to lilium -check the lilium archives. Of course
Oscomote is use for acid-loving plants.

Ellen / White Mts. of New Hampshire / USDA Zone 3a

"Ida M. Fuller of Vermont was the first beneficiary of monthly
Social Security payments. She got check #00-000-001 for $22.54
on January 31, 1940." (from Wicked Cool Stuff about Vermont)

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