Re: How to acidify soil

Compost pH can be quite changeable, I think  because of ammonia given off
in decomposition. I once got a steaming load of chicken manure-topsoil mix
at pH 7.8, 3months later it was 4.5!
Brian
http://vvv.com/~amdigest/cusheon.htm
----------
> From: Harold Lanktree <hlanktree@mindspring.com>
> To: perennials@mallorn.com
> Subject: Re: How to acidify soil
> Date: Friday, February 06, 1998 10:26 AM
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mark <markmos@banet.net>
> To: perennials@mallorn.com <perennials@mallorn.com>
> Date: Friday, February 06, 1998 12:41 AM
> Subject: Re: How to acidify soil
> 
> 
> >Harold Lanktree wrote:
> >>
> >> My soil in Michigan is quite alkaline too.  What I am doing is
building
> >> mounded beds using bulk "50-50" mix from a local nursery.  It is 50%
> topsoil
> >> and 50% peat.  You can use soil sulphur and acidifying fertilizer, but
> soil
> >> any organic mater in the soil will buffer, or restrict changes in pH,
so
> I
> >> don't think they are terribly effective.  In effect, I am changing the
> soil
> >> to get around that.  Since most of the plants I am concerned with have
> >> shallow root systems (rhodo's, etc) the mounds don't need to be very
> high.
> >> Secondary benefits are much improved drainage in the root zone, and a
> high
> >> level of organic matter, which these plants love.  Over a long period
of
> >> time I expect my new soil will loose acidity too, but I think it will
> take
> >> many years.
> >>
> >
> >Hi Harold,,
> >
> >Why not mix into the soils decomposed manure? I mix it into all my beds
> >and here we do not have a problem with alkilinity. The uric acid lowers
> >the PH.
> >
> >Mark Mos
> >NY
> 
> 
> I'm in an area that is pretty urban, and manure of any kind isn't so
easily
> come by.  But it would be a great idea if it were handy.  Another
> consideration is that the soil is maybe too alkaline for half measures. 
I
> do see that I left out something along that line, though.  I am mixing
about
> 30-40% compost into the 50-50 mix.
> 
> That was also interesting.  Since I am trying to build a lower pH soil,
it
> occurred to me to measure the pH of the compost.  WOW, but it was off the
> high end of the scale!  I have done some consulting with my favorite
> Advanced Master Garden guru about that, and she tells me that compost is
> often alkaline (and very hard to get a good pH measurement for, with all
the
> organic material).  But that it seems to increase in pH after it is
applied.
> 
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