Questions tagged [ph]
pH is a numeric measure of how acidic or alkaline the soil or other growing medium is. Acidic soils have low pH and alkaline soils have high pH. Use this tag for questions about measuring or adjusting the pH of your soil.
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Distilled water (pH 5.5 due to dissolved CO2) recommended for soil test - Do I need to adjust reading? [duplicate]
All available sources recommend using distilled water for performing a soil pH test.
However, distilled water by itself is anywhere between pH 5.5 and 6.5 due to dissolved CO2 (HCO3- ions).
In my case,...
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Most accurate home pH test?
What test mechanism (e.g. strips, probes, etc..) that can be purchased online for self testing soil pH is the most accurate? Any recommendations on specific products/brands?
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Least expensive way to prevent high pH leaching into blueberry root zone
I live in a region of the upper midwest where we have high-pH soil; my soil's pH varies between 6.8 and 7.5. Accordingly, our extension office recommends planting blueberries in buried containers with ...
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Cheapest and fastest method to lower the soil pH for potatoes?
I am going to plant some potatoes in two/three weeks, but my soil's pH is around 6.8, which is not very suitable for them. I would like to know if there is a way to lower the pH in two/three weeks in ...
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Relationship between PH and PPM in Hydroponics solution
I'm making some Hydroponics system, which will automatically measure PPM in water for Deep water system. I'm able to measure PPM every x minutes, but I will have to measure PH manually, because I don'...
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What natural substance can I use to up the pH balance?
What can be used as a natural pH up substance for my medical marijuana plants water? I have them growing in soil & have been using citrus powder to lower my ph.
Ashtyn
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Soil TestResults show low P and high PH, vegetables are already in, what should I do? Help!
I filled 220sq feet of raised beds earlier this spring with 10inches of soil comprised of 5yds organic compost and 2 yds premium screen top soil (about 50/50 by mass). The beds are open on the bottom. ...
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Soil PH Sensors, Okay? or Snakeoil?
This is my first post here, I have been wondering if soil PH sensors are real or fake? An example is Soil Sensor.
After reading through this post, these seem pretty useless. However the answers here ...
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New blueberry plants turning red
My new blueberry plants are turning red! These are my second ones after Ii couldn't acidify the soil of the first batch fast enough. Do you think this is pH again? I read it could also be due to cold ...
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How much peat moss would I need to lower the ph of my soil
I had my soil tested. The ph is 8.2. What is the best product to lower the ph. I’m reading about sulfur, aluminum sulfate and peat moss. Peat moss looks like the best bet but how much do I need to ...
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Elephant garlic Allium ampeloprasum struggling, difficiencies?
I noticed that these Allium ampeloprasum started a couple months ago, are struggling and showing some deficiencies that I can't pinpoint.
My soil is sandy and poor, with pH slightly over 8. I gave it ...
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What makes Ammonium Sulfate a soil acidifier but not Potassium Sulfate
Adding elemental Sulphur is a common practice to lower pH of soil. Ammonium Sulfate can also have the same effect.
I read that Potassium Sulfate and Magnesium Sulfate may not have the same acidifying ...
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Lowering Soil pH with Diluted Sulphuric Acid
I want to lower my soil pH from 7 to 4.5 with dilute sulphuric acid. It's time to buy potted blueberry plants here in El Dorado County, CA (Zone 9A) so I would like to adjust the pH quickly rather ...
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Acidic soil containing chalk?
I’ve recently bought a property in a ‘dry chalk valley’. It’s an old barn with a paddock out the back.
I bought an electronic soil pH meter (two prongs with an analog dial meter) and followed the ...
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Will citrus recover from alkaline soil/fruit drop?
Recently bought a place with orange, Clementine, lime, grapefruit, and lemon trees. New to growing citrus and did not test soil so did a fantastic job of nearly killing them all. Our soil ph is 8.5, ...
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Brussel Sprout Seedlings Hardy?
I got my Brussel sprouts started early. They are in the ground (zone 5), but I think we are getting one more 30 degree frost on Friday. They are small little seedlings right now. My question is, can ...
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How to add elemental sulfur to garden for blueberries
I have soil in my garden that the pH is 7.0 and need to lower the pH.
If I add elemental sulfur to the soil (I already know the proper rate per square feet). Do I just apply the proper sulfur amount ...
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What should I grow on soil which doesn't soak water to the underground?
I have a piece of land which has, I guess, large calcium content as it show white deposits in large quantities. I tried to grow various plants on it but could not succeed. The land does not absorb ...
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How much KHCO3 is needed to buffer RO water?
Hy, how would you make a buffer solution with KHCO3 (Potassium bicarbonate) to have a pH of around 5,5–6. It would be used in a hydroponics system to make a buffer solution in RO water (demineralized) ...
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How to make a KHCO3 Buffer solution in RO water based hydroponics system?
Hy, how would you make a buffer solution with KHCO3 to have a pH around 5,5–6. It would be used in a hydroponics system to make a buffer solution in RO water (demineralized) that can resist the acidic ...
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Hydroponic feeding times and scheduals
I am having some weird readings that do not strictly go against what I have researched but seems I may be missing something.
I am growing Tomatoes and cucumbers along with one small chilli plant.
At ...
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What should general PH and nutrient levels be for new planting bed after amendments?
I am planting a salad garden with lettuces, kale, spinach, root crops, pole beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. So many different PH level requirements and such for different plants are confusing ...
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Practical to feed a pond from an existing stream on the property?
Our garden has a stream on one border of it, and I'm considering adding a pond. I'm curious if it'd be practical to pump water from the stream into the pond, and then have an overflow that fed down a ...
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What element is needed to turn Hydrangea flowers blue?
What element is needed to turn Hydrangeas blue? Is it sulfur or aluminum?
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Plants for under blue spruce tree
Along the west fence of my yard, just on the other side in the neighbours yard, are three towering blue spruce trees basically stacked on top of each other.
Because of this, the grass doesn't grow ...
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What would cause the pH of a hydroponic system to go up when the lights go off?
I am currently growing lettuce in a hydroponics system that I'm developing. The system has continuous pH monitoring and I recently noticed that when the lights go off at night the pH seems to increase....
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Do Citrus potted plants need acidic soil
Does Citrus Plants growing in pots, need slightly acidic soil?
I am thinking of the jasmine plant that requires, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, mixed with water, approx every 15 days, particularly during ...
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Black stem tips in a blueberry plant
I have a blueberry plant that is about 4 months old and a couple of weeks ago I noticed that the tips of the two main stems (the ones that the plant came with when I bought it), and some leaves are ...
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Acidifying water for acid-loving seedlings: Calculating the best bang-for-the-buck
I have water that is at a pH of 8.0. I want to acidify the water to a pH of 4.0 (for the purpose of watering acid-loving seedlings).
I have two products that I can use to acidify the water:
Lemon ...
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What are the cons of using aluminum sulfate and elemental sulfur as soil acidifiers?
I have a slightly high pH, 7.2. Nothing bad but I would like to bring it down a little. I was looking at two elements/products whatever you want to call them. One was Aluminum Sulfate and the other ...
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Planting moderately acidophilic plant under the rain downspout
I bought a couple of slightly acidophilic plants, and my soil is neutral, and also I don't like to use any chemicals.
Would it be a good idea to plant them at the base of rain downspout? (The plants ...
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Blueberry bush not looking very lively
I have been growing a blueberry bushes and am not sure that I am having much success. The plant doesn't appear to have done much since it was planted and just appears to be slowly loosing leaves and ...
user16579
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Increase pH value of already planted soil in a balcony flower box?
Two days ago I had soil of pH 5.5. I impatiently planted my lavender and now I'm worried because lavender needs a pH of 6.5 to 7.5.
I did mix the soil with about 1/4 (volume) of quartz sand and some ...
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Is it possible to modify soil pH with plants?
I have a very chalky soil and I'd like to decrease its pH.
Are there plants that can effectively help correct the soil pH permanently?
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How to pH test mulch and compost?
I've used soil pH test kits in the past where you mix the soil with a solution and look for a color change. This works OK for dirt, but sometimes I'd like to know what the final pH of my planting mix ...
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Blueberries in concrete block bed
I am getting ready to upgrade my aging and rotting wooden raised beds to ones made from 8x8x16 hollow concrete block (Concrete Masonry Units). As I understand it, the lime in the concrete can leach ...
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Mistake - should have used ericaceous compost
I repotted a camellia yesterday but used multi purpose compost by mistake.
That compost is on the bottom, but I used rotted manure around the root ball.
What should I do?
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Developing new soil for gardening
We recently purchased some land that is on the bench of the mountains covered in juniper trees and has a PH of between 7 and 8. We have cleared a good size area and I would like to amend the soil for ...
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Aquaponic ph level for different plants
I'm wondering how much does water ph level matter for plant healthy growth as an aquaponic system would presumably have one ph level for all growing plants and as far as I understand and find on the ...
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What type of soil do cacti prefer? (acidic or alkaline)
I have done some research and found some sites suggesting alkaline soil while others say that alkaline soil will inhibit the growth of a cactus.
user16651
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Why do the leaves on my Meyer lemon have blotchy yellow areas?
I have a Meyer lemon that I purchased a few months ago. I potted it into a self watering container with some potting mix mixed with some peat. It's flowering and small fruit are forming but the leaves ...
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Is Coca Cola bad for Nightshades and curcubits?
A bit of a whimsical question, but I'm curious nonetheless.
Phosphoric acid (E338) - the stuff used to make coca cola tart/sour and useable as a cleaner is also used commercially to make soil more ...
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How can I measure the pH of my soil?
I was told to measure the pH of my soil to help identify some of the symptoms on my vegetable plants. Does anyone have recommendations of a device I can purchase to measure soil pH?
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How crucial is it to measure pH of hydroponic growth solution for leafy greens?
I was told I need to continuously measure the pH of my growth solution and modify it if it exceeds a certain range.
Is it really that crucial? I mean no one pays attention to pH of soil in a pot...
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Can I ignore soil pH and just give blueberries chelated iron?
As Why do blueberries need acidic soil? points out, it seems that iron is really the biggest nutrient to suffer in alkaline conditions. Even an answer there, despite a nice emphasis on the broader ...
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Help me decide in a location for my raised bed garden
I'm building a 6x3 raised bed in my brooklyn ny backyard however, i wanted to know if i set it up at the left side it would be half under a mulberry/blackberry tree and the right side it would be in ...
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What does ash do to the PH of soil?
I've read that ash changes the PH of soil, so I was wondering how it changes the PH.
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Is it possible to graft miracle fruit to a rootstock that tolerates alkaline soil?
I am interested in purchasing a miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) plant and would love to plant it in the ground.
However, one of the main issues is that miracle fruit likes extremely acidic ...
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Are there plants that add acid to soil naturally?
I'm curious if there are any plants that might add acid to their soil so that they might work well in a permaculture setting, you might be able to plant X, Y or Z near a blueberry bush to eliminate ...
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How do lots of trees affect the soil pH?
Does planting lots of trees in a treeless area generally make the soil more acidic or more alkaline? I've read that it does one or the other (and the change in the water table, resulting from the ...
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