Best Way to Acidify Soil for Blueberries, Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2023
- 6 Common methods for lowering pH - most do not work. Use the best way to lower pH.
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Best Way to Acidify Soil for Blueberries, Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
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Хобби
Not sure anyone realizes how well you are breaking down and explaining biochemistry principles as it applies to soil and plants. Well done!! I really apreciate how you unlock the science behind gardening.
how think about lowbush blueberry?
That's what we're here for odi. I'm offended by your comment.
@@nancyfahey7518 not exactly sure why my complimenting and thanking the gentleman who made this very informative video is offensive to you. At the time I made the comment there were several comments either doubting or challenging the information. It’s been a couple of months since I made the comment, but I recall a specific comment criticizing the maker of the video for not showing images of his own garden and how that somehow invalidated what he was saying which in my opinion was just ridiculous and anti-science.So that was the context in which I made my comment. Now, you referred to me by my nickname. Do we know one another??
@@odimarbatista3976 it's not important and I just used the short version of your name so the other guy didn't think I was talking to him.
Just maybe say "some people" instead of lumping it into "everyone or anyone".
I use 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a gallon of water every 2-3 months on my Blueberries and they produce pounds here in L.A. Cheers!
How many blueberry bushes do you put the solution on?
@@robincoxson7831 5
Vinegar 5 or 10%?
Nice. Can you answer the other questions please. I too have those questions. Thank you 🎉
@@Lizi46 5%
This guy has a PHD in common sense ! Great video ! Explains very important principles for dummies like me. Well done.
I make my homemade milk kefir. So I use the clear/yellowish whey part and dump it onto one big bed of soil when I have too much which is like everyday. After about a month the soil stays acidic year around. My hypothesis is that the acid producing bacteria subsist and produce just enough acid to not have to apply anything additional. I've tried this in several areas over the past decade.
Wow I make that myself but didn't know ur knowledge. God bless u.
Yes see the microbes in the soil regulate pH
I grow commercial blueberries and I can attest to the fact that elemental sulfur is the way to go. Depending on the buffering capacity of the soil, an initial application of sulfuric acid can jump start things, but be very careful working with this acid since it causes severe skin burns, better to just rely on elemental sulfur. Powdered sulfur will work faster as mentioned here but still takes time. As a chemist I will say that even the microbial oxidation of elemental sulfur (S8) is in fact a chemical transformation 😉
Exactly so, and there is some SO2 formation in wet soil even w/o microbes-
@@jackprier7727 correct, put elemental sulfur in a glass of water and monitor the pH over time. It decreases.
Where do you buy it?
How would u use sulfuric acid to acidify ur soil?
@@kimberlynolz5725 very dilute solution, for sure, and outside root zone- I use H2SO4 {sulfuric acid} on my woodstove ashes to lower their high pH because they are a valuable mineral resource but definitely high pH, mostly from the potassium hydroxide present-
I hesitated because 20 minutes. But its jam packed of great easily understandable information! 👍👍👍👍👍
Yup, thst is worth a sub! Great content! 🍀🙏🇺🇸
I wish I knew that sulfer-ph CHART was at the 20 minute mark! 😂
My blueberries were sluggish for years, and just for kicks once, I sprinkled flowable sulfur around the plants, just to see what happens, and I knew the weeds would die.
The bushes grew like crazy. Now I know exactly why.
Thank you.
What is flowable sulfur did you mean flowers of sulfur?
@@anderander5662 flowable sulfur, it's a common agricultural fungicide.
@@markhavel2922 thanks
This video is the best explanation I have seen so far.
This is a true expert, I treasure his knowledge, what a legacy sir!!
So do I. May God bless this man.
@@traceykays433 May God bless you too in Jesus mighty name!
1 cup of vinegar
and 2 gallons of water per plant. N.C.. 20:35 zone 7. I add it around mid February . My plants are over 9ft. Tall and 12yrs. Old.
So do you mix 1/2 cup pergallon?
WOW!! I might have to try this. I live in the mountains of NC. We have lots of wild bear (or bill) berries in our lower back yard & they grow great. So we were planning on moving our blue berry plants down there.
Thanks. Im going to try this
Hello how often did you reapply?
@@ineshianewton7740 important question. I'd like to know this too.
Excellent discussion! I am growing chestnut trees in a park that has a pH of 7.0_7.5, which is way too alkaline for chestnuts, who like a pH much lower and similar to what blueberry prefer. I researched the issue of how to drop the pH several years back when I saw my trees struggling an many seedlings just not making it. I found everything you talked about to be true, but in order to save some trees so that I would have a chance to then focus on a longer term solution, I found I needed to do something quickly to drop the pH. Even though it was not the best long term solution, I found that in order to drop the pH quickly my most effective, and inexpensive, short term solution was to mix white vinegar (acidic acid) into water which I could soak into the soil around the tree, usually with a little Epsom salts added. White vinegar is also very affordable, and can be picked up a most grocery stores in 4 or 5-qt jugs. I feel that using an organic acid like vinegar is also safer than some of the quicker options you also discussed that had the potential to deposit heavy metals into the soil if you use them very much. I actually rescued some trees this way and saw visual evidence of yellowed leaves greening up in under 2-wks. Recognizing that approach was only a short term fix, and potentially had some long term downsides, I transitioned to applying elemental sulfur after the soil temperatures got above 55-degrees, once the short term problem was handled. I now have much happier, healthy, chestnut trees in the park that are nice and green and are finally growing at the expected rates with burr/nut production after just a few years of growing. I've even experimented with several different organic acids (like citric and acetic) for quick acidification, and find for the most part it does not really matter, but acetic acid in the form of white vinegar is the most affordable and easiest to source. Just be a little careful not to apply it to green vegetative growth or it can burn leaves (that is why it's a major component of a common alternative DYI weed control spray some gardeners use with a salt and dish soap as a surfactant).
What an excellent explanation of the biochemistry involved in soil science! Thank you for this!
To help me get the pH down and maintain it fairly easily, I bury large pots in the ground and fill with soil and acidify that soil (for blueberries). I didn't want to be fighting the pH of the surrounding ground while trying to keep my blueberries happy all the time. I did drill extra holes in the bottoms and put some gravel underneath to help prevent drowning. So far it is easier to keep that isolated soil pH low vs open soil.
I was thinking of doing that myself!
That's exactly what I was thinking of doing with a clay pot or burlap sack!
How large are the pots? 20 gallon?
@@Jules-740 5 gallon. As I understand it, blueberries have fairly shallow roots.
Clear, concise and no hype.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! It added to my knowledge and I appreciate the effort to put it together.
I found your videos at the right time, I'm a few weeks away from planting 8 blueberry bushes, 2 raspberries and 1 blackberry in 60'x4' berm I've created with fallen leaves over the last year, they're about 75% decomposed and I intend to add a few inches of compost on top of the whole area. My plan is to plant the berries about 5 feet apart and plant strawberries and herbs all over the base of the berries, a row of garlic in the rear, and sunflowers on either end. I've also foundation bricks on the front of the berm where I'll be planting an assortment of flowers. Thank you for your useful information, truly priceless advice.
I would love to see your berm. I am working on my blueberry, raspberry and blackberry section this year and plan to plant next year. Never thought of planting strawberries at the base. How did everything turn out, and what type of mulch did you use? Appreciate your response, if you get this.
Your description sounds beautiful!
Thank you. Literally one of the best gardening videos I have seen. Very technical, very instructive.
For the past 20 years I have just been telling my acid loving plants to just live with my alkaline soil. Azaleas, rhododendrons, and blueberries. So far they have been doing fine. Can't spoil these plants. They have to learn to adapt.
You have pine trees nearby, I suspect.
The permaculturist Mark Sheppard, author of Restoration Agriculture, uses what he calls the STUN method. Sheer Total Utter Neglect. His fruit and nut trees and berry bushes need to survive on their own. He doesn't pamper any plant... or animal for that matter.
You are duplicating the woods environment when you acidise. Makes you subject to fungus when lower ph. Stuff grows better.
@ivanxyz1 you can put pelleted sulfur around your acid loving plants. Rake it in and be patient.
You can also use aluminum sulfate BUT IT IS VERY CONCENTRATED BE VERY CAREFUL. APPLY ONLY VERY SMALL AMOUNTS AND WAIT FOR RESULTS. I can not express how careful you have to be enough. It will kill your plants if you use too much. Sulfur is much safer you could apply half of a cup around a tomato without damage if your soil is alkaline. Do not use on soil below 7.0 ever unless sulfur is a major component as you would around onions and minding pH above 5.9.
Sulfur can be your friend.😊😊😊
Once established a lot of plants locally affect soil PH around the root zone.
Here in the PNW the blueberry growers use doug fir sawdust. The local sawmills are happy to part with it.
Fantastic information, and very well delivered. Thank you
Valuable comprehensive information
Thank you ! 🙏
This is an outstanding presentation on this subject. Admirably concise and substantive. Thank you.
Thanks for so clearly presenting all that information, valuable information.
Thank you for all your efforts to make gardening a pleasure and better for me. I appreciate the time it takes to investigate and present practical solutions based on your experiments and detailed presentations that I have used these past years as I develop my backyard perennial garden.
For those on the east coast and the midwest, a good indicator of areas with acidic soil is juniper trees or what is often called red cedar. They will either only grow in acidic soil or make the soil acidic over time. Had a friend with horses and was struggling to grow grass in her pastures. The local ag agent tested the soil and recommended removing all the red cedars and turning in gypsum before planting warm season grasses for pasture. I have also noticed that in glade environments cedars grow well and have a ring of no grass all around them. Just too acidic for grasses to grow. Chipped red cedar for mulch will also suppress grasses and weeds better than pine mulch so might be a good choice for mulching these acidic soil loving plants rather than other options. This is not the same as western red cedar which is a true cedar tree. Eastern red cedar aka aromatic cedar aka juniper is very different.
As addressed in the video, conifers and trees in general do not acidify soil, they just thrive best in soils with a pH under 7, and so that's where they tend to outcompete other trees.
The dry shade that conifers make is the reason grass won't grow, not the pH - many grass species (like fescue) prefer lower pH anyway.
Thank you for the best class on soil! You are a gardening genius must friend! Best videos on you tube!
Best video on the lowering of pH EVER! I'm so glad I found this channel.
I love this info~. Thank you so much Mr. Garden Man~
This is the best video I have watched on the subject.
I was already using sulphur but in an ad-hoc way. Thanks for making the fundamentals and application clear.
so encouraging , to all agriculture industry to find out more😊
This was very valuable to me. I’m from far north Wisconsin, south shore of Lake Superior. Now I live in south Wisconsin. In the north, blueberries, cranberries, all sorts of berries thrive. In the south, they struggle. I’ve tried some of the soil conditioners you mention as rumored to help with no success. I assumed the difference in temperature and daylight were the culprit. This gives me a scientific platform to retry. Thank you!
This is gold Jerry! Gold!
Thank you so much. I am getting ready to transplant all my blueberries and this was really helpful and kept me from making a mistake.
The Soil Science book is excellent. Highly recommend
Thank you! I always enjoy and get a lot out of your videos.
Really good information…learned a lot.
Excellent video -- just what I needed!
Excellent advise. Thank you so much.
Had an infestation of Pine Beetle years ago and decided to find my own method to keep them alive, used Sulfur dusting around the trees several times a year for a couple years.
The Sulhur was effective killing the fungi the Beetle carried and the trees recovered, Pine Beetle/fungi was a Ministry of Defense weapon from the cold war and was released to blame people for overpopulation.
Thank you Mr. P. Great information! 🌺💚🙃
This is very interesting, thankyou.
Very valuable information, Thabks so much for taking the trou le to make this video. I have been spending lots of money on that expensive brand. Will check my feed store. Thabks again for your valuable content. I watch every video.
Glad I found your channel! Great info, thank you!!
Wow you know alot of garden stuff
Wow that was extremely helpful. Thanx
Thank you, this is extremely helpful to me 🍷
Very informative. Thanks 🙏
Great informative video. Newly subscribed.
Thank you, this was very informative!
Great advice! Our town has a lot of pin oaks which love more acidic soil but we have a 7.5 pH. Most trees either die or have expensive treatments by a tree service. My husband uses a soil prob to make holes in the root zone of our tree and drops sulfur powder in them. He only treats it about every three years but we have the healthiest pin oak in town. (This unfortunate choice of trees was planted by former owners of our house.)
Excellent video!
Man this channel really teaches the FUNDEMENTALS!! Which I dont think many ppl who are on here sharing info might even know..
this video is GOOD for potted plants 😊
.
Thank you! I will begin regular additions of sulfur. My blueberries will thank me later.
I appreciate the how and why of what does and doesn't work.
Great great video - lots of good info - I have been growing blue berries for some years and I always plant new plants with three things in the soil. My natural soil, peat moss and Miracle Grow vegetable plant soil in equal amounts. At the beginning of every season, I scratch a mixture of Miracle Grow vegetable soil and peat moss into about the top one/two inches of soil around the plants about maybe 12-15 inches in diameter around each plant as I'm weeding etc... this works well for me. Then during the season I make a peat moss slurry in 5 gal buckets and water the plants with this slurry a couple times a season and scratch the peat moss into the soil. I also use Epsom salts dissolved in water and Miracle Grow regular plant food dissolved in water a couple times per season and always get very good blue berries. - just got to keep the birds and animals away from the blue berries. My original soil condition is very much clay! Your videos are very good and informative - thx for them
Very well explained.
Great information! Presented perfectly!
I have neutral soil conditions and by growing in ground pine bark AND using Sulphur am able to grow blueberries reliably. If I were to do it all again I would some isolate (containerize) my blueberry soil from the native soil and my life would have so much easier. I tried ALL the methods. Sulphur works the rest do not outside of a very temporarily.
Excellent information.
You didn't mention orange peels (citrus peels)? I have read and it says they are great for lowering ph in the soil/ Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Awesome information! Looks like I will have a battle on my hands with my clay/loam if I want blueberries. This helped me understand why my previous efforts at blueberries have failed. I may just stick with honeyberries and saskatoons. I will probably start a small section just for experimenting and learning.
I live in a mining town. Our whole city has acidic soil
Wild blueberries are abundant in our are.
Yes…where I live WILD raspberries…blackberries…blueberries… and Saskatoon berries (serviceberries) …partridgeberries .ALL GROW naturally in our wooded areas and undisturbed by man 🇨🇦
I live on a limestone ridge. My soil is very alkaline.
@@bobbipearcey2059you are blessed with a great environment.
@@miriambartley6622 Set up a raised bed for the blueberries if you can :)
Kefir, yoghurt and effective microorganisms mixed in with soil does also very good.
You are stellar! Glad i found this.
Thank you very much for the great information.
thx for scientific approach
Thanks for sharing this! 💯
Excellent info thank u
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
So glad i found your video. I am in southern Indiana and in really sandy soil and wanted to try blueberries and looks to be possible after seeing your video. Thanks much
Try using a deep woodchip mulch as well, blueberries love it. My hunch is that it isn't the pH, but the readily available nutrients. Anyway, I have seen blueberries thrive in deep woodchip mulch over soil was neutral.
Appreciate it. I may try that since i have strawberries,raspberries,blackberries and really wanted blueberries for the farmers market. Thanks again
One bit of advice is to have a soil test done by your local extension office and they will test for pH (among other things) and advise you on how much and what kind of amendments you need based on what crops you wish to grow.
This is the single best piece of advice on this video - hands down. TEST YOUR SOIL. Until you do that, you don't have a baseline to know what's needed. For pH, it's super easy to just mix ~1/4 garden soil to 3/4 distilled water in a mason jar, shake it up, rest it ten minutes, then use a pH test strip (either garden type or pool type) to dip in the water ~10 seconds -- look at the colors compared the the color chart on the container -- there's your soil pH. Cheap and easy. The better ag extension test tells you WAY more, though.
Now a days, I wouldn’t advertise what you have growing on your land to anyone. I know the local extension offices keep long records.
@@Miss1776-ic5ic ? Do not understand. I work at an Extension office and I don’t know of this problem. (I guess unless its something illegal lol)
got the right knowledge on this subject. don't think he blinked one time
Very informative
thank you
Thank you!
great video.
That was so helpful! Thank you very much for your well presented, comprehensive information.
I live in NE Nevada in alkaline desert. A ton of acidic ferrous sulfate and a few tons of sulfur, and vinegar {instant action} to help the conifers and I have a grove of 800 trees crowded happily, thriving.
It is a pleasure when you can listen to an expert on a subject that you are interested in.
I am currently dealing with a southern Florida soil where I have a vegetable garden. I have been using the brand he mentioned that is 30% sulfur. I had my soil analyzed and it has a 7.7 pH. Using the 30% sulfur, the pH has moved somewhat lower to about 7.3. I didn't know it would take many months to wait for microbial action to work. I am middle of the growing season. I will get some powdered elemental sulfur and apply some to speed up the process. The vegetable plants seem to be growing too slowly at a 7.3 pH in about 2 months. If I can get the pH down to 6.8, I think I will see a difference. I understand that lowering pH is much more of a challenge than increasing pH with limestone. Lowering pH is temporary and requires frequent treatments.
Brilliant. Appreciate.
Thank you ❤
Thank you for this master class to acidify your soil
I have alkaline soil. In the spring i give everything a shot of Miracle grow in the watering can. I see a difference in the plants in a few hours.
What people don't realize is that Human urine is a great fertilizer diluted. It also has: The American Association for Clinical Chemistry says the normal urine pH range bout 4.5 . I tested it with my PH meter and it indeed is 4.5 PH so guess what I'm going to be using. Also, I tested water with vinegar ultil I got to the level of acidity, approx 4oz Vinegar to 3 gal water and use weekly. I tested my blueberry soil and it is staying at the appropriate acidic level! My two cents worth.
Great info
thank you for your time and effort to make this video. you skipped citric acid/vinegar. do they decrease ph? do you have experience with them?
Thanks so much! 😉 👍
U have impressed me. you have a new subscriber and I'm not but halfway through your video
Thanks😊
Nicely explained, thank you! I already gave up on my blueberries, which were planted under pine trees and faithfully given coffee grounds. Here in central Florida it's literally sand. I may see whether they, and my blackberries, are even alive and then try this.
@charlotteking8123 You can turn Florida sand into soil with mulch. I go to the county and get the free mulch from all tree trimmers and yard waste. It’s not as pretty but free.
Really helpful video, thank you.
I was debating with myself whether it was worthwhile creating an acidified bed for blueberries, or to invest in large pots and ericaceous compost for them… just purely on a cost plus time basis, growing in large pots seem to be a no-brainer and the hassle free option. I will stick to growing things in my soil that want to grow there 😂 and not fight nature
I totally agree that sulphur is best...I knew a nurseryman who sold chestnut trees...he recommended adding a cup of vinegar to 5 gals of irrigation water for the seedlings. I wonder how long this watering would stay at a lower ph. in the soil? Vinegar is usually not to expensive
i did that with the vinegar and then pH tested and it showed very little difference so i threw down an old nasty tasting unused coffee can on my two new plants half the can for each bush.the coffee grounds had not been brewed.the bbs LOVED it.i even cut off all the little new blooms to send the energy back to the roots as they are only a year old.they grew new blooms and are full of blueberries now.perfect leaves so far and so much growth.
I have my blueberries in containers. The containers were filled with 1 part peat moss, 1 part black kow compost, and 1 part perlite with a nice amount of 555 Burpee all purpose fertilizer. A month after planting I wanted to check the Ph with my reader because the leaves were not very green and leaning towards some redness. 1 container was at 5 and the other was at 5.5. After having a day or two of warm weather they bounced back and got really green.
I love,love,love your hat!! Where did you get it?
For potted plants like sundews I just add a teaspoon of vinegar per liter of water once a month. Maybe in the long run like over years it might cause some issues.
It helps to grow these acid loving plants in raised beds or berms to minimize the amount of soil needing fixing!!
You really need to test your rain water and tap water every year so you know what it is doing to your plants. My well water is pH 7.2 and my rain water is 6.8. Thus, why I notice that rain water has been better for my plants. I now have rain barrels for watering. My plants do much better with it. I even use my rain water for starting seedlings indoors.
I would have liked to see manures covered for pH purposes. My guess is that chicken manure would be best because sometimes lime is added to horse & cow manure. Furthermore, more and more horse & cow manures are being sold with herbicide residue in it.
I use my own chicken manure for everything and I use my own urine as well. Yum! The plants love it!😊
Good video!
My well water is 9.4! I have to use RO or rainwater for my garden and houseplants. I notice that my garden doesn't seem to mind the high pH so much, but my houseplants suffer.
Good to know that those other things don't actually work.
Thank you so much for your help. I’ve been doing research on how to acidify my potted citrus trees soil, but there’s so much information it’s overwhelming. Your video just popped up in my RUclips algorithm, and sir, you explained how to acidity the soil in a clear, safe, and simple way. I’m a new gardener, so this information is gold for me. Thank you so much! I’ve learned so much on this video in a short amount of time than the hours I’ve been reading and ended up confused. I’ll continue to watch your videos (new subscriber) and l’lol take a look at your book.
You just explained my brain stumping problem I just discovered. Last year I decided it would awesome to get to have blueberries. Did a soil test, of course my soil is over 7. Do some research, they say sulfur in the fall. Found the pellets on Amazon, dug down six inches and dispersed it throughout, yay I should have acidic soil for my blueberries that I was planning on buying in a couple weeks. Pull off the mulch this spring.... pellets.... everywhere. I was flabbergasted. We had a really wet winter, how did they not break down AT ALL?!?!
Now I know and I guess blueberries will just be next spring now or I might just scrap it all together since I'm solid clay 😞.
Oh well, gardening is a journey, not a result.
Don’t give up! Go ahead and plant your blueberries and just keep working in the pure sulfur each year. I have clay soil I have amended with things such as wood mulch and pine needles and such. Your bushes may not grow as well in under these conditions but they will grow and they will produce….at least mine do.
FYI sulfur is not water soluble.
So like the man said it has to be broken down by bacteria that's why the pelletized Not the best choice also gypsum is good for breaking down clay soil
@@scottprather5645 I just read a few articles about this. Do you think I could mix the gypsum in when I plant the blueberries or does it take time to break the clay down like sulfur takes time? This is my first journey with planting something that isn't really made for the pH of my soil.
I tried changing my soil in heavy clay with high ph like you, all my blueberry bushes died for the exception of the Reka cultivar which survived but hardly. what i did next is dug a trench the width and depth of the size of adult blueberry bush roots , lined it with geotextile and filled with a mix of peat moss, sand, compost, and other acidic bagged soil and topped with wood chips and even then Im probably going to have to add sulfur eventually as the organic matter decomposes. You can also just do it in individual pots and bury the pot so it benefits from the soil humidity and so you dont have to water as much. Either that or just grow honeyberry, you have to change your soil as much or at all...also water with rain water only
@@TibtheBear in all my years on this planet, I've never even heard of a honeyberry. What an interesting plant. I've never planted something that I've never ate before, but this might be the route I go since they do well in basically any soil/light/zone. I probably can't kill a plant that survives -40 degrees... probably 🤣
👍👍👍.Thank you