I don’t test so much as look at how plants perform. Mainly because home test kits are notoriously unreliable. I managed to keep a camellia reasonably healthy for 3 years with loads of ericaceous compost and regular acid feed and chelated iron applications. I gave up in the end and put it in a pot of fully ericaceous. It’s still not as healthy as one I had in a pot from the start.
If you also have hard water, like I do, it’s doubly challenging.
What are you planning to grow? Some plants are more tolerant than others.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Thanks @Nollie, at least the camellia survived. I’m not planning to grow any avid loving plants, but I’m trying to grow eggplants, cucumbers, peas, squash and tomatoes which all like soil to be more acidic than 8. I grew some squash and sweetpeas and annual flowers last year anyway, and noticed really bad fungal infections/ mildews, so I think they are struggling with the soil.
Ah, Ok, veg are pretty forgiving, so long as they are in good, well-watered soil. I grow all of those well in a more alkaline clay soil than 8, amended with manure (which itself is generally on the alkaline/neutral scale) and compost. Don’t take the ‘ideal PH’ too literally! Soft fruits prefer it more neutral-acidic, so I grow those in that range in a raised bed.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Afraid fungal problems are more likely to be due to growing plants too closely together with poor air circulation and possibly in too damp conditions ... although once infected, if a plant is not growing strongly it is more likely to succumb quickly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Last year was generally a poor one for squashes anyway, so I would concentrate on getting you soil as healthy and therefore as fertile as possible by adding copious amounts of organic matter such as well-rotted manure (but not mushroom compost, which contains chalk) each year, and putting down a thick mulch of the same each autumn. As mentioned, this may also help the pH to lower over time. I started with heavy clay (I suspect some of it may have been an old bulldozed clay tennis court!) but is lovely, fertile stuff now. Things started improving hugely after the first load of manure was dug-in. Direct sowing of peas is still a no-no, but starting them off in root trainers and planting out later works great.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Thanks BobTheGardener. I wonder why people recommend manure much more than compost for amending clay soil. I’m thinking of using ericaceous compost originally. If you have experience of both could you share if manure is better or about the same as compost?
"Compost" can mean a great many things. It refers to the homemade stuff from your bins and to packets of essentially sterile medium you buy from the shop. It could be made from mising grass and wood chips. Or it could come just from kitchen waste. The name doesn't really tell you about what's in it, other than that it is organic plant matter (not mineral based).
The title "manure" tells you a bit more about about what's in it - animal faeces (usually herbivores plus chickens) and straw or other bedding materials. But the make up will be inexact depending on the source, the type of animal, the diet of the animal, the freshness and the overall mix. It's chemical compound is much different to compost, partly because of the urea levels; It will be probably higher in nitrogen. It offers different properties to compost.
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On the whole it's best to go for plants that will like the soil you already have, rather than trying to change your conditions. If you want to grow something like blueberries, best do it in a container with more acid soil.
Problems with mildew and other fungal problems might be coming from a range of different causes other than the soil. Mildew is often a sign of underwatering - sweetpeas certainly suffer from this when they get too dry.
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If you also have hard water, like I do, it’s doubly challenging.
What are you planning to grow? Some plants are more tolerant than others.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.