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Acid soil
Kitty 2
Posts: 5,150
This morning I've been trying out my new toy, a pH test probe. First test was a pieris that was re-potted in acid compost this year which showed highly acid????.
Next I did another Pieris and an azalea which were potted in acid soil a couple of years ago, they were showing as neutral.I give them a sprinkling of sulphate of iron in the spring and fork it into the top couple of inches as a tonic.
Is there anyway to boost the acidity of the soil? Will a top dressing be enough? They are quite large pots (50cm) so don't really want to have to empty the whole thing out.
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Hi Kitty. Are the plants you mentioned showing any signs of deficiency? If they look healthy then I wouldn't worry too much about the acidity of the soil.
Top dressing should work yes, if you don't need a dramatic change in acidity. You could also mulch using leyalndii or conifer cuttings (if you have one that needs a hair cut).
The other thing to do is to avoid watering with tap water and use only rain water. Tap water will neutralise the soil over time, rain water is acidic [so won't neutralise it].
LB: the biggest plant which is the Pieris "little heath" is looking quite ropey but I'd put it down to it's position (it's a bit of a killer spot
) but I moved it last week.
Verdun: where do I get sulphur chips from?
Bob: no leylandii thankfully
but I'll be on the lookout for neighbours conifer trimmings in future. I'll try a top dress of ericacious for now, I think I have some leftover.
Thanks to all for the advice
This is the azalea, which seems ok. No idea of name, it has red flowers
The Pieris "forest flame" which I moved from garden to pot as it was very yellow. It's looking better in it's pot of ericacious, the place where it was tested neutral.
The sorry looking Pieris "little heath"
I think it's suffering from being in the "killer spot", everything I put there seems fine for months then suddenly keels over. I've sacrificed a cameliea, heathers, conifer and a hebe.
Thanks Verdun. Is it the ordinary Epsom salts from the chemists? I assume you dissolve with water in a spray bottle and then spray the leaves?
The "killer spot" is by the front door, west facing. We have a bay window with a tiny patch on either side, there's a Jasmine beesanium on the left (nw) side which is rampant. It's the south west side that suffers. The soil is terrible so I've put down gravel and stick a big pot on it. I might take some pics for a new thread and get some suggestions
Is it perhaps a wind funnel?
You can use coffee grounds and tea from ripped open tea bags as a mulch for ericaceous plants.