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Hi all,
I purchased a bag of Ericaceous compost a couple of days ago for a blueberry bush i have.
I have a young blueberry bush that i had purchased a while ago and it needed to be potted up as there was quite a substantial root base.
About a week after doing this the leaves began to sag and drop off although there were signs of some new growth and flowers.
I figured the soil was too wet and i took it out of the pot and sat it in a pot tray in the sun to allow the soil to dry up a bit.
It hadn't been potted up long so there were no roots on show.
After a good day in the sun the soil seemed much more dry but still had a bit of moisture.
I put it back in the pot and left it a few days but there was no improvement.
After doing a bit of a check on line, i found that these plants need a more acidic soil in which to grow and thrive.
I had purchased both of my blueberry bushes from B&Q and there was nothing on the tag, which gave some instruction on its after care so i knew nothing of the acidity requirements of the plants.
Luckily my other, more established, bush had plenty of room left in its pot for growth so this wasn't potted up.
Having purchased the ericaceous compost, i removed as much of the regular compost i used to pot up that one blueberry bush and replanted it with the ericaceous compost.
Since then (about a week) there has been no sign of improvement which then led me to test the pH using one of those testers that you push into the soil and gives you light, moisture and pH readings.
The pH reading 6.5.
The exact same as the compost i originally planted it into.
I tried in other places and the readings came out the same. However, when i pushed the reader into the soil near to the base of the bush (the original soil the plant came in) the readings dropped between 4.5 and 5.
Can anyone help clarify why the ericaceous soil i purchased is still reading out at normal compost pH levels?
I purchased a bag of Ericaceous compost a couple of days ago for a blueberry bush i have.
I have a young blueberry bush that i had purchased a while ago and it needed to be potted up as there was quite a substantial root base.
About a week after doing this the leaves began to sag and drop off although there were signs of some new growth and flowers.
I figured the soil was too wet and i took it out of the pot and sat it in a pot tray in the sun to allow the soil to dry up a bit.
It hadn't been potted up long so there were no roots on show.
After a good day in the sun the soil seemed much more dry but still had a bit of moisture.
I put it back in the pot and left it a few days but there was no improvement.
After doing a bit of a check on line, i found that these plants need a more acidic soil in which to grow and thrive.
I had purchased both of my blueberry bushes from B&Q and there was nothing on the tag, which gave some instruction on its after care so i knew nothing of the acidity requirements of the plants.
Luckily my other, more established, bush had plenty of room left in its pot for growth so this wasn't potted up.
Having purchased the ericaceous compost, i removed as much of the regular compost i used to pot up that one blueberry bush and replanted it with the ericaceous compost.
Since then (about a week) there has been no sign of improvement which then led me to test the pH using one of those testers that you push into the soil and gives you light, moisture and pH readings.
The pH reading 6.5.
The exact same as the compost i originally planted it into.
I tried in other places and the readings came out the same. However, when i pushed the reader into the soil near to the base of the bush (the original soil the plant came in) the readings dropped between 4.5 and 5.
Can anyone help clarify why the ericaceous soil i purchased is still reading out at normal compost pH levels?
.... happy to try any codes though 
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