testing soil ph

[johninblackpool]

Hi folks,

I have 3 blueberry bushes currently in pots.
I want to plant them in my fruit cage but need to supply an area with a low ph.
Can I check the ph using litmus paper if so how is the best way to do it .

Cheers
John

[WendyC]

You can buy a simple soil test kit from the garden centre for a few pounds. It's a little tube with powder in it. You add some soil and water, shake and wait.

[Bill HH]

You can buy a simple soil test kit from the garden centre for a few pounds. It's a little tube with powder in it. You add some soil and water, shake and wait.

How do you know you havent just picked on the particular spot the cat peed on this morning? I would be so unsure of the results I would end up doing 20 tests and taking an average!

[veggiechicken]

You can buy probes too, and you can keep using them ad nauseum

[Bill HH]

A probe seems a much better bet to doubting Thomases such as me. I have no doubt they are expensive though. Then I would feel I need another one to check the results of the first one!

[Bill HH]

Oh they are only just over £3 on Amazon, that sounds silly cheap to me.

[veggiechicken]

They're about a fiver? Don't think they're particularly accurate but probably good enough to give you an idea...........

[Olorin2001]

They are accurate to within 0.5 - they don't last forever but far better than faffing around with tubes and chemicals - or you could go form a professional meter as used in laboratories where there is a test liquid for you to check the accuracy and adjust as required. Plants are mostly tolerant and a difference of 0.5 will not matter to them.

[Snadger]

I may be wrong and can't be a@@sed to check up on it, but I seem to remember that pH is on a logarithmic or binary scale or summat?
In other words, the difference between a pH of 6 and 7 could mean that the 6 is a hundred times more acidic than a 7! Likewise with 5 to 6 ad infinitum down the scale.
If you think along these lines it IS beneficial to strive for the exact Ph value for the plant type you are growing.
Not always achievable though, but in this case you just need to grow stuff that IS suitable to your pH and grow stuff in pockets that need a higher or lower value changing the pH locally to this small area.

Here endeth the views of snadge!

[Two_Sheds]

Map of soil ph in the UK


I know my soil is alkaline because our water is so hard, and because spuds get scab, but brassicas grow well.
There are a few surprises: we have large blueberries & a camellia in normal garden soil, not ericaceous.

[Snadger]

Map of soil ph in the UK


I know my soil is alkaline because our water is so hard, and because spuds get scab, but brassicas grow well.
There are a few surprises: we have large blueberries & a camellia in normal garden soil, not ericaceous.

Maybe its a bit like Darwins natural selection and plants that won't usually tolerate one soil or another have evolved to be less picky?

[vegboi]

Hi folks,

I have 3 blueberry bushes currently in pots.
I want to plant them in my fruit cage but need to supply an area with a low ph.
Can I check the ph using litmus paper if so how is the best way to do it .

Cheers
John

Hi John

I purchased a soil testing kit from B&Q a few quid and it will tell you the ph of your soil.

hope this helps

[johninblackpool]

Cheers Everyone

Looks like i will be buying a soil testing kit

John

[rustylady]

Cheers Everyone

Looks like i will be buying a soil testing kit

John

Check out this thread John http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...elp_75748.html

[Two_Sheds]

I have 3 blueberry bushes currently in pots.
I want to plant them in my fruit cage but need to supply an area with a low ph.

I have alkaline soil, as you know.

I also have blueberries in the ground (they're in big tubs of ericaceous compost, sunk in the soil). Sinking them means they need far less watering, and it looks more natural


We also have wild (escaped) blueberries round our way: they are growing in about 2" of tarmacky soil (alkaline soil at that).