Acid and alkaline

[Scottishnewbie]

please forgive my stupidity everyone but i didnt do science at school and therefore have limited knowledge of some 'stuff' - never been important before, but now i am a 'serious' veg grower it seeems to be!

here's my dilemma. one of my raised beds had runner beans in it last year and they did fine. so i plan to grow brassicas in it this year (cabbages and sprouts i think). the only problem is that the bed is now full of pine needles from my neighbours tree.

i dont know if pine needles are alkaline or acid and i dont know if brassicas will get on with whichever they are. and is lime that you add for brassicas acid or alkaline?

sorry to be a thicko!

[coreopsis]

Pine needles wil increase acidity of the soil.Add some lime-brassicas like alkaline soil.

[Scottishnewbie]

thanks - or should i just grow something else there do you think?

[northepaul]

potatoes? They dont mind a bit of acidity?

[coreopsis]

Depends on how much are you desperate to get brassicas and have you got another place to put them in.Try to scoop as many needles as you can,add some lime and have a go.

[coreopsis]

Northepaul is right-if you want you can plant some tatties-they don't mind slightly acidic soil-it keeps potato scab away.

[womble]

Well you've got to grow something else there eventually, if you want to rotate.
How about digging a hole when planting the brassicas and adding an amount of lime, like I've seen done when clubroot is a problem.
I bet that would solve the problem.

[Flummery]

I've got alkaline soil and a patch where next door's needles drop. I tend to think they cancel each other out!

[Scottishnewbie]

well, no time like the present so off i went in the rain with my last remaining main cops tatties and stuck them in. will take my new learning and all great advice for future years - thanks folks x

[maypril]

thanks - or should i just grow something else there do you think?

No, grow brassicas there, the soil will be rich in nitrogen because of the beans. Brassicas do well with lots of nitrogen.

Garden lime is pretty cheap, if you can't afford it then maybe mix in a few handfuls of wood ash if you've had a bonfire lately. If you really can't find anything to reduce the acidity then plant the brassicas anyway. At worst, they'll just be a bit smaller than they would have been under ideal conditions.

Sulphate of Ammonia is a good fertiliser for brassicas as it reduces the acidity as well as adds nitrogen.