New beds

[Greenleaves]

Evening All

I have created too large beds for open planting, spuds, onions etc the beds are 7.2 x 3.6 mts. The allotment these are on has been fallow for 8+ years and the soil is slightly acidic.(8)

I suspect the soil has been robbed of a lot of the nutritional elements by the amount of docs that were there so need to feed it a bit. I have been told not to add manure until I have balanced the pH as manure tends to be acidic even if well rotted.

So i will add lime but the real question is can I add BFB and Chicken pellets at the same time?

[mothhawk]

Yes, because although chicken manure is high in nitrogen, it's not so rich in potash and potassium, which the BFB will provide. Go carefully with the lime, because the CM will be on the alkaline side (you're not supposed to use it around ericaceous plants), and too much lime gets you scabby potatoes.

[Greenleaves]

Thanks MH....

[johnjohn]

The allotment these are on has been fallow for 8+ years and the soil is slightly acidic.(8)

Hi GL, pretty sure that a ph of 8 is slightly alkaline rather than acid

[Greenleaves]

Hi JJ

Your right, typo on my part

[Snadger]

Is your soil pH 8? Cos if it is, its alkaline not acidic. Slightly acidic I would class as 6 to 6.5

[Greenleaves]

Is your soil pH 8? Cos if it is, its alkaline not acidic. Slightly acidic I would class as 6 to 6.5

See 5# Snadge

[Penellype]

Hi GL, pretty sure that a ph of 8 is slightly alkaline rather than acid

Correct. Neutral is pH 7, anything higher is alkaline, lower is acid. So pH 8 is slightly alkaline, but it isn't very far from neutral.

Sorry for duplicating others' answers...

[Snadger]

Cross posted....................cmon then Greenleaves, whats its pH?

[Snadger]

And i would say 5 is very acidic!

[Penellype]

And i would say 5 is very acidic!

When I pH tested my soil it came out at 1 It was at that point that I rather lost faith in DIY soil testing kits...

[Snadger]

When I pH tested my soil it came out at 1 It was at that point that I rather lost faith in DIY soil testing kits...

Do you have sulphuric acid for soil?

[Penellype]

Do you have sulphuric acid for soil?

Well, since I still have fingers, probably not. It was one of those meters that have a metal rod that you push into the soil. I carefully rubbed the end with the bit of stuff they gave you to do that with and stuck it in at several points. The needle persistently tried to go off the scale at the acid end, although when I tried in a pot of ordinary compost it was around neutral. Very odd, but clearly something wasn't right.

[Snadger]

I imagine raw peat or coya will give a very low reading. The potting compost mixes should have additives to raise the naturally low pH.

[Greenleaves]

#5 meant post 5 Snadger, i never used a test kit Penellype, former colleague done it for me in a lab.