How do you make soil acidic for fruit bushes?

[MutantHobbit]

Apologies if the answer is so bloomin' obvious as to defy rational thought, but how do you make alkaline soil more acidic?  I know you add lime to make acidic soil alkaline but I'm assuming that nipping down the shops and buying 20 Gallons of Vinegar pour on the Lottie is not the answer!!!  ::)

I've got a blueberry bush and 2 currant bushes and 2 gooseberry bushes along with some raspberry canes to plant and there not a trace of acidity on the allotment! :(

There'll be some very grateful bushes if you can help! ;)

Dave

[MutantHobbit]

[the_snail]

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/acidsoil.html

Hope it helps :)

The_Snail

[the_snail]

Also a good christmas recycling Idea is to get some christmas tree shreadings they are high in acid. Rott them down first then use them as a mulch late next year. If not rotted down they would sap all the valuble nitrogen out of your soil.

So If the council are shredding christmas trees take a few sack with ya and get some pine chippings.

The_Snail

[Jesse]

Hobbit I've got some blueberry bushes growing well at the allotment, they were planted beginning of the year so a little early to tell how well this is working but they did produce a few berries this year. Someone here (could have been John Miller?) advised to add sulphur chips to the planting hole and when I mulch again in the spring I'll do a ph test and if the ph is too high then I'll add some more sulphur chips.  I also filled the holes with a mixture of ericacious (sp?) compost and plain old soil from the allotment which is slightly on the acid size with a ph or around 5 or 6. They seem to have grown well despite having been moved at the end of summer so I'm pleased. :)

[Derekthefox]

That would have been my approach, to use a peat based compost ... as this would be slightly acid.

Derekthefox :D

[Gail-M]

Hi Dave,

have you tried doing a search on here for blueberries ?

You could put blueberries in large container filled with acid compost

I put mine in ground but filled hole with pine needles to help acidity and mulch twice a year with pine needles.

The bush hasn't grown alot, produced some berries, doesn't seem too unhappy...........


Good Luck

Gail

:)

[MutantHobbit]

Hiya all

Thanks for the advice and yes, Sexy Slug, that is a great help! ;D
Having had a quick look, I've decided to get the Eric Compost and plant the bushes in containers to put on the decking outside my shed.  That reminds me I must find some more pallets to break up... 

Actually Gill, I hadn't done a search  :-[ (smacking of wrist) as I kept getting error messages off it and gave up ages ago, but that's no excuse!   :-\  I'm going to see if I can scrounge some pine mulch off the council in the next few weeks, then I can dig some into the lottie and keep it topped up with Sulphur as necessary.  :D

[growmore]

Hi Dave,What is Your PH reading at the present?
The sulpher does work and I believe aluminum sulphate is used too for same job..
As I haven't got acess to pine needles which are good also,The  way  I would use to lower  it is to dig in manure and /or peat..  If You  are against using peat then its manure ,manure ,manure. This usually works for most soils ......

P.S. Our spell checker on here don't know  Ericaceous so I googled my interpretation of it and it asked me if I meant  Ericaceous I presumed I did so I went for it .. ;D cheers Jim..

[jennym]

Quote: ...how do you make alkaline soil more acidic? ...I've got a blueberry bush and 2 currant bushes and 2 gooseberry bushes along with some raspberry canes ...Dave

You can't affect large areas of alkaline soil really, and I wouldn't worry about the gooseberry and raspberry as much as the blueberry. I've bought some, and will dig out largeish holes - say 2ft x 2ft by about a foot deep, and will fill with ericaceous compost to grow these in. I have successfully grown other fruit for 5 years now and not worried at all about adding acid things - if the soil is continually having compost added to it, it will become more acid over time.

[MutantHobbit]

Thanks for the tip about the holes, Jenny.   Growmore, I have gone over the allotment again and tested with my trusty pH meter and it appear to be evenly neutral to slightly akaline (7 to 7.5) with great humus content, which is great for my vegetables that I'm planning to grow. :D 

It would be cheeky to expect perfect conditions for everything I want to grow!  8) 

I went out and bought 5 X 50cm round patio containers to plant the bushes in ericaceous compost.  Figured there'd be plenty of room for them to grow into and I can move them around as necessary. :)

Dave

[Peapod]

Many years ago I worked on a fruit farm in Kent where the soil was low in acidity due to the underlying chalkland. The farmer grew many acid loving plants by mulching them with rotting apples. Fallen apples are ideal.

[Icyberjunkie]

Thats a good tip Peapod.  You should post that one in the "Top Tips" page!

Was also wondering if fresh poorly rotted manure would do the same thing becasue isn't that one of the reasons for frshly manuring potato beds i.e. get the soil more acid to minimise scab?......or would the acidity harm the plants.

Iain

[Peapod]

:) Thanks Icyberjunkie.

My guess is that poorly rotted fresh manure would not be a good choice for most plants and unlikely to lower the pH as required for soil acidification. Well rotted manure would be better as it is less likely to be a disease risk for plants including vegetables.

Apples work because they are naturally acidic (malic acid) and impart their acidity to the soil during decomposition. I think citrus fruit would work the same but more slowly as they take longer to rot. I do not like the idea of using peat for obvious environmental reasons. Reject apples and citrus fruit are readily available from local markets though you may wish to give your plants a head start by using ericacaceous compost and marinating future acidity using the fruit trick. Your ericacaceous compost may lose its acidity especially if the water you are using is hard and naturally alkaline - rain water is ideal.

Good luck from Peapod.

[Peapod]

Oops I meant maintaining not marinating acidity! Spell checkers should be used carefully!!