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North Of The Border

I have a high pH, at around 7.5+, and wanted to know how to lower the pH, without buying lots of sulphur, and other products.

6/8/2020 11:50:12 AM

Westmoreland, KS

The ph of my soil is almost the same as your ph. I have been taking soil tests twice a year since 2009 once in the fall and once in the spring. I feel very confident in telling you there is no easy way to lower the ph. Many factors will go into your ph.

1) your soil, is it clay, sandy, loam...all makes a difference
2) your water...how do you water, what is your water's ph this will effect your ph over the long run.
3) do you use compost if so what is that ph.

I have successfully lowered my soil ph but this has been a work in progress since 2009. I don't think there is a fast way to do it. My soil is a very dense clay this is how I have lowered it.

1) add very good compost, i've used chicken, horse, grass/leaves and cow compost over the years.
2) Since i have clay I've added gypsum every year
3) I add peat moss every year
5) I add tons of sulphur every year after my soil tests
6) This last year I added a ton of sand.

Normally my soil tests for ph are around 7.1 in the spring and 7.4 in the fall. This year my soil ph was 6.8 so this was the first significant difference I've seen since 2009. In other words I don't think there is and easy/cheap way to lower soil ph.

6/8/2020 2:07:39 PM

North Of The Border

Okay, thanks. I jave a sandy soil though.

6/8/2020 4:52:31 PM

Westmoreland, KS

Soil test is the best money you can spend making your soil perfect takes years. Best thing to do is learn your soil. Make the recommended adjustments and year after year it will get better

6/8/2020 11:31:54 PM

North Of The Border

Yes, but if you only have 100$, then spending half your money ona soil test every year, means you dont have much to soend to then ammend the soil. I will only be able to spend the prize money from the pevious year, to get ammendments for the soil. I dont think i will be able to enter the weighoff i have entered previously.

6/9/2020 11:21:36 AM

Westmoreland, KS

Very true but if you aren't soil testing I would be very careful about making big adjustments you don't want to do more harm then good. I would just add compost see if you can find some for free but better yet make your own with grass clippings and leaves.

6/9/2020 11:57:52 AM

Central NY

I agree.. if money is tight, send it all toward compost. Second, insect control. All the training and positioning aspects still apply.

6/9/2020 1:26:53 PM

North Of The Border

Yeah, that was komd of becoming my plan for next year.

6/9/2020 3:52:07 PM

San Diego, Ca.

You may want to check the pH of the water you use on your patch. For me, when I first started to grow pumpkins in my patch the soil pH was around 8.2. Year after year no matter how much sulfur and compost I added I could only get the soil down to the low to mid 7's only to have it bump right back up to the 8's. Then one day it dawned on me what was happening. By the end of the season my soil was mimicking the pH of the water I was using which happened to be between 8.0 and 8.2. Since then I started watering through a tank and adjusting the pH before it hits the patch. No more problems. My soil pH for the past several years consistently checks in the range of 6.6 to 6.8. I use citric acid to lower the pH and it is fairly cheap to get, And a little goes a long way.

6/9/2020 8:59:34 PM