How can I prevent my Garden soil from being too acidic?
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The garden final takes some sort of shape – the compost heap goes to the back wall where it’s going to stay, the concrete slap is broken up and shifted out, the flower beds down the south fence starts to fill with soil, and the earth montain is nicely coming down in size. Both fences are treated and the base of the south fence is whitewashed.
Question by Kevo: How can I prevent my Garden soil from being too acidic?
Besides buying lime from the store, what home remedy can I make to make my gardening soil’s pH more basic. Please help!
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
7 Responses to How can I prevent my Garden soil from being too acidic?
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As for as i know lime is the only is the only thing you can do to get it right.
carol
January 3, 2012 at 7:24 am
baking soda diluted in the water….it will reduce the ph and give the plants extra co2 which they will greatly appreciate.
JoeLV
January 3, 2012 at 7:40 am
Attaining the correct pH in your Garden Soil is crucial to success for your flowers and vegetables. For this reason it’s absolutely necessary to test the pH of your soil (preferrably before planting) and take corrective actions as necessary.
Many Home Improvement Retailers have test kits available to let you know where you stand from the beginning. These kits come in many forms, but tend to fall into two categories; manual test kits, and electronic test kits. Though they both perform the same basic function, the electronic kits tend to provide more consistent and accurate readings. The downside of this is that they tend to cost a little more up front.
To reduce pH, the direct application of lime is an excellent method. However, be cautious to use a residential grade of lime rather than a commercial grade. Simply sprinkle on the soil you’re treating, then use your hand to manually distribute and work this into the soil evenly.
There are other alternatives for improving your soil quality that are often overlooked. Adding the spent ashes from your Charcoal grill is a fantastic way to reduce the pH in your garden soil, and has the added effect of returning the natural carbon by-products directly back into your soil. Also, try tossing your unused salad, fruit and vegetable bits into your garden. These will decompose rapidly and without odor provided you cut them into small bits and do not use parts covered in salad dressings, etc.
Good luck with your project!
Augie S
January 3, 2012 at 7:58 am
Lime is the least expensive way to change your soil’s PH. Buy the stuff contractors use at your local hardware store. The fancy pellet stuff they sell in garden centers is a waste of money.
BTW: you can use eggshells, but you’d need to eat an awful lot of them.
Charlie F
January 3, 2012 at 8:41 am
lime is the most cost effective – for a quick fix – get the powdered lime – long term or slow release – get pelletized lime.
Joe American usn ret.
January 3, 2012 at 9:11 am
sorry, but the ashes from the charcoal grill are NOT good for the garden soil at all…. it’s wood ash from a fireplace that will do the job…
see chart “to avoid” near the bottom of this page…
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/homecompost/materials.html
“Charcoal and briquettes
Contain sulfur oxides and other chemicals that are toxic to soil and plants.”
for balance, tho, there’s this…
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/q-a-manure-lime-seed-storage-and-more/index.html
clik the + mark to see the difference in charcoals…..
meanolmaw
January 3, 2012 at 9:41 am
Yeah, If you find that your garden soil is Acidic, it’s better to add lime to it, It will produce some basic products with water.
http://www.abbyirondoors.com
ghjk
January 3, 2012 at 10:35 am