To change acidic soil into more alkaline soil (increasing pH of soil):
Amend your soil with lime, which you can get at your local home and garden store in four forms: pulverized lime which is ground into a fine powder, granular and palletized, and hydrated limestone. All forms can be spread using a manure spreader or lawn seeder. If you decide to use the hydrated limestone you will find that changes in your soil’s pH level will increase rapidly which may actually be detrimental to plants.
Another option to increase pH of soil, thus making soil more alkaline is by using wood ashes. Wood ashes hold small quantities of different minerals and nutrients like potassium, phosphate, and boron. To effectively change the soil’s pH wood ashes must be spread over the soil in winter and amended into the soil during the spring. Beware that using large amounts of wood ashes in your soil may cause your soil to actually loose nutrients.
To change alkaline soils into more acidic soil (decreasing the pH of soil):
Amend you soil with aluminum sulfate to lower the pH. Aluminum sulfate changes your soil’s pH immediately.
The second option is using sulfur. This option takes time and uses the soil’s natural bacteria to change the pH values. Both of these materials can be found at your local garden stores, and both options should be used in your garden with care, due to the fact that if materials fall onto plants they may burn the plants’ leaves.
Other materials that can affect the pH of your soil are compost and manures. These are easy to apply but take quite a while (many months) to change pH values in the soil.
Plants that thrive in Acidic soil
Azaleas Rhododendrons Blueberries Hydrangeas Many types of evergreens Plants that need alkaline soil
Most vegetables, fruits and other plants
_________________ Sandi Texas Certified Nursery Professional Texas Master Naturalist Organic gardener Tree-Hugger Native Texan
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