Soil PH - Amendments For Your Soil
Soil PH | The factor that determines how your plants takeup nutrients. Tips on amending your soil to adjust PH values. Organic gardening, clay soil and drip irrigation.
With organic gardening, the management of your soils is more important than that of a conventinal garden.The reason for this is while working with all organic
| Product | Nitrogen | Phosph. | Pot. | Trace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mushrooms | .7% | .3% | .26% | Full |
| Seaweed | .3% | .1% | 1.0% | Full |
| Spent Hops | .5% | 1-2% | .5% | Full |
| Coffee Grounds | 1-3% | .3% | <1% | - |
| Peat Moss | 0% | 0% | 0% | None |
| Alfalfa Meal | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Product | Nitrogen | Phosph. | Pot. | Trace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dried Blood | 12-14% | 0% | 0% | 0 |
| Dried Manure | 1% | 1% | 1.5% | Full |
| Fish Meal | 9% | 2.5% | 0 | 0 |
| Bone Meal | 3.5% | 22% | 0 | 0 |
| Hoof & Horn | 13% | 1.75% | 0 | 0 |
| Rock Potash | 0 | 0 | 10.5% | 0 |
| Wood Ash | Varies | Varies | Varies | Varies |
| Seaweed Meal | 2.8% | .2% | 2.3% | Full |
| Blood, Bone & Fish Meal | 0% | 0% | 10.5% | 0 |
| Bat Guano | 4% | 13% | 1% | 0 |
- Nitrogen = N
- Phosphorus = P
- Potassium = K
Nutrient Uptake Chart For PH Levels
You should pick a site that has rich soil. To be sure of this obtain a Soil Test Kit to measure soil quality and PH levels.
PH is the ability of the plants to take up certain nutrients from the soil. Why is PH of soil so important? Because is the PH level is to high or low, plants can't take up nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. PH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of the soil in your garden. See the following chart which shows the nutrient availability at specific PH levels in the soil.
Combine All Elements To Make An Interesting Garden
Most plants thrive in the Soil PH zone of about 7.0 which is near neutral. Exceptions to this are acid-loving plants such as azelials, rhododendrons and hydrangias, which are accustomed to the decomposing leaves of the hardwood forests that are their habitat. If you can keep your garden soil at or close to a PH of 7.0, you should be in good shape.
You should get a good soil test meter that will give you accurate readouts of varous soil PH tests around your yard.
There are several Soil Test Kits available. I have this one and I like it very much. It is easy to calibrate and use in the vegetable garden and the landscape beds and lawn areas, assuring proper PH levels are maintained.
Decomposed oak leaves will lower PH levels, thus raising acid levels. Also natural minerals such as aluminum sulfide and iron sulfate can lower PH.
To lower acidity levels and raise PH the most common way is with lime or gypsum ammended to the soil.
If you want to loosen clay soils you should add Greensand and coarse organic matter, such as compost. Greensand is a naturally-occurring iron-potassium silicate with the consistency of sand but it has 10 times the moisture absorption. You can also add coarse sand to mix in with the extremely fine grannuals of clay. This type of sand is often referred to as builders sand and is used by masons and contractors for sand beneath concrete slabs and use in mortars.
As a soil conditioner, apply at 25 lbs per 1,000 sq. ft.of Green Sand. If you have heavy clay soil you will want to apply a 3 to 4 inch layer of coarse sand or a 3-4" layer of compost or both to the top of your soil and thoroughly till it into the soil.
Another thing you may want to consider as a soil amendment for clay soil is gypsum. This will increase the soil-draining capibilities of the soil and since clay is typically toward the acid side of the PH scale, gypsum sweetens the soil or raises the PH level.
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