PH your organic soil

I've never checked my soil's pH yet my plants do fine.

 

tsunami since you are of the right mind IMO, you don't want to crap or pee on your plants, I'll throw in on your Q. Crapping and peeing on a plant is just plain stupidity and I dont' care what the asian's, the appalachians, the haitians, or the aliens do. Crapping on your plants is something a moron would do. Imean if one is that dadgum poor and/or lazy that they can't go forage for forest litter, grass, straw, vegetables et al and wants to try and shortcut the system they deserve every single bad thing that comes from it. It's just dumb and don't do it. Ok....

Here is something to consider about pH testing of leachate; the pH will be different each time you test it. And here are a few reasons why this might occur. I will omit all of the reasons why fluctuation will occur that are typically associated with commercial non-organic fertilizers.

1. Improper testing of the leachate. There is a protocol that is followed by container nurseries often referred to as the “Pour thru Method”. If one is going to test leachate for container pH then one should use the protocol for the pour thru method to attempt to get an accurate test reading.

2. One test does not indicate a static condition. IOW, each time one tests leachate they are testing leachate as it is at that instant. The environment is dynamic not static. In a living soil environment the microbes are busy ALL the time. As organic matter is broken down, digested, and bacteria die, the pH is going to consistently be drifting as this biodynamic activity continues. A dynamic environment will often produce dynamic results. It's not static.

3. In conjunction with #2, the biosynthesis communication that is occurring between the plant and the microbes is constant. When the plant requires a certain element (“nute”) it signals to the bacteria surrounding the root in the rhizosphere what it requires. The bacteria will respond in kind by producing various forms of organic acids that will break the organic material down to produce what it is the plant is requesting. Again, this is a dynamic, ever changing environment and does not remain static. One might test the pH leachate on Monday morning at 8:00 am (using the protocol of the Pour thru Method), come back on Wed at noon and test the pH of the leachate again and get a different pH reading. What does that tell us and what is good for? Nothing in organic container gardening except that perhaps everything is "ok" because the pH is in fact drifting so the microbes are doing what the microbes do.

4. And perhaps finally, for now, as the physiological processes of the plant change and the dynamics of the container change, as the plant takes up one or more elements out of the solution pool of elements the addition/subtraction of the cation buffer changes. This is the cation exchange capacity at work. Since this too is a dynamic condition one will never know at any given moment in time what the balance of +/-‘s of the exchange pool is and any reading of pH is dubious or questionable. Fohgedaboutit!

Now that all of that is said. It is often bantered about that “pH doesn't matter in organics”. As stated this an incomplete and an incorrect proclamation. pH of the medium in organics does matter just like it does in other styles of container growing or other styles of growing like hydro. However, a more correct version of that statement might be rephrased to state, “when growing a plant using an organic approach we are not AS concerned about soil pH because we have an abundant supply of soil organic matter, humus, and humic like substances, along with our healthy microherd, in our medium mix, and we KNOW that the organic matter, humic like substances and the microbes will adjust the pH for the plant as the plant determines it needs without us ever having to worry about it”. Now the statement is complete AND accurate.

You are correct in your understanding of blood meal tending to be acidic. It is simple enough to test if you are armed with an EC and pH pen. Take a contolled amount of blood meal added to a controlled amount of distilled water, stir it, let it dissolve, then test it. Simple enough. But this in NO way will give you fair representation of soil pH.

To follow the paradigm "pH doesn't matter in organics" follow any one of the dozens of quality recommended soil medium recipes that include a minimum of 30% of quality and deiversified soil organic matter (EWC, compost, native soil, yada-yada) you will in fact "never have to worry about pH" with an organic approach to gardening.

I'm tired. G'Day

Oh, and FWIW, thank you for not defecating on your plants. They will reward you in kind by not giving you a SHIT yield. Adios amigo!

 

Good one P. Much better answer than just saying "pH doesn't matter with organics" - thank you.

Tsunami, quality compost and earthworm castings will assist in buffering and stabilizing your soils pH - just one of the many magical properties of these items. I cannot stress enough the need for quality compost and castings to any organic gardener - these items matter a lot.

Once you have good compost and/or castings in your organic garden, our little microbe friends take over your pH fluctuations and you just don't need to worry about adjusting or checking anymore - leave it up to your microbes.

You're in good hands.

J

 

[quote name='"jerry111165"']Good one P. Much better answer than just saying "pH doesn't matter with organics" - thank you.

Tsunami, quality compost and earthworm castings will assist in buffering and stabilizing your soils pH - just one of the many magical properties of these items. I cannot stress enough the need for quality compost and castings to any organic gardener - these items matter a lot.

Once you have good compost and/or castings in your organic garden, our little microbe friends take over your pH fluctuations and you just don't need to worry about adjusting or checking anymore - leave it up to your microbes.

You're in good hands.

J[/quote]

Not gonna lie I say it to some people and compost and ewc are def important to me, I just ordered 5 yards of compost with horse/cow manure mixed in it for next years garden

Edit-also the next few years garden lol, until my compost heap breaks down fully

 

You real smart for a Possum, Possum.

 

Thank you poppy <hat tip>. You're a goodpoppY .

LOL, man I'm looking at your sig line I guess for the first time because it dawned on me that I would say something real similar only I'd change the last part of the sentence:

"It's not something I would recommend, but it is what I do."

For the record I recommend that people not do what I do LOL or you just might fuckin' end up in the same fuckin' boat I'm in and there ain't no fuckin' paddle!

 

"It's not something I would recommend, but it is what I do."

It has a nice ring to it.