Heres my mix. Tests about 7-7.5 pH. What changes should I make, or preferably what can I add and how much per cubic foot to lower? Need quick fix if poss. as seedlings are ready to transplant. Thanks 7 gal ewc 10% 7 gl dairy doo (composted cow poop) 10% 7 gl sandy garden soil 10% 16 gl peat 24% 5 gl coir 7.5% 16 gl perlite 24% 5 gl vemiculite 7.5% 6 cup kelp .57% 4.5 cup neem .42% 34 cup basalt (paramagnetic rock) 3.3% _____________ 66.3 gl = 8.8 cu feet
How long has it been mixed? Not that it has jack all to do with pH. (Like TJ says, fuggheddabowdidt.) But if it has had time to cycle a bit and has a thriving micro herd, plant directly in your mix and rock on.
Put a plant in it. Watch the pH change, and change, and change... It will be different every time you try to "measure" it. Soil pH is dynamic. It's never "stable".
I'd give it a couple weeks then. Maybe water it good with an ACT to jump start the microbes. Sent from somewhere over there. No, not there...over THERE.
Aerated Compost Tea. Here's a link. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/920537-beginners-guide-aerated-compost-tea.html Sent from somewhere over there. No, not there...over THERE.
If it were me, I'd get some oyster shell and crab shell in there. At least one or the other. Calcite lime and Gypsum are other options.
Once you get healthy colonization of fungus and microbes going in your soil, it will achieve balance. Depending on what your water is at, molasses and fish hydrolysate can be added to it to achieve a lower pH, giving the microbes and fungus in your soil something to munch on. A nice dose of AACT (actively aerated compost tea) wouldn't hurt either. Hope this helps, -PG
Phosphoric acid will lower the PH. Like 5ml with drop 1 point in 35 gallons of water. It doesn't take much.
Or you could just make sure that you've added quality vermicompost &/or thermal compost as main components of the mix and never think twice about it again. J
Nah, ya don't wanna do that my friend, that'll make his problem worse, (both calcium sources and both promote soil alkalinity)and besides both of those breakdown so slowly it won't help much. If you are saying the soil recipe should have those two, I agre 10000% percent. Gotta have the chitin content, mixed with the neem meal and it works awesome for a IPM. \\I also like crushed chicken feed for chitin (dried crickets and mealworms) TONS of chitin in that stuff. That being said, I don't even own a ph tester, haven't for decades. just age that soil for a bit, maybe another 40 days or so, especially if its cold.
What exactly should he not use? I have no idea what you are trying to say. Oyster Shell and Crab shell have both been in my soil mix for a very long time.
the thread title was for the soil being to more alkaline, you said to use crab meal and oyster shell both of those will make the soil more alkaline. Don't get me wrong, I use both of those, in fact my no-tills have had those in there for a long long time, but he is worried about alkalinity (whether its truly a prob is irrelevant) but I was merely saying that if you were suggesting to add those two amendments to fix his ph "problem" then it would be counter productive. It's a totally moot point anyways, the microbial population in an organic grow will change the ph drastically, it'll fluctuate a lot.. I'm not tryin to start any arguments, arguing on forums is about as fun as going to the dentist or proctologist..
Why are we even concerned about the pH of a soil that doesn't even have a plant growing in it? Add a plant, and watch that pH drop like a rock when plant root exudates begin to be produced, not to mention the plant root/soil nutrient ion exchange that generates soluble hydrogen ions to read in the soil solution runoff. If one is even so inclined to check the pH of soil runoff, which we all know is NOT an accurate measurement of true soil pH... Until that happens (planting), this thread is pointless...
I simply didn't understand what you were trying to say...it's all good. Honestly I didn't give a damn what the OP said about pH.
About post #5 when he said the mix was just a couple of days of being mixed I disregarded the pH bit also. I agree that he needs some Ca/liming agent in there. I would have agreed with Greasemonkeyman had the mix been a bit more 'aged'. Also agree with Wak and no plant growing in it. The whole thing is kind of silly. First off trying to measure the pH to begin with and second just a couple days after mixing. It makes the meaningless even more so. Probably the cheapest amendment (with no shipping), that prevents sooooo many problems down the road and plants crave, is a source of finely ground Calcium Carbonate, and inexperienced growers are so reluctant to use it. It's a mystery. Probably something they read on the errorweb, all I can figure. Wet