I used elemental sulphur to lower the PH in my soil. If you want to save money, buy it in bulk form a farm supply store. A 3 pound bag on Amazon is $30 Canadian. I bought a 55 pound bag for $45 Canadian at a farm supply store. If you are a home gardener then you are set for life with 55 pounds!
I bought a 30lb bag on amazon for $47 last fall. 55 for 47 is obviously a better deal but there are much better deals on amazon with a little extra searching than what you listed.
@@ggarza714 I have mostly potted plants but have used it on my rhododendrons as well The problem though is that it does not just lower them right away, it takes time because the sulfur needs to break down and create sulfuric acid. I have added worm casings to the mix along with other things she has recommended. But it is not not immediate by any means.
I live in the middleeast we have a lot of sumac trees and we make grounded sumac. Grounded sumac has a ph of 2.5 to 3.5. I mix grounded sumac with the soil and water normally. Try it
My yard is ~50% covered in Cedar trees & the soil is overly alkaline (8 - 9 pH), but they do fine. Grass doesn't, & the cedar needles make it worse. Vinegar works, temporarily &/or a lot, at very low concentrations! (up to 4 cups 5% white vinegar with 12 cups water, 1 gallon total) The grass turns green as applying it, but will start browning again in 2-3 days…for weeks! (Seriously. My wife thought I was crazy, then she watched. It only takes 3-5 seconds after application before it starts to change colors.) Most seems to be ~90% healthy now (after 5+ applications) but there are a few tough spots. I just want some grass, to stop the mud, so I'll try some elemental sulfur!
Blueberries will form a mycorrhizal relationship with fungi, but sulfur inhibits and kills fungi. Agricultural vinegar (15-30%) and highly organic amendments and heavy mulch will produce better tasting, healthier berries.
I love myorrhizae. Thx for taking care. But elemental sulfur is pretty stable. It is the soil bacteria and fungi that slowly helps break it down into plant available form. Not overdone thus helps with mycorrhizal efficiency and diversity. There were studies and tests done about it, with success.
And yes. Vinegar can be used to lower the pH of organic nutrient solutions thus diluted is not harmful. I personally almost always fertilize with humic/fulvic and/or amino acids etc. to chelate nutrients and help with nutrient availability over a wide pH range.
why does every American gardening video involve an expensive bag of chemicals? I soak wood chips in vinegar and spread around the base, egg shells soaked in vinegar would be better but i don't go through enough to cover my needs.
It's all perception. Not all places in America are conducive for growing healthy crops. Inherently you will mostly see videos/material coming from these areas.
I use 90% sulfur from tractor supply, more bang for your buck. Also use liquid organic fertilizer, Neptune's fish fertilizer, Neptune's seaweed fertilizer and blackstrap molasses, start in the June until August every two weeks half strength, works also really good on the apple trees.
You pay about a 5x premium for buying the Espoma (or any other soil "acidifier") product, which only contains about 30% sulfur, over actual sulfur from a garden supply/farm store.
Great job! I purchased a blueberry and a blackberry two gallons each two weeks ago. Can I make your mixture up and plant them right away in that mixture in the ground or a huge pot? Or should I leave them in the store pot until fall when the soil is starting to get better? I’m in zone A Oklahoma
Sulfur, oak leaves, oak chips, and so on. A cousin uses 18 inches of wood chips for his. My sister, who lives in an area with limestone, planted rabbiteye, which are resistant to lime.
If it is a small area, add spent tea bags and dig them in to the soil or add them to a watering can and let stand for an hour or two before watering the acidified water on the plants.
I have pet birds . Every month their cage's get cleaned dropping are dumped around my blueberry plants . They all are doing fine i never had to tested the ph . I have a bigger problem . Deer eat everything.
Hi, first time watching your channel. I don’t think it was a good idea to have a toddler breathing in the sulphur dust and my heart stopped when I saw him licking the scissors. 👀
My front yard has 2 large oak trees. The grass under those trees grows rarely. If I removed the top 3” of soil from under the trees and use that in my blueberry containers and then use bagged top soil to fill in the loss soil under my trees. Maybe???
My Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss tested at like 5 to 6 ph. I used the Elemental Sulfur and it takes so dang long to work. I didnt know this, and I bought the sulfur same time I got my plant thinking it instantly works like a goofball. But my plants leaves all fell off.
Great job and presentation Heather. I just planted 13 mixed blueberry bushes. Yes, I used the Acid mix sulfer and also about halfway into the planting I discovered the Azalia acid mix soil. I had mixed results with a varigated garden and it was hit-and-miss finding the proper soil admendments for each of the types of vegtables. So now, I am just planting blueberries which grow well in Washington State. I certainly will follow your recommendations and thank you for them. My thirty square foot garden is prone to weeds so for now I just will cover around the plants with a ground cover.
@Sanctuary Gardens Patriots, Spartan. Legacy, Blu-ray, and Chandler. Had to redo the drip irrigation several times to assure every plant is watered. I applied a ground cover around the plants with mulch around the base of the plants. Some are blooming, and the plants are thriving. I fertilized with liquid molasses, kelp, and fish fertilizer.
I really loved seeing the tiny gardener moving around the beds. In a few years he will be a big help. I hope you let him taste the strawberry to taste the difference in white and red. White still has flavor, but not as sweet as red especially on a berry that large. I am trying my second group of blueberries since the first ones died when I was hospitalized for several weeks. They are so pricey I would have stopped except they were on sale. I used fresh unbrewed coffee grounds, sphagnum peat, and azalea fertilizer in the planters from the last three plants, and soil test went from 7.0 to 6.5. Not great. I bought no sulfur as I thought I was done and it takes months to work. I may try vinegar 2 tablespoons to a gallon of water and see if that lowers the PH. I have no other ideas. I would like to see the final outcome of your blueberries. Maybe a planted picture and where they growed to. Will you do that? That would make it worth a subscription for me. I'm sure the little guy would love blueberries too. May the Lord bless you and yours. Excellent video!
@@craighalle7892I’m on the east side of WA state, which side are you and where do you buy your bb plants? I want to get a few bushes too! I plant 3 types of Raspberry bushes this year so I’ll have them coming out my ears next year but still want to get the bb plants too! Ty!
@CJ21CJ I buy from Stark Brothers and Jungs Seeds. Both have growth guarantees. I am in Illinois near Chicago. I usually wait for a sale for lower prices. My blueberries made it through winter and actually began blooming. It's totally surprising! My tallest one didn't do as well, but it is still growing in the containers I use. Half barrel size. My water with vinegar seems to work fine. When the leaves start fading it's time for vinegar water. I saw low-priced plants at Walmart, which could be worth a try too. Hope this helps a little.
I have strawberries in a self-watering planter that are yellowing this year. Living in an arid environment, they get watered a TON and so I imagine lots of leaching has occurred, even with applications of compost and fertilizer. Some places say you don’t need to acidify the soil for strawberries, but I am considering amending this planter. Good, easy to follow instructions.
Azomite is non renewable, mined from limited resource. Funny how gardeners are particular about peat but not azomite. They're both beneficial. Just don't waste it.
Actually the bogs in canada benefit from the harvest. Most places do not have renewable bogs. But Canada is unique in that the bog actually grows better and pulls more carbon out of the atmosphere when the top layer is harvested and allowed to regrow.
Going to move my blueberry bushes next spring as the strawberries have taken over the area. Any thoughts on soil amendments in the fall for the new spot or should I wait till spring before prepping the new spot ?
I would go ahead and follow all of the amendments I gave for the “new planting” to prepare the soil for your blueberry plants. Check your soil pH first to see how much sulfur to add. The microbes aren’t as busy in winter so most of your pH change will happen once the soil warms up in spring
Your baby is an early gardener that's niceee I love blueberries but I am not planning on putting them in my garden if I do grow them it would be in a pot
Why not cut out the middle man and just super dilute sulphuric acid and lightly spray the dirt till it check it then spray again if needed. That's what I'm going to do at least.
@@mikemcintire6043 I used a gallon of sulphuric acid and it wasn't enough to get a pH change. Gotta consider spray bottles disposable doing this and don't use a fine mist and don't spray on a windy/breezy day.
I’m trying to increase my “yard game”! My lawn soil is 7.9 and I’m trying to get it down to 6.5. I just sprayed with citric acid and put down elemental sulphur. I’m hoping it didn’t kill my lawn. It’s been 4 days and so far no change. My Sulphur levels were already high.
So you haven’t given a dose rate in grams of sulphur per square metre. you’ve given “how many cups of my random brand fertiliser do I use”. Which isn’t helpful to anyone.
Talking about debunking myths. Sphagnum peat moss is a renewable resource. Just like oil is a renewable resource. Maybe the argument you were trying to make was that we are using it faster than it renews. That is a different argument.
seems that everyone in US has bought into using this overpriced (for amount of sulfur you get) product, which has gypsum and binders added, so it can be granular form. but as a result, it contains less sulfur. gypsum is not an acidifier and it's super cheap. for a less capitalism infused product that is cheaper and has same sulfur that does the actual work, buy elemental sulfur from a pet supplies store, as they dont charge the garden store and label premium for nothing extra in product.
Any suggestions on what product may work best for lowering soil ph for in-ground orange trees? Will products marketed for blueberry bushes work ok? Thank you!
I ended up losing the blueberries anyway. :( I think this video was a year or two too late. I have replanted new blueberries using this method and hoping for better results!
Hello! I have a potted blueberry plant and have regular soil so I bought acidifier to amend. I’ve added it 3 times according to instructions but my soil acidity is not budging. It’s been about a month. Any thoughts?
You need more time. It can take a good year. Remember, it’s the microbes eating the sulfur that create the acidic environment. It takes microbes a few months to do that. Add the sulfur every 3 months and retest next year. I bet you’ll see a difference. You can also add something like worm tea that is heavy in microbes to inoculate the soil and speed up the process.
I live in south texas and I've come to find out that the entire yard is alkaline and I would need to drive down the pH from a 7.8 (lab test results) to a range of about 5.5-6.5 and even more for blueberries. Do you recommend throwing sulfur on the entire property, or should i dig out and make my raised beds then start mixing sulfur into the individual gardens themselves? PS how did the blueberry bushes you already had planted do now that it's been about a year since you amended.
Does homemade compost have a predictable effect on soil pH, or does it depend on what went into the compost? My meager supply of compost is from grass clippings and leaves. It will certainly provide nutrients and structure to the soil, but it would be great if it helped me acidify the soil as well.
I’ve heard that compost actually makes soil more alkaline, not acidic. I have too alkaline soil (7.6) and the university soil test instructed not to add any compost. Your homemade compost might differ though. 🙂
That's a good question. From my research, compost tends to bring soil pH closer to neutral. Some people try adding acidic things like pine needles to their compost, but when they break down, they don't do much to acidy it.
I use Dr Earth instead of Down to Earth. Dr Earth actually lists their ingredients (which includes worm castings) instead of nibbling around the edges like DtE does. Question, you put this video out almost 2 years ago, I do not see a followup video showing the impact your work had on your yellowing blueberries. Did you do one that I missed?
Thank you for the fertilizer recommendations. Sadly, I did lose my blueberry plants. I think this video was a year too late. :( I have replanted the area with new blueberry plants using this method so we shall see!
Lemon juice doesn’t acidify soil in the long term. Use the elemental sulfur to acidify. It’s safe and effective. I don’t know much about cranberries so I can’t help you there
My neboughers have a very deep well that hit a sulfur patch would that work if i occasionally watered my plants with it? Trust me it really smells bad of rotten eggs 🤢🤮
What struck me is how many commercial products you use. You have a ton of space where you can make your own worm castings. These recommendations are way too costly and wasteful. Thank you.
Congrats on your best work EVER: Bringing a young one home. Welcome to a piece of your heart being carried around in another being for life! Badly needed this video, thx!!
I’m a newbie to berries and just found out they need acidic soil. This morning I bought epsoma acidifier/worm castings. All I did was top dress it and watered it in
That should get you off to a great start. Test your soil to see how acidic it is and then start applying the Acidifier every 3-4 months. Test again later in the year or next year to see how it’s changed. Continue to apply until you get the soil to the desired range
Are you using municipal water or well water? Municipal water is usual very alkaline. Typically ph 8.5-9.5 due to the addition of chloramine which does not break down like chlorine. If you are using municipal water and want proper ph water using a dosatron is the best option. You can’t poor vinegar on your plant but you can adjust your water ph with vinegar but it requires a dosatron. Checking your water ph is by far the first step if you are having soil ph problems. Most people do NOT need to acidify their soil to grow blueberries. If your plants are not doing well it’s far more likely due to watering or fertilizing regiment.
