Best way to Acidify soil

[birdhouse-lady]

I garden in Texas (zone in heavy clay soil. I want to plant some mugo pines, spruce, and azelias and need to ammend my (PH7) soil to their liking. What do I need to do? add? Will be planting these in new raised bed approx 12" above grade.

[Brad]

Ammonium sulfate and garden sulfur will probably be some of the more common amendments to acidify. You can also use pine straw for mulch to lower the acidity over time.

[opabinia51]

I agree, thanks Brad!


A word about Ammonium Sulphate though (NH4)2SO4 (not able or at least haven't been able to figure out how to do subscripts)

Anyway, it is a salt and therefore soluble in water and will be washed away after the first rains, or when you water. Salts can also build up in pockets in the soil and become toxic to plants. Pine mulch, is an organic acidifier (meaning that carboxylic acids (acids made from carbon) are used to decrease the pH of your soil) and will keep the soil, at your desired pH for a long time. Pine needles, also contain nutrients that you won't find in salt based ammendments.

[birdhouse-lady]

I know where there are a few pine trees...there is one on the property where I work. Can I just gather up some of the dried needles and till them into the soil? How long will using pine needles take to acidify the soil? I would rather use them than a chemical if time will allow. I expect my pines in about 10 days.

[opabinia51]

Tilling is actually quite detrimental to soils. I would just turn them into the soil using a shovel or simply lay them on top of the soil and then, apply some manure over top of them. The worms will do all the digging and "tilling" for you.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Pines acidify a little but I'd recommend the sulphur or good ol vinegar (need fairly regular application of the latter...)

HG

[birdhouse-lady]

Opps, I may have acted too hastily. Opa's remarks about the worms gave me the hint that they could work for me, so I loosed a couple of hundred of them from my worm bins into this bed on the evening of the 28th. If I still want to add the sulpher/and or vinegar, will it hurt the worms? Do I need to give them a burrowing in period before I go adding stuff?

[opabinia51]

I chagriningly admit that I bought some sulphur the other day when I bought 3 more blueberry plants. I really do prefer to use more "organic" methods but, I just couldn't resist. Now, what to do with all this stuff? I guess I'll have this little baggy of sulpher pellets for the years to come if the pH does any drastic changes on me.