Had my soil tested by Rutgers and I'm glad I did

[wsommariva]

Hi everyone. In my last topic I mentioned that I used 14 bags or so of lime twice a year based on a Home Depot test kit ten years ago. Thankfully, very thankfully, a couple members were very concerned so I has my soil tested. Result was PH of 7.7. Recommended for my lawn is 6 to 6.6. I guess my ten years of heavy lime application raised the PH too high.

They say not to add lime. I can add sulfur to reduce PH.

Unfortunately, they say to not add compost!! I was planning to do some heavy topdressing with a 50/50 mix of top soil and my own compost made from mostly stockpiled oak leaves and weekly kitchen scraps. I think I will still do it. My lawn needs to be built up from 3 inches deep to 5 or 6 over a couple of years.

Any thoughts of adding my compost now to topdress my lawn?

Thanks once again to everyone.

[wsommariva]

Ok, I'll ask them that.

[wsommariva]

They said that mature compost has neutral to alkaline PH and adding to soil that is high in PH is not advised.

[rainbowgardener]

You can always pH test your compost to find out. Maybe be careful with it, if it really is alkaline. Not sure it would be, made with oak leaves.

But my guess is if you quit adding 28 bags a year of lime (!!), your soil will start gradually reverting to whatever its natural state was and the pH will come down a bit on its own. I'm a compost fanatic too, so if your compost is even neutral, I would still go with it. You will be mixing it with top soil any way.

[applestar]

I might be wrong but I've always thought compost made with greater % of pine needles, shredded pine bark mulch, pine shavings, and/or citrus waste would have comparatively lower pH.

[greenstubbs]

I might be wrong but I've always thought compost made with greater % of pine needles, shredded pine bark mulch, pine shavings, and/or citrus waste would have comparatively lower pH.

You'd get no argument outta me on that statement as it makes perfect sense. I'm no expert either but I do agree that it will equal itself out in a few years b y doing nothing. What I have done with low spots in my yard is every time I cut the grass, I'll take a handful or 3 of earth/compost to the lower spots to slowly raise them up. It looks better than dumping a couple shovel fulls then having to plant seed etc. to raise it up. I would think that doing this like you would like throw bird seed around the yard would help expedite lowering your Ph while helping to bring up the yard. Whatever, Good Luck.

[wsommariva]

I asked about NOT adding sulfur. They said my soil will revert back to acidic over time. They said to avoid lime for two to three years and test again. I'll buy a ph test kit and see how close the results come to their test.

[toxcrusadr]

Acidic vegetable ingredients would lower pH ONLY if added FRESH while their degradable organic acids are still there. The composting process will chew them up and the resulting compost will not be significantly acidic. Generally the whole process moves everything toward neutral.

Now, IMHO any mild alkalinity present in compost (if that's even the case) is going to pale in comparison to the bags and bags of lime that are already there. The benefits of adding organic matter far outweigh it. So I'd go ahead with the compost anyway. Keep in mind those guys at the lab often live in chemical fertilizer land and don't see the great benefits of compost...

[wsommariva]

I will add the compost. I need to get get life into my soil. Biggest problem is that I only have a few inches of "soil". I need to build it up to 5 or 6 inches over time.

Thanks everyone.