Thats what the Mars Lander reported. If my garden soil measured that, I’d be in a hurry to set me up some raised beds and not even try to correct that problem. It would be too much to take on, since the acidity or alkalinity of soil has a big impact on our plants ability to take up nutrients from it. My sandy, desert soil is alkaline (thats means my pH number is high, although not as high as Mars), so I ammend my garden soil with elemental sulphur, and lots of compost. My aim is to get closer to 6.5-6.8 (slightly acidic, since 7 is neutral). That’s where most vegetables grow best. I’m told it takes up to 6 months to adjust your soil’s pH, so patience is the virtue I’m looking for here. If I want the soil in may garden to STAY in the HAPPY PLACE, I’ve got to keep adding compost….it keeps both strong alkalinity and strong acidity a thing of the past.
Now is a good time to mention a nice pot of spaghetti sauce has a lot in common with my garden soil. When I want the best tasting sauce for my pasta, I let it cook for awhile, so the flavors “develop”. Well, garden soil, to my thinking, needs time to “blend and develop the flavors” before it’s ready for the new plantings of the fall. So I ammend my soil a good while before I plant it. A month would be good, (did I mention patience is a virtue?). One more thing worthy of mention is not to dig around in the soil while it’s wet, wait until it is dry enough to crumble in your hand. Like I said before, patience is the virtue I’m looking for.
Well Kathy you are certainly worthy of keeping track of. We here (me) at Green Acres are harvesting squash, cucumber, some tomatoes and bush beans. I am still nurturing the peppers that I relocated and I’ve been staring at the ground wondering what’s next! This post has answered for the most part that question and the answer for me is to do the “in the mean-time” stuff. Ground preparation fits the bill.
Today I read that elemental Sulphur is relatively ineffective in changing the pH of Arizona soils. That certainly explains things to me. I kept thinking I was not adding enough Sulphur, or that it takes longer to produce a change….now I know that I can’t add enough to produce enough change. I think I’ll switch things up a bit and use peat instead. That’ll add some more organic matter and lower the pH somewhat. Now, where to find a large quantity of peat at a relatively low price…… any ideas?