George -

Most of the problem water is well water - high Ph. The only low Ph water I can imagine is if you start collecting "acid" rain water. And it usually comes with other pollutants.

I didn't hear of anybody using sodium bicarbonate to raise Ph in soil. Probably because sodium is not good for the plants - the same is true for cooking salt - sodium chloride, which is used in water softeners - it kills the plants.

For violet soil it is usually dolomite lime - which is a weak alkaline agent that dissolves slowly and buffers the acid produced by decomposition of peat. So it is a good solution for half a year and then you repot your plant into new soil.

I think Travis gave us his recommendation of using pickling lime solution to fix the soil which really turned sour at least until you repot.

Irina

Thanks for that. I was afraid thar sodium was not good.
george

Thanks for your info Irina it was very helpful!