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| I live in Hereford AZ, right next to the border. We are at aprox 5000 foot elevation putting us in zone 7-8. Our soil has no clay and is very sandy. I have allready included lots of compost down to aprox 5 foot below the surface.
I have 6 blueberry plants I just planted. The problem is the PH of the soil here is 7.0 and so is the well water we use to water them. I think the best way to lower the PH is to inject acid or ?? into the irrigation system and amend the PH of the water to 4.5 or 5.0 and water and use it to water the plants. Does anyone know how to do something like this with a 3/4 inch PVC irrigation line. Or does anyone know a better way to do this? Also I have a seedless red grape and some Chardoney grape vives on the same irrigation line that I could include or exclude in the PH adjustment. Would they do better on it or off it? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by petzold6596 8b southern NM (My Page) on Thu, May 7, 09 at 17:09
| Lowering the pH is a hard and perpetual process. Use a half cup of Sulfur/100 ft. sq. once a year for three years. Test the pH at the start of the fourth year. Continue applying Sulfur if necessary. I don't know about altering the pH of water but 7.0 is okay in my book. Water from major waterways is at best 6.8 so 7.0 is just fine. |
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| I was told that the bluewberrys require a much lower PH than 7.0. It is because they do not have a good root dtructure and require a lower PH to get the nutrients out of the soil. I was also told that if I add sulfur the 7.0 PH water will quickly change the PH back to 7.0. |
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- Posted by petzold6596 8b southern NM (My Page) on Fri, May 8, 09 at 19:16
| BB like a pH of 6.0 or so. By adding the Sulfur every year you begin to "acidity" the soil so after three years you should see a drop in pH. To what level, that's why you test in year four. I don't understand your last sentence!!!! Rephrase it. |
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| I have similar problems, only worse. I have trouble even growing vegies because my water and soil pH is so high. I built raised beds with imported soil. I'm considering injecting sulfuric acid to lower my water pH also. The guys at the link below, have told me that their products will work just fine for acid injection. For blueberries, I would transplant into large containers with azalea mix and use pH adjusted water. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Injector products
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- Posted by petzold6596 8b southern NM (My Page) on Tue, Jun 2, 09 at 21:46
| Dirtydan, I would ask for references that use their fertilizer injection system for water pH adjustments. Water pH adjusting is not as straight forward as fertilizer injection. I suggest you contact a hydrologist at the Ag college and get their take on the subject. Oh, there are a few vegs that will grow in alkaline soil but I don't have a list at hand. |
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| I agree Petz, pH adjustments are a bit different due to varying buffering capacity of different water supplies. In addition, my water supply is a mix of aqueduct and well water which changes at the whim of the Los Angeles County Waterworks. ph here flucuates from 8 to 10 and a local nursery says they have measured it as high as pH 11. I have a couple years experience using acid to adjust water pH in hydroponic systems, but the automated injectors are a whole new game for me. Never had water this bad before either. My tomatoes are looking chlorotic and growing slowly at the moment. |
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- Posted by petzold6596 8b southern NM (My Page) on Wed, Jun 3, 09 at 17:29
| With a water pH that high I'm not surprised about the condition of your plants. Have you looked into a 'reverse osmosis' water conditioning system? I know people here in Las Cruces that have them and love the results. |
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| RO units waste too much water for my liking. I got rid of mine. A home RO unit delivering 5 gallons of treated water per day may discharge 40 to 90 gallons of waste water per day. I know that some vineyards here in CA use acid injectors with good success. Those are big commercial setups, way beyond the scope of what I am doing with my backyard garden. I would love to grow blueberries too. They would certainly die here without imported soil and acidic water. I like the idea of supplying slightly acidic water to my alkaline soil for an overall improvement in plant nutrient availabily. The only question is whether I can get good results with the small fertilizer injectors that are currently on the market |
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| My plants are showing nutrient deficiencies so I did a somewhat unscientific test today. Bought a pH meter and calibrating solution from a local hyrdroponics store, aluminum sulphate from a nursery, some plastic cups and distilled water. Added 1/2 cup distilled water to 1/2 cup garden soil and mixed thoroughly. Calibrated the meter then tested the muddy water after it settled a bit. pH measured 8.2. From what I understand, that's high enough to cause nutrient availability problems. Added a small amount of aluminum sulfate to the mixture. retested and the pH measured 4.0. A few minutes later the pH had stablized at 6.0. I havent tested with tap water yet but I expect less dramatic results due to the alkalinity of my tap water. Aluminum sulfate might be a good short term solution to lowering pH in soil and keep your blueberries happy. I just applied a small amount to all of my vegetables. |
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- Posted by petzold6596 8b southern NM (My Page) on Fri, Jun 5, 09 at 22:16
| Talk with a retired Agronomist from New Mexico State about lowering pH. He said about 20 years ago they did a test plot on a pH 8 soil using a one time application of sewerage sludge. It lowered the pH to about 6.5 for about 5 yrs. A thought. I get my sludge free. |
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