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| Just last night, I built a raised bed about 5 feet long. Used sphagnum peat moss (dry brick type), bagged organic garden soil and my native soil that is very sandy and said to be acidic. These ingredients are in thirds. I didn't know about the peat being acidic! I plan on planting cardinal flower and Jack-in-the-pulpit in this mostly shady bed. Will the addition of the peat cause too much acidity? Should I lime or add wood ash? These forums have been incredibly helpful as I get back into gardening. Thanks so much! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 12:22
| did you wet the peat and break it completely down [a dusty mess if dry].. before working it in the mix??? the first time i did NOT... it was still dry.. years later ... ken |
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- Posted by pitimpinai z6 Chicago (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 15:07
| The amount of peat moss is OK. But did you wet it down as Ken said before mixing it with other soil? If not, you need to break up the pack & wet it thouroughly then mix it well with the soil leaving no dry pockets or it will be useless to the plants. |
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- Posted by bossyvossy 9a (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 15:12
| third vote on needs to be THOROUGHLY wet |
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| If not, would a little soap in some water help it to take on moisture? Just a thought. I can't speak to the acid issue. Maybe look up the PH requirements for what you want to plant. When I was younger and the soil in my house plants was so bone dry the water would sit on top, I'd put a few drops of dish soap in the watering can and the plants would soak up the water nicely. Who knew that years and years later I'd be stressing plants in the same manner except on a larger scale! And no, I don't do Jerry Baker recipes! |
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- Posted by KineticEntity zone 5a (My Page) on Tue, Sep 9, 14 at 6:37
| Good thing I haven't planted in it yet! I will shovel it out, soak it in a wheelbarrow and see what happens. Can anyone speak on the acidity factor? Does peat effect the ph so much that I can only plant acid loving plants? Thank you all for your help! |
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| I'm soooo confused. If you made even a perfunctory effort to mix the ingredients, how are you going to scoop out the peat moss? It will be impossible. And if you did, there's no reason to. Just put about 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap in a 2 gallon watering can and pour it over 3 sq. yards of the mix. Wait til the next rain. If it doesn't fully hydrate, try again. EDIT: wait, I just had a crazy idea. Did you try to do it like cake layers or something? Well, yeah, that was bad. Don't do that. A thin layer of an improvement over top of a soil is ok in some cases, but not several thick layers. I've mixed in small amounts of sphagnum with a huge cat 1 tiller, over 1/2 acre by now. There's no need to even add detergent in that case. It will be mixed so fine with the soil it will hydrate after a couple rains assisted by microbial action in the soil. Pre-wetting ANY soil additive seems extremely tedious and unnecessary to me. Yes, you can pre-wet a _finished_ soil mix, for potting, but that's a different circumstance entirely. |
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| Being as they're both eastern woodland (oak woods), they're going to be at least accepting of mid to higher level acidity. Some wood ash (if available) wouldn't be bad to sweeten the soil a bit and add some potash to your sandy soil. Don't overdo it. |
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| Yes, it sounds too acidic to me. I would probably add some lime or dolomitic lime to bring the pH up. We have alkaline soil so I use peat moss all the time to bring the pH down and to help with texture. In terms of mixing and wetting, as long as it's all mixed together it's just great. For me it all blends together really nicely to make a fluffy, appealing mixture. If you want the same effect but without the acid, use coconut coir. You buy it in a small, compressed brick, put it in a big rubbermaid tub, add water and come back the next day, only to be shocked at how much it expands. Then you use it like peat moss. It is also much more sustainable than peat moss since it is a byproduct of coconuts. Good luck, happy planting! |
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- Posted by KineticEntity zone 5a (My Page) on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 7:33
| Thank you all for your help! I dug out much of the bed, hosing it all as I shoveled it back in while adding a bit of wood ash and a little dish soapy water with a watering can. It looks pretty good but time will tell! Love the coconut voir idea. Will check that out! Thanks again and Happy Gardening! |
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