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Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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Posted by
emcd124 5 (
My Page) on
Tue, Nov 13, 12 at 17:09
| My soil tests on my garden soil (raised beds, 50% compost from the city supply and 50% bagged garden soil) and my lawn showed both to have a high pH of 7.5. My understanding is that most veges prefer to be in the 6.5 to 6.8 range, and that perhaps bringing the lawn ph down would also help the grass outcompete weeds.
I was thinking that perhaps a little spreading of UCG with my lawn spreader might gradually help lower the pH as it composts into the lawn. I've read studies that when UCG are composted in together with other elements the finished compost has a neutral pH, but at least one study that pure UCG were acidic (as you might think) and therefore applying UCG only might lower ph.
1. Anyone tried spreading UCG to help lower soil ph?
2. Is there any specific harm in doing so? Will spreading it thinly on my lawn fry my grass because in its uncomposted state it is TOO acidic? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| Sorry, but it's not at all acidic. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| The used coffee grounds test as basic. I use lots of them. Hard to use (for me) in a spreader because they're so wet. I just toss handfuls, rake to spread clumps. Love how they disappear so quickly, think the worms must love them. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| There will not be a significant enough change in your soils pH to warrent using coffee grounds to change it. Most everything I have seen about the pH of coffee grounds puts them in the 6.0 to 6.8 range, although some sources report them to be about 3.0. Over many years of using shredded tree leaves with pH's ranging in the 3.2 to 3.8 range and finding my soils pH to have increased from 5.7 to 7.2 I doubt that coffee grounds would be of any use in changing a soils pH. Since coffee grounds are organic matter they will be of benefit, just as any other organic matter would. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| The vast majority of the acid in coffee beans ends up in the brewed coffee. I expect they are weakly acidic. I would be surprised if a good pH test actually showed them to be alkaline at all, since we know the roasted beans are acidic. Also, the acids that are there are organic acids, not mineral acids, so any effect on pH would be very temporary. But they should be great organic matter for the lawn and will not burn if applied directly. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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- Posted by jolj 7b/8a-S.C.,USA (My Page) on
Wed, Nov 14, 12 at 21:15
I have a soil test from 3/16/2009 on coffee chaff with a soil pH of 6.7 that was not brewed.
Another soil test from 03/18/2011 on coffee chaff with a soil pH of 6.6 that was not brewed.
It also had 0.88% calcium,0.41% magnesium, 0.28% sulfur, zinc 20 ppm,copper 56 ppm, manganese 63 ppm , Iron 1315 ppm,
Organic Matter 90.40%
6.0 pH is on the upper end of acidic scale. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| The pH scale ranges from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkalin) with 7.0 as neutral. Tree leaves that I have tested (crumpled into distilled water, allowed to sit for a minimum of 24 hours, and measured on a laboratory pH meter) had a pH range between 3.2 (Maple) to 3.8 (chestnut) but the soil pH where these leaves were added did not become more acidic and instead has changed from 5.7 to 7.2 over the years without the addition of any lime. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| jolj, I had to look up chaff because I've heard of it but not seen it. It's mentioned here once in awhile. It's apparently bits of skin from the outside of the beans that comes off during roasting. This might explain why it is not quite as acidic as the roasted beans. |
RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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RE: Amending soil with UCGs to bring down pH?
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| An overall composting plan can use coffee grounds to speed up the process, but it won't be a quick fix. It takes years to improve the soil. Sulfur is a quick fix, but you have to keep up with in, it is never finished. If you add vinegar to the water you water with, it will bring down the ph. I wish I could rig up a system to add vinegar to the water I use with the hose, as my water is very alkaline. But, if you use too much of these things you can damage plants. I am not sure of the correct amounts, but I am always very sparing. But, using straight coffee grounds on the soil is not a great. It will attract flies and form a hard crust, grow mold, lot of drawback to this. But, if you use them in your overall program they will work great. There is a lot of information on coffee grounds if you search this forum. |
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