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bobvisaa

Compost PH above 7.0

bobvisaa
10 years ago

My finished compost has a ph greater than 7, is this a problem? Should I add sulfer to bring the ph down?

Comments (14)

  • Kimmsr
    10 years ago

    What is the pH? That the apparent pH is greater than 7.0 means little,

  • robertz6
    10 years ago

    Do not be in a hurry to take any action that may not be needed.

    Questions I have:
    1) What do you use the compost for?
    2) What is the pH of your soil?
    3) What plants or flowers would you be planting?
    4) What are the ingredients in your compost?

  • toxcrusadr
    10 years ago

    Also, how did you determine the pH?

  • ericwi
    10 years ago

    The only way to measure the pH of compost, that I can think of, would be to run some water through it and collect the drippings at the bottom. If you do this, you would have to use distilled or equivalent de-ionized water, so that you knew the water was pH = 7 to begin with.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    To measure pH of composted material is the same as measuring the pH of your garden soil.

    -- Take a sample and proceed from there.

  • robertz6
    10 years ago

    Seysonn: I'm a bit puzzled. Did you mean the pH is measured the same way for soil and compost; or that the pH would be the same for both?

    Thanks.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    I said the measuring technique/method should be the same not the value.

  • toxcrusadr
    10 years ago

    Generally that's a 50-50 mix of the sample and distilled water, stir, allow to equilibrate for a few minutes, and test.

    Hopefully you are using a good calibrated meter, as the inexpensive ones sold in the garden section are often dodgy.

  • Kimmsr
    10 years ago

    That is distilled water that was tested by your pH meter, which was calibrated for neutral (7.0) before mixing the soil in the water.
    We always allowed the sample to sit, covered, for an hour before attempting a reading, although the soil testing labs most often test immediately after filling the sample with water of a known pH level.

    This post was edited by kimmsr on Sat, Jan 4, 14 at 7:06

  • toxcrusadr
    10 years ago

    Distilled water may not actually have a pH of 7, but it's OK because it has virtually no buffering capacity so it takes almost nothing to change it. It's not really necessary or relevant to test the pH of distilled water, and you couldn't calibrate a pH meter with it because of the instability. As long as it's distilled, the soil will bring it to the proper soil pH.

    I would want to calibrate the meter at or near the expected soil pH if only a single point calibration is possible, or at two points bracketing if the meter is capable (such as 6 and 8). Also depends on what cal buffers you are able to get.

  • albert_135   39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
    10 years ago

    I should like to thank toxcrusadr for the post on calibration above. This is useful information.

  • Kimmsr
    10 years ago

    Every pH meter I have looked at or used had directions about how to calibrate them and what to use for that calibration.

  • toxcrusadr
    10 years ago

    OMG you read directions? How rare! :-] I posted with the assumption that many do not, or couldn't find them if they wanted to.

  • sand_mueller
    10 years ago

    Composts are now frequently becoming too salty because we have either ruined or mishandled our manures. chemical agriculture in particular is salt agriculture.