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| what are you successfully growing that typically would prefer a higher or lower PH? Also are there any other considerations as to why your plants might be more adaptable? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by formandfoliage 9b (Sunset zone 15) (My Page) on Mon, Dec 3, 12 at 19:43
| My soil pH is just about neutral and much to my disappointment I cannot grow Pieris japonica...I love them and I love the way that they look with conifers but I have tried and tried and they curl up and die. They don't need super-acidic soil, just a tad to the acidic side of neutral (that damn logarithmic scale...) I imagine I would not be successful with Rhododendron, but they don't work here for a host of other reasons. I also gave up on Oxydendrum arboretum for the same reason as the Pieris. What about you? |
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- Posted by greenthumbzdude (My Page) on Mon, Dec 3, 12 at 20:48
| I have a basic soil. Cant grow rhodies or azaleas. I even had an american chestnut hybrid die (leaves turned yellow). It doesnt help that my father added tons of lime to the soil to allow grass to grow (it was a christmas tree farm back in the day)...previously very acidic. Now I have black walnuts everywhere. |
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| I have acid soil. I've never done a soil test on the original part, but there are 40' plus oxydendrum trees in the woods. I had a soil map for a piece of land I bought adjacent to my original piece. I can't find it but I remember a section having a Ph of 4. The farmers routinely lime their soils every 4-6 years. They grow mostly corn, beans, and hay/pasture.
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| I was told that most of my lot was part of a potato farm. Its a fairly sandy soil and my guess as far as PH was between 6.5 and 7. The N, P and K levels are sufficient and organic matter is 3%. From the samples I took the PH ranges from 7.4 to 7.5. A bit higher than expected but still within the neutral range (6.5-7.5). As far as evergreens, shrubs and deciduous trees, I'm growing most all hardy species to zone 5 . Need a couple more years to see how the Rhodies react but I'm growing several. From what I can tell the only plants I won't be able to grow are Pin Oak, Pieris and Sourwood. Basically the few plants that don't tolerate neutral soil. So based on my experience thus far you can grow almost anything in a neutral PH, even the high end, unless you have something else going on with your soil (ie soil texture or other lacking nutrients).
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| You think 7.5 is not alkali enough for pin oak? |
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| Based on my reasearch Pin Oak won't tolerant anything more than the upper range of 6. Had to do a bit of digging to get this but based on soil maps of my lot I have a Hochheim Loam. This was the only definition I could find. Probably call the County Ext. to get a better definition. Hochheim is a new one to me. HOCHHEIM SERIES The Hochheim series consists of well drained soils which are shallow or moderately deep to a densic contact with till. These soils formed in loamy till, typically with a thin loess mantle, on drumlins and ground moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 762 mm (30 inches). Mean annual air temperature is about 8.9 degrees C (48 degrees F). |
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- Posted by gardenapprentice none (My Page) on Tue, Dec 4, 12 at 20:15
| I checked my soil it was about 5.9-6.3 which is great for most things, i have rhododendrons, azaleas, dogwoods (3 that were already their, will be loosing one because new neighbors want them :[ ) I'm growing hydrangeas also which are endless summer blooms, and i have a crape myrtle that was transplanted last year |
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