LOW PH ..... a hidden threat !

[Syed Adnan]

Initially, I wasn't much serious of checking the PH of the soil in pots.
But before embarking into putting up Annual flowers I just gave it a try, to my surprise the PH found to be 4.5 !
I believe it is not healthy.
Any suggestion how can it be improved ? is it required to be improved? why ?

[M Farooq]

A pH of 4.5 is quite acidic. When you tested this pot soil, were any plants growing in those pots or is it just fresh garden soil from a bag? If it is fresh pot soil, wash it with water till you see brown colour leaching from the bottom of them pot and let it sit for a day or so. Does the pH increase?

You might add a very small amount of lime or crushed egg shells, if the pH stays so low.

[khabbab]

Strange, i checked my garden soil PH with the kit you sent that was 7.5 and my tap water was 8. I now usually add sulphur and ferrous sulphate on all my plants. I had added some peat moss to my plants believing that it will lower the PH but now i noticed that the peat moss bag was already treated with lime to balance the PH to 6.5. I use lots of FS and sulphur as i am growing many gardenias and magnolias they all require low PH.

[Syed Adnan]

This soil is from last year pots , plants like Petunia , Vinca , Coleus have grown in these and well established ladt year. Crossandra and Jasmine doing fine but Carnation, Tube rose and Caladiums are hating it. I have just sown some Pentas which are growing and budding exuberantly but have brown leaf tips.
Farooq what if I leave the PH as acidic as it is now. How can I increase PH of the already potted plants?
Khabab when I was in Saudi , I had PH 8 and I used vinegar in watering to bring it less than 7.
I am using potting soil based on wood bark.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[M Farooq]

Adnan, I think you can try mixing finely crushed egg shells with your soil. Egg shells are almost >99% pure calcium carbonate. Is little bit of lime (calcium hydroxide) available? I might suggest to err on the side of acidic pH, since plants will rarely like alkaline soil.

I am little doubtful about accuracy of the pH indicator. For sure, it must have been tested very well, but a pH of 4.5 with healthy plant growth says something otherwise. You may know that a famous scientist used to say "Theory guides, experiment decides". This is exactly your case. Check the pH of vinegar with it and see what is the reading.

[Syed Adnan]

Just found quite unacceptable results, very low PH in one batch of potting mix. Last year soil mix also shown very low PH. A healthy PH on a fresh Miracle Grow potting mix also observed.

Looks like PH meter is OK but I am surprised how Jasmine and tube roses surviving in these low PH soils.
M


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saadmubeen]

From where can i get hydrometer and ph meters?

پاکستان زندہ باد