Terry Coombs wrote:
Â* Picked up a couple of plants yesterday , and am pretty sure we're
going to have to make the soil more acidic for them . Planting area was
formerly oak/mixed hardwood forest .

elemental sulphur powder is a quick change.
of course rains will leach it away if you have
the site elevated and drainage is away.

all the organic matter you can use will tend
to make things more acidic (DNA/RNA are acids
after all and so too are the results of
decomposition aka humus/humic acids)... but mainly
they are good for longer term buffering.

your other sulphur compounds are often useful
but i try to avoid adding things that may bring
along other contaminants.


It's been recommended to use
sawdust as a mulch to help with that , along with peat moss . I'm
wondering if the "litter" from my wood cutting and splitting will work
for that . Some chainsaw chips , some bark , some just chips from
splitting . There's also a good amount of composted/partly composted
stuff from previous years that I can use .

bark is very good humus builder. leaves/leaf mold
looks exactly like peat moss after a few years in
the ground. chainsaw chips may not be the best
depends upon the oil you use for lube.

all the partially composted stuff will be prime.


songbird