Pam wrote in message ...
simy1 wrote:

Pam wrote in message ...

Bottom line - amending the soil in a correct manner is a good thing.
Attempting to significantly adjust soil pH is generally an exercise in
futility and can destroy a rather fragile ecological balance.

So, if the pH in the area surrounding my veggie garden is 5.0 (it is),
I can forget about beets and asparagus? They both prefer at least 6.5.
Indeed, of the
veggies that prefer around 7.0, only lettuce does consistently well.
Garlic does OK, chard cabbage cardoon onions and tatsoi are relatively
small. I do not have a fetish about having huge veggies, just trying
to understand the pattern. I certainly have success with acid tolerant
radicchio and tomatoes.
I spread enough wood ash every spring, incidentally, to bring the pH
around 6.5. And the beds are more than 50% organic matter and most of
their surface is mulched with wood chips or leaves most of the time. I
manure the beds every two years. Under the beds the soil is probably
even more acid than the surroundings, having been a boggy area for a
long time.

I have also noticed that the soil near concrete has a pH of 6.5 or
higher (using the color charts provided with the kits). The pH is
permanent as long as the lime source is permanent.

Most veggies do prefer neutral to slight alkaline soils - have you considered using
raised beds? That way you can add soil that will be a suitable pH for the veggies
without trying to constantly change the existing soil acidity.

I don't see the point. You just said that ultimately raised beds will
take the pH of the surroundings. Also, beet roots go down six feet.
Should one think about six feet deep beds?


And depending on the
source of the wood chips, they could be contributing to the acidity. Using a coarse
wood product as a mulch maybe not a great idea in a vegetable garden, anyway - it
does tend to tie up nitrogen at least through the first few inches of the soil,
which is where the bulk of the feeder roots are located. I used to use compost as a
mulch for my veggies.......when I was able to grow them in a former, more sunny
garden.

I have not seen that, either. Perhaps because I tend to use wood chips
together with wood ash, and I always put a layer of high N compost
underneath (kitchen scraps). Also, I am willing to bet that, say,
sawdust is relatively worse, as N tying is largely a surface effect.

What I am trying to say is that, if this pH hypothesis is really true,
then adding compost or building beds does little to correct it. One
still has to lime every single year, and plants with deep roots and a
liking for neutral pH still suffer if the site is not right.