i would have to agree with a lot of what "gardengal" says below.

i have soil ph at 7.7 and despite adding mountains of organic matter over
the last 3 years, i've yet to get it to budge closer to neutral. my soil is
a sandy loam and with all the organic matter, my garden is more robust than
any of my friend's/family's. so, soil ph of 7.6 can be a limiting factor but
only to the point that you're unwilling to improve your soil. ph of 6.5 is
near perfect for most veggies. it's also possible to lower your ph using
sulfur but many studies suggest that any gain you get is offset by the
negative effects of sulfur.

bottomline - organic matter fixes all soil problems - with fall on the
horizon, rescue as many bags of leaves from the curbside and til them into
your soil this fall. keep doing this til your soil can hold no more (i til
in at least 12 inces every fall). by the time u plant next spring, the
leaves will have rotted into your soil. repeat every fall and watch your
soil pay dividends....


"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:EXIVc.202878$eM2.97445@attbi_s51...

"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 21:27:25 -0400, Gary and Karen Manning wrote:

I just received my soil test. It indicated a ph of 7.6. When I
called
the company that did the test, they said that 7.6 was not a problem.
Other
tests was about normal. The organic mater was 5.4. The reason I
ordered
the test that nothing grows very well. What is your thought on this?

Thanks

Gary


7.6 is fine for most plants. It's middle of the scale. Some plants
(Azaleas, Rhodies for example) like a sightly more acidic soil, in the
5.+ range.


I think one can make the argument that a pH of 7.6 is not the middle of
the
scale and may be more detrimental than not. The changes in pH is a
logarithmic progression with each point being a 10 fold increase over the
preceeding. Therefore, ericaceous plants like rhododendrons and azaleas
which would prefer a soil pH in the 4.5 to 5.2 range or more than 100
times
more acidic than the existing 7.6 conditions. Hardly "slightly " more
acidic.

By far the majority of plants will thrive in soils with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0
or slightly acidic to neutral. Too much digression in either direction
will
limit the nutrient availability and restrict the selection. If given a
choice, I'd err on the side of more acidic soil rather one that is more
alkaline.

While soil pH is definitely an important consideration, it is, as paghat
has
pointed out, only one consideration in determining how well plants will
survive in the landscape. There are many other issues which may have as
large if not a larger bearing on plant health. Without knowing in more
detail exactly what your soil and growing conditions are like, it is
pretty
difficult to speculate on why your plants are not thriving.

pam - gardengal