Finally figured out my Soil problems

[journey11]

What digital meter do you use?

This is the one I've been using for a couple of seasons now. You just dampen the soil with water, poke it in and firm down the soil around it if needed to get a reading.

 

[ninnymary]

Journey, I'm not able to see that link.

Mary

 

[journey11]

Journey, I'm not able to see that link.

Mary

Their site seems to be down right now. I can't get it to load again either. ETA: Well, very slow anyway... Here's a pic of it:

 

[hoodat]

.. yeah, cause setting your compost pile on fire and turning it to a smoldering pile of ash is a bummer!

Been there, done that when I added ashes from a BBQ to my compost. I guess it wasn't all burned out.
The smoke drifted over the rabbit cages and they wouldn't come out of the shelter boxes for two days.

 

[hoodat]

Ah yes. Have to watch that in some parts of the country. All the gardening books tell us to put lime on the soil. Better know your Ph before doing that! I lived where the ph was very high for years. Never add lime, even wood ashes can be really detrimental when you're already at 7 or more. Yet all the gardening experts say to add them. That's because in most of the country, it's needed.

Pine needle mulches and lots of organic matter, compost, etc. help with that. A very light dusting of Sulfur (labeled often as dusting sulfur, sometimes as soil sulfur) is a good way to lower it too. And that only needs doing once a year or less. But be very sparing.

If you have alkaline soil use gypsum instead of lime. You still get the calcium but it contains sulfer which the soil turns into acid.

 

[canesisters]

@hoodat!!!

How have you been?

 

[hoodat]

Doing fine. Thanks for asking. I've been kind of busy now that our drought seems to have finally broken. Believe it or not the soil is too wet to work right now. I've been just letting the garden go to weeds for two years outside of a few salad patches so I have a big mess to clear up. I think I'll forget about a Winter garden and just concentrate on getting things back under control for Spring. After I get the weeds out I have huge piles of rabbit manure to till in.