Sorry, another blueberry question

[Lannie]

I've searched the past blueberry threads and gotten quite a bit of information, but I still have a problem. I have two nice blueberry bushes in 1 gallon pots that I picked up yesterday when we were in town. "Town" is 105 miles from here, and especially now with the price of gas where it is, we don't go except once a month.

My problem is, I have no idea what the pH of my garden soil is, and we can't make another 200 mile round trip to have our soil tested. I need to get the blueberries in the ground soon, and the people at the nursery recommended a bag of aluminum sulfate as fertilizer. Of course, the amount to use depends on what the current pH is. Therein lies my problem. I didn't know I had to know the exact pH, and I don't want to kill these blueberries right off the bat.

I remember hearing or reading something about testing your soil pH with baking soda... I think... I know this wouldn't be very precise, but if there's some kind of test I can do at home to give me a general idea, at least I'd have a starting point. Honestly, I'm afraid to plant these stupid berry bushes now after reading all the warnings and cautions about proper soil, mulch, fertilizer, water, etc. I have peat moss. I have pine needles. I have aluminum sulfate. I have leaf litter. Can I get by planting with what I have on hand, or did I just waste $40 on two "walking dead" blueberry bushes? This is soooo depressing! I've never in my life ever been afraid to plant something!

~Lannie

[suburbanite]

If you mix in about 50% peat moss you should be fine, whatever your starting soil pH was.

[IowaLez]

Why not mail order a simple soil testing kit from a garden company online?

[turtlehead]

We dumped peat in when we planted our blueberries, and we're east of the Mississippi so more acidic than you. We didn't do a pH but we had done one for the garden which is nearby. Still.... I second the vote to put in a lot of peat.

[Lannie]

Originally Posted by LezlieinCA

Why not mail order a simple soil testing kit from a garden company online?

Because I don't know how long it would take for it to get here, then testing, then amending, etc. I wanted to get these in the ground as soon as possible.

I think I'm going to just go dig a couple of big holes, mix the dirt with peat, about half-and-half, and mulch with pine needles. I'll save the aluminum sulfate for later, when I CAN test the pH, or if I notice any yellowing of the leaves, which I gather is a clue the pH is too high. When we go to town next month, I'll see about taking some soil samples in to the extension office or the university. I haven't done that since we moved here, simply because everything grows so well in this soil, but I guess it would be a good idea to do it anyway.

~Lannie

[COSunflower]

Don't fret Lannie, I've got two blueberry plants to plant also and was wondering about the ph too...I'll do the peat moss thing also and mulch with coffee grounds. Good luck!

[peekin]

I plant mine in pure peat, and have never lost one. Once they get settled in, they appreciate a little Coca Cola, too.

[Jenn]

Lannie sounds like you have a good plan. Maybe even higher percent peat moss, and use rain water not well water if possible. Where are you in SD? Might be able to guess soil pH... I bet the west is even more alkaline than the east. I know the East of SD whence I came from grows lilacs well, and I've never seen rhododendrons there which also like acid soil. I hear lilacs like alkaline soil and in England they say you can either grow rhododendrons (and azaleas) or lilacs not both- and within a few dozen miles from each other, in the same county where I lived, there are both- pockets of different sorts of soil I guess from the old sea beds.

In TX which is VERY alkaline I grew them in pots.

[Lannie]

Sorry, Peekin, there is no Coca-Cola on our property. We won't touch the stuff. (Do people really pour Coke on their plants??)

My peat situation isn't as good as I thought - I don't have enough to mix 50/50 with the size holes I dug (about 2' x 2'), so I guess I'm going to mix in a handful of that aluminum sulfate when I plant. I was going to do it today, but we had a series of big T-storms and torrential rains, so I stayed in. Tomorrow I get to go out and try to mix a wheelbarrow full of MUD with my peat. Oh, joy!

By the way, we're in western SD, and we have lilacs everywhere. The guy who lived here before us used them as part of his shelterbelt, so there are at least hundreds of them, if not thousands, and they require no care whatsoever, so I guess that means we're alkaline. (Rhodies won't grow in this zone anyway, they're a zone 6 or 7 plant I thought - I had them when I lived in Portland but it's a lot warmer there.)

Anyway, I'll do the best I can with what I have and hope for the best. Thanks for the ideas!

~Lannie

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

How many inches of rain do you average?? Rule of thumb is if less than 42 inches per year (does not apply to Pacific NW) then you have alkaline soil. To grow them in Texas we plant them in really large pots in PURE PEAT MOSS and only water with rainwater. Fertilize with Miracid.

Good Luck.

[pixelphotograph]

You never add anything to your soil till you know what it needs.
Check with http://www.outsidepride.com/store/ca...t-p-16341.html
This is a cheap home test kit. You may want a more detailed information than that though if so GOOGLE soil testing or check with your local Ag Agent in your county and see if they will mail you the info. They should.