acidify soil after planting blueberries?

 

   I planted 6 blueberry plants today, in a hedge along the south side
of  my house.  My experience with blueberries comes from planting a
couple of plants back in the middle 80's.  Both died, because our
underlying bedrock is limestone, and we have a pH of around 7.5

   I figured I'd get some aluminum sulphate, elemental sulphur, or
ammonium sulphate.  Trouble is, none of the garden centers, big stores
or home improvement centers around here seem to carry any of these.
Many of them have bags of lime, however, which I can't figure out why
anybody around here would use. (soil is already naturally alkaline)

   I've tried K-mart, Kroger, Lowe's, Home Depot, Meijer.

   Can anyone recommend a chain store that carries one of these?  Little
garden centers around here are no longer in business.

                                                Thanks!

 



Can you ask a store to order elemental sulfur for you? The sulfur you
put on NOW, will affect next year's crop. Is there an university Ag.
extension, or master gardeners in your phone book, that you could ask
where to buy elemental sulfur? Potatoes are like blueberries in their pH
needs, and it seems most vegetables like the soil, a little on the
acidic side, so it seems like a reasonable thing for a garden center to
carry. Worse comes to worse, order it on the internet, and then keep
pushing your local gardening centers to carry it.
Try Home Despot
<http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspSto
reDir=hdus&catalogId053&productId0606947&navFlow=3&keyword=sulfur&l
angId=-1&searchRedirect=sulfur&storeId051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot
.sa.el.wc.integration.endeca.EndecaDataBean%405bd411b2&ddkey=Search>
They should be able to deliver it to the store.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

 

wrote:


Here is a link to the Ag. extension offices in the US.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

It's a good idea to start with them.  They have the best information
about your area.  Looks like Ohio has an office in every county.  If
there are any farms in your area, look for a farm store.  The
extension agent would know if there are any.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a

 




    Lowes does, down here in FL. It is with their organic stuff.
"Espoma 'Garden Sulfur'". Here's an image from the Lowes web site:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_207722-1321-GSUL5_4294935970_4294937087?productId024117
    Of course, your post begs the question, "If you knew about the pH,
then why didn't you prepare your planting site? Backfilling your
planting holes with pure pine bark or peat moss would have suited your
blueberries just fine. Blueberry culture is identical to azalea culture
or citrus culture. Commercial growers feed azalea fertilizer blends to
blueberries which, along with citrus blends, contains acidifying
constituents.
    If you need to acidify your blueberries quickly, I suggest diluted
vinegar. Dilute and appy 1/4 cup of standard otc distilled vinegar in 2
gal of water on 24 sq ft. Try to keep if off leaves. For my small beds,
a simple 2-gal. watering can works well. Vinegar has several advantages:
Quick effect; low "proof" so that you don't "overdo" and that may be
applied frequently; contains no potentially harmful minerals or salts.
Sulfur is a secondary nutrient needed to form proteins but sulfur
residues and salts are not necessarily beneficial to plants and/or
soil-dwelling organisms. Personally, I apply sulfur only as ferrous
sulfate and then very rarely and only for its long-term effects. For
fast, short term response, though, I acidify with vinegar and then add
liquid chelated iron, if necessary.
    I was employed by a small-time commercial blueberry grower in the
early part of the last decade. Here in peninsular FL, commercial
blueberries are not even planted in the soil but are grown on hilled
rows of 100% pine bark. Where I worked, after their annual pruning, the
plants receive a top dressing of pine bark, a good healthy annual dose
of humic acid and a side of commercial slow-release azalea fertilizer.
--
the Balvenieman
USDA zone 9b, U.S.A. peninsular Florida
"You know what they say: Once you kill a cow,
You gotta make a burger" --Lady Gaga

 

balvenieman@invalid.net wrote:

<snip>



I have 3 planted in peat, in my limited space. My second year with them,
and have only cut dead branches. Lot of berries for small bushes, at
least I'm happy.

Care to say anything about pruning?

   Jeff

  the