Acid Water?

Elm237

I know that if you add vinager to water it is good for acid loving plants. What would the ratio of water to vinegar be per gallon for a rhodendern{I know I mis spelled that}.Thanks

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Elm237

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Aaron_K

I've no idea on the ratios for this Elm. Perhaps the best thing would be to get a PH testing kit or some litmus paper (I think that was the stuff we used in school) to measure the acidity as you go?

There are other ways you can make your water more acidic, without the smell of vinegar. Fill an old stocking with sphagnum moss peat and tie off the top. Next Fill a large bucket or sump with water. Then place the peat filled stocking in the water and leave it for a week. The organic matter in the stocking will leech humic acids into the water making it more acidic.

Water like this occurs naturally in such places as the Amazon where all the foliage and dead wood, makes its way into the rivers and streams lowering the PH to 5 or less in some instances. Tonnes of humic acids and tannin are released into the water. There are many chemicals treatments you can purchase, but personally, I prefer doing it the natural way.

All the best,

Aaron

jjeter

Check the pH of the soil before you add any acid. Test kits are available at most nurseries. Unless you are 100% inorganic with no akadama, kanuma or Turface or other fired clay, you are probably a little acid to begin with. Kanuma has a pH of about 5.5 to 6. We had some akadama tested by our club and the pH was about 6.25. You can easily kill a plant by being to acid (pH below 5) or alkaline (pH above 9). Miracid would be a better choice. It is more balanced for acid loving plants. Otherwise, go slow and changea little at a time. A big change (more than 1 pH, from 7 to 6) would be more harmful than leaving the pH at 7. I found I was better paying a little more for soil (kanuma) that had the right pH than worrying about the right pH.


Jeff
Likes bonsai with flowers.

Bart Thomas(deceased)

I'm with Jeff on this. Check to see if you really need it.

Here on the East Coast of the US, we sometimes spread a little lime (maybe a teaspoon) on top of the soil of our junipers. It seems to green them up nicely.

It is speculated that this is made necessary by the acidity of our rain.

I recall seeing a research report that indicated that potted plants were less sensitive to moderate changes in pH. Don't recall why.