North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lee Reich <lreich@hvc.rr.com>]

Most organic materials temporarily lower the soil pH as they decompose, and then the pH rises to its previous level. High levels of humus, derived from organic materials, do allow plants to tolerate a wider range of apparent pH, though.

Those chips and needles are excellent mulch for blueberries but should not be relied on to lower the pH. Use pelletized sulfur. This material is merely elemental sulfur pressed into pellets so that it is easier and less dusty to apply. As a rough guide,  use three-quarters of a pound per hundred square feet in sandy soils, or two pounds per hundred square feet in loams, for each pH unit that the soil is initially above a pH of 4.5. 

Lee Reich, PhD

http://www.leereich.com/

Books by Lee Reich:

A Northeast Gardener's Year

The Pruning Book

Weedless Gardening

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

Landscaping with Fruit

On Oct 25, 2009, at 8:09 AM, jerrydana5@aol.com wrote:

 I had the good fortune  ( I think) of getting a truck load of chipped up pine needles and twigs when the electric company trimmed trees around lines around here. They were glad to dump them on my property.  Would they be good mulch for my blueberry plants?    I have trouble keeping the ph low enough even with sphagnum peat moss and adding some sulfur. I have heard that pine needles and oak leaves are somewhat acid, only to hear from other that this is not true.  Can somebody enlighten me?  Jerry in southern Indiana

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