I don't know a lot on the topic and I don't know what pH southern soilnormally is. But my statement only address the fact that what comes
into the
tree is the same as what eventually falls off.
Kurt
Hmmm, so a lemon tree out west... ;>)
Why do so many people believe the 'old wives tale' that pine needles and oak leaves make the soil acidic?
Upon the first day of my Horticulture class, for a gee-whiz experiment, I grind up dry pine needles, add distilled water, insert a pH meter, and ask a student to read the meter. "Oh, it's alkyline," is the usual response. Not very alkyline, really, with a pH of 7.2 to 7.3. Next, I take a jar of pine needles and oak leaves that have been fermenting for a month and ask another student to read the meter. "pH 7.0," is the invariable response. For the last portion of the experiment, I have a third student read the pH meter for a jar of pine needles and oakleaves that have been composting in my garden for a year. The pH is still 7.0, no more acidic than other composted vegetative matter.
Every time I encounter a conifer that I hadn't tested before, I collect its needles for a pH test and I have yet to discover acidity among those I have tested. Perhaps there is a species of conifer, somewhere, whose needles make soil acidic, and if there is, I just haven't found it yet.
Jim Fruth
Pequot Lakes, MN
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