Sunday, May 11, 2008

A word problem

As I mentioned earlier, we planted our vegetable garden yesterday. Ry bought a soil test several weeks ago to see if our dirt was pH balanced. Yes, I know it seems geeky, but we've had a heck of time getting grass to grow here on the homestead, so we're trying knew things. Anyhow, we didn't get around to actually testing the soil in my garden until today. (Cue ominous music.) If you garden at all, you probably know that tomatoes like slightly acidic soil. The soil in my garden was about an 8.5 (7.0 is neutral for those of you who don't remember or slept through high school chemistry). The pH scale is logarithmic, which means that 8.5 is ten times more basic than 7.5. Anyhow, my garden is at the wrong, wrong, wrong end of the scale.

Generally, when your dirt is imbalanced, you would mix in some stuff with the "native" soil to achieve the correct balance. Yeah ... should've tested the soil earlier. So, do I ...

a.) Dig up my plants, mix in some garden sulfur and replant.
b.) Buy some fertilizer and soil additive and sprinkle it around the plants, water well, and hope for the best.
c.) Do nothing. I'm screwed. My tomatoes will once again suck this year.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That would be a question for mom (Jo)
~Cath

nana said...

I would say, fertilize this year and after the garden is done, amend the soil this fall in prep for next year.

Mom

 
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