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Acidic raised bed

katherinerussillkatherinerussill Posts: 1
in The potting shed
I have a raised bed which is 50cm deep. I want to grow ericaceous plants in it. What should I add to my neutral soil to make it acidic? 

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,330
    Welcome to the forum
    It's tricky to change the pH of your soil, even in a raised bed.
    Sulphur chips can be used but will need to be added regularly and you'll need to do plenty of pH checking.
    Shredded bark will also help a little.

    What is that you plan to grow?
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  • cmarkrcmarkr Posts: 142
    If it's a raised bed then you can remove any existing soil in there and fill with ericaceous compost. Probably best mixed with your neutral soil as pure compost is not ideal. Don't water with tap water and use ericaceous feed.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,214
    You'll need to keep topping it up anyway, whatever you do  - all soil in raised beds drops on a regular basis [it's the one drawback of them] Compost alone is no use for long term planting, so you need soil in the bed.
    Just keep adding ericaceous compost etc to the neutral soil, as per what @Pete.8  says, but - it does depend what plants you're growing. Many so called 'acid loving' plants, will grow perfectly well in neutral soil.  :)
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    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,741
    It would really help if you could tell us which plants you want to grow, because many so called ericaceous plants do perfectly well in neutral soil, as @Fairygirl says
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  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,446
    Yes,what do you intend to grow? We actually did this for rhododendrons and Azaleas, removed all the soil and replaced with Ericacious soil
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 52,214
    Yet neither of those 'need' acidic soil @Nanny Beach.
    As long as the neutral soil isn't at the alkaline end, they're absolutely fine. 'Neutral' covers a wide pH range   :)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,446
    They "asked" for this Fairygirl, honest!!! The ones in the ground weren't doing as well,as the ones in the ericaceous soil,(not compost) in their pots,and the watering was a nightmare!
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