Ph?

[HughBrooks]

When planting the hops does anyone check their soil PH? I hope to get my little hopplings in the ground today just want to make sure they are healthy. I plan to till a plot in my back yard and mix in some cow manure and earthworm castings. If I need to test ph what would be the best way to do it for cheap? What would be the best way to raise or lower the ph as necessary?Thanks tk anyone who can help.

 

[Mike M]

I didn't check my pH. Just planted away. I found this

Soil Needs

Hops prefer a deep, loamy, well-drained soil in the pH range of 6 to 7.5. Salty soil or soil with poor drainage is undesirable. Add sand to the soil to improve drainage and try deep irrigation to reduce saltiness. The pH can be adjusted with lime to reduce acidity or sulfur to reduce alkalinity. Try to make pH adjustments in the fall, because the lime will interfere with nutrient uptake for about a month after its addition. The soil should contain 20 to 30 percent organic matter such as compost or dehydrated cow manure. Organic material plays an important role in making the soil nutrients available to the roots.

Here: In the Back Yard: Article from Zymurgy® 1997 Special Issue

 

[SOB]

I didnt check but the soil I bought claimed it was between 5.5 and 7.5 pH. It seems every article I read calls for different soil requirements when it comes to pH but they have all been in the 6.0 to 8.0 range. I wasn't too worried about it because I was using a potting soil that said what the pH was but the cheapest way to find out is to take a soil sample to your local nursery. A lot of them will test it for you for free. If not, you can buy a $10 probe that you stick in the ground and it tells you the pH. I dont know how accurate they are though...

 

[doobliebop]

Went to home depot to buy some soil for the rhizomes... none of the bags had ph listings on them... so I grabbed a probe from a few isles over and stick it in the bags... found on e around 7 and bought it... left the probe.

 

[HughBrooks]

i got one of the probe testers and my soil is about 7 so I am good

 

[SOB]

Went to home depot to buy some soil for the rhizomes... none of the bags had ph listings on them... so I grabbed a probe from a few isles over and stick it in the bags... found on e around 7 and bought it... left the probe.

Hilarious! At the little nursery up the road there was only one bag I looked at that stated the pH. So maybe my earlier post was a little misleading...but it looks like you figured things out just fine!



EDIT: I dont think any of the Scott's brand soil says the pH but I e-mailed them a while back and they said "The Potting Mix with Fertilizer has a neutral pH, which usually will range between 5.0-7.5. However, we do carry a few soils where the pH of the soil may be slightly higher or lower."