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Post by OregonRed on May 8, 2015 11:18:50 GMT -5
I remember being at the garden last spring with my new garden helper - it had rained that morning, and the worms were out and about on the top and everything, all kinds - he was fascinated! but that bed has gotten 3 loads of manure in 3 years, that's where they all came from.
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Post by brownrexx on May 8, 2015 18:08:45 GMT -5
Wow, pH of 5.0 is too low. Veggies prefer 6.0 - 7.0. You might want to add some lime.
It doesn't sound like much but the difference between 5 and 6 is HUGE based on the type of scale that is used to measure pH.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 8, 2015 18:31:47 GMT -5
I remember talking about this in the old forum and most people told me that the best way to change the ph was compost and mulch. So that is what I have been doing.
Also we haven't had much rain...it is pretty dry right now...Maybe that would do it. maybe the robin is eating the dried worms I put in the feeder. I haven't check that. And I am in pretty short jammies so I am not checking tonight. very tired tonight. But I plan on being outside early tomorrow morning...will check then.
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Post by ellenr on May 9, 2015 6:15:16 GMT -5
I have the same situation Pea picker. Usually there are tons of earthworms. this year not so many. maybe bec. it has been dry.
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Post by kimmsr🕊 on May 9, 2015 6:22:39 GMT -5
Earthworms can exist in soils with a pH range from 5.0 to 8.0 but do much better in a soil with a pH in the 6.0 to 7.0 range. So the soil test said the soils pH was 5.0, what did that soil test say about the Calcium and Magnesium levels?
Organic matter can help some with soil pH. Mine went from 5.7 pH to 7.2 pH with just the addition of copious quantities of organic matter, as did other nutrients, but that depends on the amounts of organic material added and the level of organic matter in the soil.
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Post by brownrexx on May 9, 2015 8:12:12 GMT -5
the best way to change the ph was compost and mulch
That is true - mine slowly edges upward and all that I add is compost and mulch but it only goes up about .2 per year and 5.0 is pretty low. If it went up at the rate of .2 per year, it will take 10 years to get to a pH of 7.0. I am not quite that patient.
If your soil is really dry, that is probably the issue with the worms. Mine soil is nice and moist under the straw.
I wouldn't worry about your robin. She knows how to find fresh worms herself. She's been doing that her whole life!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 9, 2015 8:31:35 GMT -5
LOL...BR you're cute...I wasn't worried about the robin...There are lots of places she can go to get food....but I have seen her searching here. I was just wondering if she was finding anything here because I wasn't... lol
But it IS really dry here. I am already using soaker hoses in the garden. I have leaf mulch that I am presently using where the plants are. But my peas seed were not germinating and I don't have leaf mulch there until the seeds break the ground. Just came in from the garden and with the soaking they have finally started.
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kew56
Sprout
eastern SD zone 4
Posts: 25
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Post by kew56 on May 9, 2015 10:15:15 GMT -5
I used milky-spore on my grubs. 1 application lasts for many years. rarely see one now.
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 13:00:47 GMT -5
That is true - mine slowly edges upward and all that I add is compost and mulch but it only goes up about .2 per year and 5.0 is pretty low. If it went up at the rate of .2 per year, it will take 10 years to get to a pH of 7.0. I am not quite that patient. brown, is acid the higher number or the lower number?
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 13:02:35 GMT -5
pea - where are you at so dry?
We have been having so many tstorms, I can go skiing on the clay......
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Post by brownrexx on May 9, 2015 13:55:34 GMT -5
acid is the lower number, alkaline is numbers above 7. an easy way to remember that is to put them in alphabetical order.
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Post by tbird on May 9, 2015 15:40:12 GMT -5
acid is the lower number, alkaline is numbers above 7. an easy way to remember that is to put them in alphabetical order. Thanks!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 9, 2015 16:08:02 GMT -5
I am near Albany, NY.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 14, 2015 16:39:44 GMT -5
I can't find any bait shops near me....not online at least? I'll have to ask people at work....they probably all get their own! In their backyard.
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Post by James on May 14, 2015 20:24:10 GMT -5
"I have removed 6 trees so far, another one next week, and we'll see about the other 2 left over but if I need to, they will be gone and I will plant new stuff which I have started to do."
Trees, yep, they can be a problem. When I moved onto my present lot, There was not a tree present. New house on farm land. Well I went over board planting trees. A few years later I could not get anything to grow in the garden....... tree roots sucking up the water and nutrients. I had to cut down a bunch of trees to get the garden to grow.
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