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playing in the dirt
Oct. 15th, 2021 02:14 pmone of my dahlias has grown like a weed; it's getting close to waist-high. i need to get pictures of it.
the other one died back while i was out of town, and has recovered only a little. it's still alive, but i wonder what happened to it.
-- -- --
i have a cheap, self-powered soil pH meter. as far as i can tell, it's most of a wet-cell battery attached to a voltmeter. the business end is three slim rods of different metals; one appears to be aluminum, another is probably zinc.
the pH meter wasn't working -- it claimed everything was pH 7, even vinegar -- so i attacked it with sandpaper. much better. it still wasn't getting quite correct readings, but it seemed consistently off by a half-pH towards neutral. i could work with that.
so i checked the garden of sour blueberries. yup, the pH was too high, about 6. i've tossed some sulfur in it for the moment, along with a fall dose of fertilizer for acid-soil plants. next week, i'll mulch the bed, which should help keep the pH down over the winter, and next spring, i'll tinker with the pH more.
the other one died back while i was out of town, and has recovered only a little. it's still alive, but i wonder what happened to it.
-- -- --
i have a cheap, self-powered soil pH meter. as far as i can tell, it's most of a wet-cell battery attached to a voltmeter. the business end is three slim rods of different metals; one appears to be aluminum, another is probably zinc.
the pH meter wasn't working -- it claimed everything was pH 7, even vinegar -- so i attacked it with sandpaper. much better. it still wasn't getting quite correct readings, but it seemed consistently off by a half-pH towards neutral. i could work with that.
so i checked the garden of sour blueberries. yup, the pH was too high, about 6. i've tossed some sulfur in it for the moment, along with a fall dose of fertilizer for acid-soil plants. next week, i'll mulch the bed, which should help keep the pH down over the winter, and next spring, i'll tinker with the pH more.