Re: [nafex] answering Steven Covacci

A lot of organic matter in the soil also helps. I rarely test the pH of the soil beneath my blueberries. They grow exceptionally well — about 12 quarts per year per plant! Part of the reason is that the plants have gotten about a 3 inch depth of woodchips, shavings, or leaves every autumn.

Lee Reich, PhD
Come visit my farmden at
http://www.leereich.com/blog <http://www.leereich.com/blog>
http://leereich.com <http://leereich.com/>

Books by Lee Reich:
A Northeast Gardener's Year
The Pruning Book
Weedless Gardening
Uncommon Fruits for every Garden
Landscaping with Fruit
Grow Fruit Naturally

> On Jan 9, 2017, at 5:49 PM, Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My point was that I don't actually believe magnesium is the issue with
> blueberries and plenty of experimentation has been done on the subject
> because it is a commercial crop plant. I won't believe it until I see
> corroborative research. There are lots of home grown geniuses out there
> that derive too much certainty from a small amount of anecdotal evidence
> and then can't wait to share with the world some earth altering discovery
> that is actually a false logical leap. Since that describes me at times
> (hopefully less often as I age) I know what I'm talking about.
>
> My current anecdotal observation is that blueberries can find the iron they
> need if a portion of their root systems are in acidic enough soil, even
> when perhaps the majority of their roots are in soil much sweeter than
> acceptable range for the plant. Carl Whitcomb has already proven that this
> situation applies to pin oaks, where recently surface applied sulfur cured
> iron deficient chlorosis in pin oaks without measurably altering soil pH
> even an inch down.
>
> Years ago I claimed you could grow highbush blueberries in soil up to the
> mid-sixes if plants were mulched with a wood based product. On an on-line
> argument with a troll type I was told I was an idiot to which I responded
> that I've tested the soil in several productive stands of blueberries that
> were mulched and had a pH in the low to mid 6's. Then I started thinking
> about it and went to my own stand of blueberries which was one of my
> examples. I had been piling mulch annually on these plants for almost 20
> years. Testing the top 6-8 inches of soil gave me a reading of about 6.2
> pH. But when I went down a foot I got 5.6 which is just on the acceptable
> cusp of blueberry soil. Now my logical leap is to join the orthodoxy. I
> swallowed my pride and gave public credit to the troll, by the way.
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