I never test mine unless they look sick. I don’t use any special potting mix. They are just in sandy soil mixed with compost both in pots and ground. A few pots have peat moss but I don’t notice a difference. Municipal water supply is 7.0. If water in alkaline one or two tsp of vinigar per gal water helps. Once a year I give them some fertilizer for acid loving plants.
Also as @Richard said, pH requirements vary with cultivar.
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@krismoriah … on Blueberry bed…
I make most of my beds the same way… the pic above is a new bed for raspberries that i made this spring.
I made that blueberry bed the same way.
In that raspberry bed… that dark rich stuff is mushroom compost.
In my blueberry bed i did add a heap of compost like that… but also added around 2x that of peat and woods compost.
My ph normally runs between 5.5 and 6 and my rabbiteyes seem happy.
I have seen more new growth on them this year than in the past. I did fertilize them good last year as soon as the berry crop ended which generated some late summer early fall growth. I have a long growing season here… a good 3 months after my blueberries are finished fruiting.
Then i fertilized them again early this spring.
Woods compost is collected in the woods… leaf rake the leaves over… and collect the leaf compost under the leaves. That is what you plant ginseng in… the ph on my leaf compost is normally between 5 and 5.5.
Ginseng does best in a low ph soil… 4.5 to 5.5 is ok… but you have to have low ph and high calcium levels… and you dont find that everywhere. Around limestone bluffs or outcroppings… with lots of organic matter in soil… bingo.
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That makes sense. In the hollar that i found my pawpaw patch beside my house is where i mine my leaves…there is lots of mushrooms, ginseng and everything that grows in the forest in that area. I think im inoculating my rows with the mushrooms by my method. Likely lots of mycorrhizae as well. In the areas where i plan on planting something i pile those leaves and compost up and leave it…then when i am ready to plant i dont have to really till…its already soft and full of life.
I probably should check my pH… but will likely just do the peat along with the way i been doing things… to be safe.
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