Question regarding container blueberry solution pH

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the adjustment of fertilizer solution for blueberries in containers. I’m using a 3-1-1 mix (bark, pest, perlite) w/gypsum and no CRF.

I water the plants using 5.25 ph water adjusted with sulphuric acid; I have a large reservoir that I use solely for this purpose. I noticed the other day that both miracid and ammonium sulfate raise the ph of this water when used to mixed to proper fert concentration, and it had me scratching my head a bit. When using a soulless medium, how do the nutrients become immediately available to the plant if the ph of the fert solution is higher than desired? I understand the longer term lowering of the substrate pH that occurs over time with these particular fertilizers, but my understanding of this choice of growing medium is that the immediate ph of the solution is the critical part, much more so than soil-based growing.

I’m probably overthinking it (my M.O.), but I wanted to hear what then vets had to say. @fruitnut, I’ve been reading your posts for years, so I’m gonna call you out specifically :slight_smile:

*editing to say soil-less; not soulless. Ha!

#2

Hi there! This thread may have some of the answers you are looking for. Blueberries and Battery Acid Adventures

I am just starting out this year with blueberries myself but I am excited for a crop from some of the larger plants I sourced last fall.

#3

I do not really know what I am talking about but my wild guess is that the miracid might raise the ph because it has a naturally higher PH.

Sulphuric acid has a PH of 0. If you add a few drops to a gallon of distilled water, the ph will drop quickly. If you added that to soil, it would not cause much effect because it only has a few drops of acid.

If you added a ton of acid with a ph of 5.0 to that same water it would only read a ph of 5 but it might actually drop the ph of the soil.