Lower Soil pH In The Lawn: 5 Ways To Get It More Acidic
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- Опубліковано 6 бер 2021
- Virtually every turfgrass out there will grow just fine when the soil pH is between 6.0 and 8.0 but in nearly all cases the lawn will be healthier and will uptake and use nutrients more efficiently if the soil pH is between 6.3 and 6.6 which just so happens to be on the slightly acidic side of neutral.
Lowering pH in a lawn is usually a slower process than raising pH and when your soil is trending closer to 8.0 than 7.0 then it may be even harder to move the needle over the long haul simply because there is probably a good deal of basic material in the soil that will neutralize any acidifiers over time.
►►You can also see this article on the Turf Mechanic website where I outline the different ways to lower pH in the lawn: turfmechanic.com/lowering-soi... ◄◄
In my lawn I'm starting the 2021 lawn season off with a pH around 6.8 to 6.9 and my goal this season is to inch my pH lower so that by 2022 my pH is closer to 6.5.
There are five main types of products that can be used to lower pH in a lawn and in this video I explain what those options are, why you would use them, why you may not want to use them, and I also lay out my strategy for inching my pH lower over the course of the year.
In this video I explain how I'm using a combination of Peat Moss top dressed over core aerated lawn-space, ammonium sulfate acidifying fertilizer, Urea-Triazone, and elemental soil Sulphur in a deliberate sequence through the Spring and into the summer.
Each of these products can usually be found locally in any lawn or gardening store. You can also buy them online too.
Here are a few links:
► Peat Moss: Please just buy this locally; they come in huge bags
► Ammonium Sulfate Fert (Amazon affiliate link): www.amazon.com/Ammonium-Sulfa...
► Soil Sulphur (Amazon affiliate link): www.amazon.com/Sunlight-Suppl...
► Urea-Triazone (Simple Green - Chemwise affiliate link): shrsl.com/2jk6e
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Man, you KILLED this! Such a good overview of an under-served topic. So impressed!! Rising star, right here...
You sure know how to make a grown man blush! Thanks Andrew; I'm glad you found it to be worth a view. :)
If you pour vinegar into a soil sample and it bubbles, your soil is alkaline, 7.0 or higher. If you pour baking soda dissolved in water (distilled water) and it bubbles, your soil is acid, 6.0 or lower. No reaction and your soil is close to neutral. It's not precise, but it will lead you down the right path and perhaps help diagnose any issues you might be having related to pH. A proper soil test is the best way to go, of course.
Cool sounding hack! I'll give this a try and research the concept a bit more. Thanks!
*I attempted this test in two areas of my garden. No bubbles with vinegar or baking soda/distilled water. The one area I use Down to Earth acid mix fertilizer.*
Often, we’re trying to adjust the pH for the needs of a specific plant like, say, carrots. Carrots want a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. They will do less well when the pH drifts past either end of the range. I would use a pH meter so that I know whether I am actually in that zone, and if, from one planting season to the next, the pH is drifting up or down.
12:00
Thznk you. Clear presentation. One negative comment... Your comments would be better trusted if your lawn looked better.
Thanks for both comments, as for the negative one this video was produced in late winter before Spring. Im sure this point is missed by some viewers but the publish date should help with that as does the trees with no leaves. 😁 Hope to see you in the comments again in one of my main growing season vids. 😉
Correction on Aluminum Sulfate pH lowering mechanism: The sulfate has no effect on pH at typical soil pHs. It actually is the Aluminum 3+ ion that lowers the pH.
When aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) dissolves in soil water, the aluminum 3+ ions react with the water to increase H+ and thus lower pH. Its actually a bit more complicated than I'll lay out below, but basically you can think about it like this: the aluminum 3+ ion attracts and binds OH- in alkaline soils (and actually in solutions even as low as pH=3 or 4) which increases H+ and lowers pH using the following series of simplified reactions:
Al3+ + H2O --> Al(OH-)2+ + H+.
At higher and higher pHs more OH is attracted to Al. You'll start getting some:
Al(OH)2+ + H2O --> Al((OH)2)+ + H+ and Al((OH)2)1+ H2O --> Al((OH)3) (solid) + H+.
and even above ~ pH 7:
Al(OH)3) + H2O --> Al((OH)4)-1 + H+
And that's why aluminum sulfate lowers pH. Aluminum sulfate is mostly just an easy way to add acidifying Al3+ to soil.
Also see the graph on: projects.ncsu.edu/project/hubbepaperchem/ALUM.htm
Can you please comment on @scottholub9014 comments. I believe he makes a good point here that would be worth clarifying
Clear, understandable and effective discussion on soil pH I’ve found!
So glad to hear! Thanks for watching and for your comments 🙂
This has to be one of your best videos yet. Tons of detailed and valuable tips and knowledge. Not intended for the faint of heart .. or lawn newbies for that matter.
really appreciate the compliment! Thanks for the comment on this older video :)
3:27 peat moss - 6:29 aluminum sulfate - 8:10 ammonium sulfate - 8:45 elemental sulfur - 12:17 acidifier fertilizer (urea) - 14:06 which one, when and why - 20:04 end
Dude I love this video! Great job breaking it all down! Best video on ph levels in the soil and how to lower it.
Thank you very much; I needed to lower my soil pH some as I have blueberries, and this has the information that I need. Awesome!
Excellent video Brian. Just got my soil test back and ph is at 7.0 so ... perfect timing that I saw this video.
Great job, thank you for the hard work put into the video.
Concise and timely! Subscribed to your channel.
You do an excellent job. I've learned so much from you. Thank you!
Great video brother thanks for your time and expertise!🙏
Just subscribed to the channel. I been watching some of your videos and I'm digging your style of delivering the info.
Awesome to hear that! Glad to have a new supporter and I hope I'm able to continue delivering the goods for you! 😁
Really good explanation. Thank you so much
Excellent video, you know your topic! Lot's of spot on info, and I got a couple things I hadn't thought of....the length of time before soil sulfur is actually going to work for the plants. Ditto Andrew Sheridan comment : )
Good to know elemental sulfur can take a season or longer to work. My soil maxes out the PH gauge I have and after adding amounts over several weeks it hasn't moved much and was thinking I needed to dump a lot more. Now I know I need to be patient.
K-Falls T-Shirt, gotta love it. I lived in K-Falls for almost 6 years, I was part of the original staff when Kingsley Field was activated as a Air National Guard base in 1984. The winters were too cold for me, I live in Houston now, much warmer, I like it. I read that the K-Falls area has a water shortage and they shut down the irrigation system. Has the lake level dropped? Anyway, great video. I'm battling a root rot fungus issue in my lawn because of high ph (7.08) . I want to get it down to 6.5. I do have a bag of Ammonium Sulfate, I'll test it (sparingly) on a small section of my yard. Thanks for the video !!
really good information - thanks for sharing
I'm very happy to help! Thanks for the comment
Fantastic, Thank You.
Greetings from Arizona zone 9b. Thanks for the tips, tricks and info!
Greetings from Oregon! I grew up (high school) in Sierra Vista in the 90's! I still love my memories of AZ!
@@TurfMechanic I just went back to Oregon this last week. (It's been 20 years) I grew up in the summers of my childhood in Bend 💜
Perfect timing!
Glad it was timely Jay! Also, hope you can put some of the info into action this season :D
Thank you for some background info on these products. I have an area that we don't really consider lawn because of massive areas of white alkali powder that refuses to grow anything. I would like to try to start amending this. I don't expect it to happen overnight, but can I start with high rates of ammonium sulfate? Nothing grows there but a few weeds at this point so I don't have any grass to kill, just residual effects to consider. I'm going to do some pH testing when I get some kits but the whole area we live in is alkaline.
Great video. I live near Portland with a very alkaline yard. One other acidifier I've heard about is humic acid, either liquid or granular. Any thoughts? Ive heard of combining with elemental sulfur to lower pH. Still takes time to move the needle!
Hey Brian,
Learned so much about soil ph from this video. My ph came back at 7.2. I had a lawn service two years ago and they did a lime app without testing my soil ph. So perhaps this explains high ph
I already applied a 16-4-8 PGF Complete Fert two weeks ago before getting the results back. What would you recommend to get my soil more acidic at this time?
Cool season grass and soil temps averaging 56 degrees.
pH test of my lawn said it was 7.0-7.5, this video was great, decided to buy some ammonium sulfate. Thanks!
That should help but don't expect that alone to move the needle much over the long run, you can only put so much am Sul down every year. Consider dropping some eventual sulfur for a more substantial effect.
Simply magnificent
You are making me blush Stefan! lol - Thanks
thank you for sharing. Can you tell me how long does the sulfur last in the soil? How long does it maintain at that level? How often do I have to add sulfur to the soil?
Good video, well explained. What about usi g vinegar to reduce ph?
Can you indicate when you put down new grass seed - after or before you try to make the soil more acidic?
this is great, thank you!
You are most welcome Brain - great name by the way. ;)
@@TurfMechanic ha thanks. I'm trying to find a 50lb bag of just pellet sulfur but locally I haven't found any. Chicago area. Checking online sites. Where did you get it?
@@emerickscott I got my small 5lb bag from a local indoor gardening store I frequent where I live - Basin Indoor Gardening. Its not pellets though, more like small discs. Id rather have pellets or granular Sulphur, i feel like those would spread better but I haven't looked hard enough locally for that.
@@TurfMechanic nice! I'm trying to get a 50lb bag of Tiger 90.
Ended up buying a 50lb package of Sulfur 90% from Hi-Yield. I have 5K square feet and I saw the high end application is 10lb/1000 but after about 5lb/1000 it seemed like a LOT of yellow prills all over so I stopped. I think I will bag up the rest and maybe apply it in the fall.
Love your videos! I'm trying to get a 64 square foot blueberry patch (just four plants that have stopped producing as well as they used to), next to our house down from a recently tested 7.0ph to in the 4.5 to 5.0 range. I want to use elemental sulfer. Can you advise on a rate? Obviously, I need some immediate help, but I'm also happy to continue applications over time. Soil is good, with lots of compost and pea moss added when I put the bed in 10 years ago.
Take a look at this publication and multiply per acre numbers for your soil type by 0.0015 to convert acres to 64 sqft increments. Hope that helps: www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/files/Lowering_Soil_pH_with_Sulfur.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiF-c_6g-j3AhVHD0QIHaS7B_sQFnoECA4QBg&usg=AOvVaw1DWb3gAbtYJiZt34-j5FBy
Brian Can you suggest a good way to lower the pH in a clay crawl space where an installed 12 mil. plastic barrier killed aerobic microbes, they decayed and now anaerobic microbes are flourishing giving off a "cat pee" (ammonia) like smell.
I live at Texas and have st Augustine grass (warm grass) . I mix Scots winter fertilizer (red bag in the video ) with
Scotts Southern Lawn Food (green bag) when I apply fertilizer and have amazing results. The red bag lower the soil's PH and green bag has iron.
That's a solid 1-2, hope your St Aug is doing ok after that crazy Texas weather last month!
@@TurfMechanic Thanks for you reply. My grass is recovering from the crazy winter weather we had.
I switched to ams and there is a huge difference.
Here in western Michigan. my soil test just cam back and my Ph is only 4.5.
Now i know why it struggles! Anyway, it early September now is Hydrated Lime faster acting, and safe enough to use once? I know nothing of it, but only heard its a option a really low Ph like mine?
I am just a little bit too alkaline according to the my soil test. I am a 7.09, and I would like to get down to a 6.7 maybe even a 6.5 for my tall fescue. What is your suggestion? I do live in a transition zone if that matters. I should also add that I am slightly too high in sulfur content according to my soil. Also, does the soil temperature make a difference on using any of these items such as urea?
Hi there Brian.my name is Darren and I was wondering if you could help me out please...I’ve just recently bought some Humic acid granules and I was wondering how much do I need to make up 10 litres please...and also could you let me know how to mix it also please..thank you...your videos are great and I enjoy watching them...
Hey Kerry, ive never actually mixed dry Humic into a liquid so id have to check the label of your product. I typically only apply liquid humic right now although last spring I did apply dry humic a couple times. Yours may not need to be mixed, you may be able to just apply it dry and let water and microorganisms work it down into the aoil.
I'm so confused. My soil ph is good at 6.73 but my calcium is super high at 543 and magnesium at 161. Any idea what i should do?
Great video! Unfortunately I have to move the needle about 1.2. to 1.5 points. Up here in north Texas my PH is up around 8. I can see a bunch of sulphur coming for my scenario.
Where did you purchase the Sunday product? I came across it a couple of weeks ago, but it mentioned go subscribe to it, but when I went to this website to subscribe I couldn’t view the product. Not sure what happened. I have different areas in my lawn that say my ph is 7, 7.5 and 8. I planned to put the soil sulfur down and some peat moss when I over-seed.
On my website I have a direct link to sign up with a promo code for $20 dollars off the plan. You can see it here: turfmechanic.com/products/#delivery Hope that helps.
I aerated and overseeded 4 days ago and where I put down peat moss, my grass is turning yellow\lime green. Not sure if I need to do anything to fix it though or if it will fix itself.
If you put down a thick layer it might be blocking the sun enough for it to block photosynthesis and change colors. As the grass grows it mill most likely start poking through the peat moss and go back to normal...unless your layer is too thick of course.
Is there much risk putting the granular elemental sulfur down followed by the Sunday liquid urea nitrogen at the same time? I’m looking to put about 2lbs/1000 sulfur, then water it in with my first Sunday application
I wouldn't think so. Make sure your Sulphur app is the right amount for ph change - can take up to a half to a full season for a full change depending on the biological life in your soil. You don't want to put down more than you need.. The urea should feed the lawn quickly right now (next week really) assuming your lawn is actively growing. If it's still dormant I'd wait to apply just a bit. Early season fast fert like urea should be applied lightly, slow organics like plant based lawn food can be applied heavier.
I have a 3 month old blueberry plant.. what ratio of ammonium sulphate should I use?
I have saved a lot of eggshells which I intend to use for my blueberries and sugar peas. Will eggshells add acidity to my alkaline soil? Thanks!
Egg shells are calcium. They are alkaline.
Sir, I want to plant blueberry plant in 38 liter air pot, but the pH of the soil in the pot is 7. How much sulfur can I use to bring the pH of the soil from 7 to 4.5? The size of the pot is 14 by 15 inches.
GREAT video. Currently working with a rocky sandy clay-silt, high pH of 8.4, excess calcium at roughly 2410 ppm, nearly zero nitrogen at a whopping 10 ppm, low optimal sulphur of 8 ppm, Mg 144. Going to hit it with some elemental sulphur and urea, and water heavily to help wash some of the salts out. Not expecting overnight changes but should work over time
What about fast acting gypsum? Was going to put that down when I aerate to help get it into the soil a bit deeper. What is your thoughts on that to lower the ph?
Gypsum doesn't lower PH.
Similar to your situation with ph... cold weather grass (Canada)... want to reduce pH. I plan to use elemental sulphur in combination with another acidifier in the next few days. Sulphur application would be long term plan .. most likely repeated in fall of 2024.
However, for more immediate response, i would look at something like ammonium sulphate to quick start the process. What do you think? Similar to your plan i believe...
yep, that's about exactly what I would do
Hi! Can i use sulfur for peatmoss??
When you say small application , what does that mean essentially
when I made this video a few years back I was interested in moving my ph down by only a couple decimal points. I think I only applied 2-3 lbs of elemental sulfur per 1k sqft. It was small. Had I had a ph near 8 and wanted to push it closer to mid sixes it would have taken a lot more.
@@TurfMechanic thank you for that info! Parts of my lawn are 7.5 but majority of it is at 7.2
Great video with clear explanation. It's hard to find videos which explain how to acidify the soil. The methods in the videos that I HAVE been able to find often don't work well (like adding diluted vinegar, aluminium sulphate etc), often going back to neutral in a day or two. This video confirmed what I've vaguely understood for long: lowering soil pH takes time. So far I've been using just sulphur and it's so slow (but apparently works). I'll be sure to try ammonium sulphate or urea.
Just be sure to use those ferts at low enough rates to not burn your lawn; I'd personally just apply at normal rates but slightly more frequently while waiting for the soil sulfur to do it's thing. The important thing is you understand lowering ph takes a lot of time; it's a gradual process. Good luck!
You need to get a good meter to start those meters don't give accurate measures
legit!
Thanks Jon!
Wasting peat moss on a lawn is downright criminal.
Lol, well its not for everyone 🤣
LIME ⬆️, AMMONIUM SULFATE⬇️, you’re welcome.
I just hope my blueberries can hold on till that elemental sulfur works 🥲