Tea

Not so much acidify (use sulphate of ammonia for that although you can't change it long term) but more as a fertiliser. I have a bucket at the back door for teapot dregs which I just chuck over the roses

 

Tea is acidic to a degree but you would need an awful lot of tea bags to change your soils prime ph. All my loose tea and tea bags go on my compost heap along with a lot of other things and I'm sure don't it doesn't affect the ph of that!!!

 

I've only just taken time to read your Thread fully, Sirius. Is it your hope and intention to change permanently the ph of your garden soil and do you know the ph of it at present?

I garden on sandy soil, improved over the years, with a ph of around the neutral possibly leaning towards the acid side, but only just. That means I can't grow, despite my best efforts, acid loving plants and like all gardeners I always want more from my garden than is possible!!! Trying to change the ph of your soil permanently with chemical, of whatever you use, is a mammoth task and due to drainage over time is not possible. Some gardeners advise using peat beds to raise plants in a alkaline garden but again over time leaching of the peat means that constant checks and revitalisation is needed....and I've never met any Head Gardeners at the "Big Houses" who regard it as more than just a temporary method. Perhaps if you can give a clearer picture of what you want to achieve someone, better qualified than I, could give you some realistic and practical advice

 

I wish you luck and hope you do better than I did!!!

 

This is my Garden, Sirius, as it is now after 30 years of gardening on a sandy near neutral soil.








Like you in the early years I craved to grow the acidic loving plants that you do!!! I followed all the advice given regarding peat beds and made some big ones but all the time was plagued by, as I was warned, the leaching of the peat and change in acidity. I tried using different soil "additives" including Iron Sulphates, which on the packet or bottle promised great success, on specially bought Rhododendrons, Azaleas, etc. I found that [a] I had to use a great deal more on each plant than I thought while trying to find the right dosage for each plant The time and effort spent trying to keep track of the timing of adding the additives made me lose the joy of having them in the first place, especially while dealing with life's other pressures. So I came to the conclusion that the best way to salve my need was to grow acid loving plants in containers using ericaceous compost but even they needed a strict eye kept on them. So now I quite happily grow the plants I can grow in the garden I have. But, personally, I think you need to "scratch the itch" you have and try what methods you think might work and that you can cope with........after all if you don't knock on the door you'll never know and always wonder!!

 

That would all depend on a number of things like situation, soil, drainage etc although you're right that they probably don't treat the soil Yep, try the Iron Sulphates and let us know how, in your opinion, it works in your