HELP PLEASE

Can anyone tell me how to turn alkaline soil acidic very quickly? My brother has a Tibourchina Jules which has very yellowed leaves. He lives near MacKay Qu. He said that adding sulphur to the soil would be too slow and the plant would be dead before it took effect. Is there a faster way maybe with a solution that will work? Colleen

Colleen, T.jules won't die straight away, if I were him....I would spray with Seasol all over and if he has a compost bin, use the compost to raise the ph.........cow manure, sheep, horse, leaf mulch......water it in with sulphate of iron......
Mine grow in a very neutral soil and are very healthy.....I put it all down to manure and mulch....

They are either side of the bridge.......that's an old pic.......they are flowering now.


This message was edited May 21, 2011 4:32 PM

Thanks for that Dianne. He's going to take it out of the soil that it's in and go down the paddock where the horses and cows are and get some good soil and mix with the potting mix. Then get some Seasol and give it a good water and see how it responds. He wants to keep it in a pot on the veranda. Hope it gets enough sun. Colleen

Tip some cold tea over it ... then mulch with cow poo. (don't drown it).
Hope that helps.

Aluminum sulphate is used to acidify soil rapidly.

Colleen, if the ph of the soil is too high it would make iron inaccessible to plants, leading to the yellowing of the leaves as witnessed by your brother. Although he's now moving the plant, a dose of iron chelates would help to bring it back to a nice healthy green colour.