using vinegar to acidify soil

I have neutral clay soil. I have planted gardenias in one bed and azaleas in another bed. When I first planted I added lots of peat moss. Plants are doing OK, but I wouldn't say spectacular. Plants are 2-3 years old.

Is is true you can water with vinegar to acidivy soil? how much? seems like vinegar would burn roots. Don't want to do that!

If not vinegar, what do you recommend for a dramatic improvement.

I didn't find much on the subject when I googled on it.

thanks

I would say vinegar would have no permanent effect on your soil's pH.

Try this link:
www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden/07727.pdf

I am laughing myself silly here. I have been taking classes from the fellow who is the Colo. State extension agent from the above link. He thinks people who try to change pH are daffy. He is a humorous and brilliant man.
On the subject of pH:
"Get used to it! ... If you want your rhododendron, grow it in a pot."

Ironically, his big pet project this year (I will be breaking my back working on it, no doubt) is to grow blueberries !!!

It's a small world after all...
Kenton

Kenton, you are too funny! I will tell my husband you said he was daffy....(even of you didn't, lol)

I have been to a soil lecture and the gist of it all was that if nothing else, everyone should aim for neutral, because there lies the true balance. Anywho, mine are not doing bad, I just wanted to do whatever I could to give them that spectacular look the 20mph effect...

Still, to keep hubby happy I will go to HD and buy yet another useless potion to acidify my soil.

know of any magic potions?????????

"Love po-tion number ni-ine..."

Really, some plants will adapt to a less-than desirable pH if the soil is rich enough, but this is not a solid thing, and they will not adapt too far. I don't know about Azaleas or Camellias, but if theur leaves are not yellow, then you may have to put up with what is the best that you can get in a neutral soil! "There just ain't no fightin' with nature."

Honestly, to complain about neutral pH... (tsk tsk) what would you do with 8.8 or more my friend?
Kenton

wise, plus he can carry a tune....doesn't get better than that!

vossner- I have been mulching my strawberries and blueberries with pine needles, to give them a slightly acidic base, plus they just love being mulched. The pine needles are free since I have a huge pine tree, and they take a long time to break down and disappear. What if you tried mulching them with pine needles??

Traditionally mulched with straw, thus= strawberries...

vossner,

You probably wouldn't want to use vinegar because it is somewhat herbicidal and might actually damage your garden plants: http://www.google.com/search?as_q=vinegar&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=herbicide+herbicidal&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

MM

I would think the vinegar might be detrimental to the microbiology in the soil... the vinegar could deter beneficial things like worms, fungus, bacteria that are good for the soil.

Leaf mould, pine needles, as they decompose tend to go back towards neutral. But mulching with those would be good no matter what...

You could add sulphur or ammonium sulfate.

But I tend to agree with what has been said previously... attempting to change the pH brings to mind Sisyphus and his rock.

thank you all. I'm convinced. DH is convinced. Pine needle mulching it is!

nery, when i lived in the keys there were a few plants that really needed to be more on the acid side. ixora, etc. i spray fed them with miracid and also used it as a drench. it worked miracles on them, in addition to peat mulch (no pine needles down there!)

I don't know if this is true, but I have read that you can temporarily raise or lower pH, say for 1 bloom season to change blossom color of hydrangea. It said that drenching soil with dilute vinegar solution prior to and during bud set would alter the color.

I use vinegar as a weed killer. An old Windex sprayer and a quick shot on many lawn weeds and they are brown in half an hour if sprayed in full sun.
Living in the Northeast my soil is acid, about 7.7 so I don't even put pine in the compost pile. Almost nothing grows under my pines except for poison ivy.
I suspect mulching with pine needles will raise the PH, if you do it every year.
My 2 cents.
Andy P

How do, Andy;
7.7 is actually alkaline pH. Enough pine needles will have an effect on pH if they are constantly added each year. Usually, the bare spot under a Pine tree is caused by allelopathic chemicals, designd to prevent other plants from competing with the pine roots, and some plants are "immune," like some ferns and like you said, that lovely Toxicodendron.
K. James

Kenton as a veterinarian we have found that pine needles have an estrogen like chemical that causes cattle to abort. I've never seen it myself but I read about it. So if you want cheap birth control and breast cancer eat 10 # of pine needles a day. HaHa. Oh PS it helps with prostate disease. Prostatic hyperplasia. Better than Sol Palmetto. LOL

Shucks, Steve my locum friend, I want to grow Palmetto here... I will have to remember your remedy for kids next time I'm pregnant. (Same time I become King of Sumeria) Now Prostate disease is more likely for me genetically; how did we get so off topic?

Let's just keep needles (pine needles, hic-cum) on the ground, eh?
K. James