First, what does soil pH mean?
Acers are beautiful trees that create a refreshing atmosphere in your garden or courtyard. Although Acers are not picky when it comes to soil, they prefer acidic soil, one of many trees that generally prefer neutral to acid conditions using soil with a slightly acidic pH will do the trick.
The letters pH represents the potential of hydrogen occurring in anything. Scientifically defined as the effective measure of hydrogen ion concentration in the soil. In simpler terms, it lets you know the degree of acidity or alkalinity in your soil.
An acidic soil simply means one with a pH of less than 7. The ideal pH to grow your Acer tree is 5.5 for sandy soil and 6.0 for loamy soil. The pH of the soil influences microorganisms that dwell in the soil thereby affecting soil conditions. Acers are well known to thrive in organically rich soil as certain microorganisms have an important role in the conversion of nitrogen to various forms of nutrients that are useful for plants.
How to obtain a favourable pH
Before planting Acers, you must check your acer palmatum soil ph by simply using a pH kit or taking it to a laboratory for soil testing. Alternatively, you can also use common household materials such as baking soda.
Acers dislike extremely alkaline soil so if your soil is alkaline or not quite acidic enough, you may use sulfur to lower the pH of the soil to give it a suitable degree of acidity.
Do acers like acid soil? If it turns out that your soil is too acidic you can make use of limestone to raise the pH to an appropriate level. You need to continuously monitor your soil pH despite it being just right. This is because various things such as rainfall or fertilisers may shift the soil pH and affect the proper growth of your Acer tree.
Further Reading
We have lots of other helpful content for Acers, such as common questions we have been asked such as:
- What should I plant with an acer?
- How is best to repot an acer tree?
- Do Acers prefer acid soil?
- Do Acers prefer ericaceous compost?
- When is best to prune Acer trees in the UK?
- How to take cuttings from acer trees?
- Do Acers lose their leaves?
- Acer leaf browning and diseases,
Other Acer’s you might be interested in
Acer Brilliantissimum, Acer Feeds, Acer Jerre Schwartz, Acer Altropurprueum, Acer beni maiko, Acer Bi Hoo, Acer Bloodgood, Acer bonsai, Acer Butterfly, Acer Deshojo, Acer dissectum, Acer dissectum Firecracker, Acer emerald lace, Acer fireglow, Acer garnet, Acer katsura, Acer little princess, Acer orange dream, Acer Osakazuki, Acer Phoenix, Acer Sango kaku, Acer Seiryu, Acer Shaina, Acer Shindehojo, Acer Skeeters Broom, Acer Taylor, Acer Trompenburg, Acer Ukigumo.
