[mdjlucan]

I've just done a soil test where I've got some raspberries trying to grow the reading is PH  7.5 which is saying alkaline how do I bring it down to 5.0-6.5 I think this is why the summer raspberries are struggling all the help will be appreciated as this is doing I brain in thanks

[mdjlucan]

Pic of soil test

[Eightball]

Did you use water with a ph of 7 when doing the test?

But here is an article by the RHS on acidifying soil. http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=82

[JayG]

Not easy lowering pH, but you could buy some sulphur chips and 'tickle' them into the surface of the soil with a hand fork (don't dig them in or you will damage the roots.)

You could follow that with a mulch of sphagnum peat moss, which is naturally acidic.

Neither will work overnight, but you shouldn't make rapid pH changes to growing plants anyway.

Don't get too stressed about it - 7.5 is a bit too high for rasps and the pics you posted yesterday do suggest the possibility of iron chlorosis because of it, but I'm sure many people grow them in slightly alkaline soils and still get good crops.

If you haven't done so already, a commercial liquid feed should contain the important trace elements which may be lacking, and won't hurt either way, but don't overdo it.

[mumofstig]

This site is talking about Blueberries but the advice is the same for raspberries

FERTILIZING: Blueberry plants will grow better if you fertilize them. Blueberries are acid loving plants, so generally any fertilizer recommended for rhododendrons or azaleas will work well. For a home-owner patch we often recommend feeding with a product such as Miracle-Grow for Acid Loving Plants. If you are an organic gardener we recommend you use Neptune's Harvest or AGGrand on your blueberries.  Always follow the instructions on the label. For conventional farmers, we typically recommend fertilizing with 19-19-19 in the spring at a quarter inch green tip, followed six weeks later by an application of ammonium sulfate.

Link here
http://www.blueberrygrowers.com/?p=info-planting_information

[Goosegirl]

I think a watering of Sequestrine will also help to unlock nutrients that your rasps need but can't get at the moment.

[mdjlucan]

If I had plenty of manure and compost will this lower the PH

[JayG]

You need to do what I posted earlier - most rotted manure and compost is more or less neutral pH.

Peat, especially sphagnum peat moss, is acidic mainly because it's only partly rotted - if you can get hold of pine needles to use as a mulch they will produce acids as they slowly rot down.

[New shoot]

JayG is spot on.

You would need to do a pH test on the manure and compost to see if it was still that acidic.  Usually well rotted manure and compost has had time for a lot of the acidity to leach out. 

You have had a lot of helpful advice so far on various feeds and treatments.  Why not try one of them? 

[mdjlucan]

We're can I get the sphagnum peat all so do I mixed in with the alkaline soil thanks

[JayG]

I've seen it in garden centres (not recently, but that's probably because I haven't looked!)

Use it as a mulch - you could try mixing some of it into the surface of the soil but you need to be careful because raspberry roots are quite shallow.

(If you can't find the sphagnum peat moss you might find sulphur powder or chips instead - use that to lower pH and your ordinary compost/manure as a mulch.)

[mdjlucan]

Is it sulphite ammonia ammonia sulphites thanks

[JayG]

You may be thinking of ammonium sulphate, which is really just a straight nitrogen fertiliser - by coincidence it does tend to increase soil acidity but don't use that on your rasps as you will probably end up growing lots of leaves and not much else.

What you should be looking for is sulphur chips - I got mine from a 'good' local garden centre but it's available online in many places if you 'gurgle' it.

[Eightball]

In my opinion we as gardeners should be trying to use less peat where possible. Peat is something that takes a very long time to form and the rate at which we extract it is not sustainable. It's an important eco system that is disappearing.

Sulphur chips will work fine. But as said before it can take some time. Especially if you have clay soil as it buffers PH change pretty well.

[mdjlucan]

Can I spread around my autumn raspberries and thank you very much for your help