The Fridley Farmer : Blueberry and Lingonberry Ground Prep

Blueberries have long been my favorite berries. When I was a boy, I would go to Bluff View Park in Bessemer, Michigan. If you hiked to the top of the bluff, then skirted around the edges of the bare rock you would find loads of wild blueberries. They were small but so sweet and tasty. It made the climb and the occasional bee encounter worth it.

The Problem

Once I started researching blueberries to find out what kind to grow I found out that they won’t do well if they don’t have acidic soil. They will grow poorly, have yellow sickly leaves, few if any berries or even just straight out die. So, we did a soil test. A nice even PH level of 7. Our soil was perfectly neutral. Not good for berry plants that want a PH level of 4.5 to 5.5.

As I continued to read about blueberry plants, I found out that lingonberries ALSO like acidic soil, and like a bit of shade. Since the proposed blueberry patch warps around the corner of the house and the north side gets some shade, and since we like eating the lingonberry jam at Ikea we decided to get a pair of lingonberries to go along with the blueberry plants.

Once we placed the order for the plants, I pretty much had to do whatever it took to get the PH level down.

Soil Acidity in the Minneapolis Area

Apparently the acidity of the soil affects how easily certain nutrients are absorbed by plants.  I guess that means that blueberries need the nutrients that are more available in acidic soils rather than those in basic soils.

According to the master gardener I spoke with at Linders garden center here in the Twin Cities, soil in the region is typically neutral, so I’m off to a bad start. To make matters worse, most cities add chemicals to city water to make even less acidic so that it reacts less with the pipes. This saves the city money since they don’t have to replace pipes as often, but it means that if you water your soil with city water it is going to trend more and more basic.

We opted to do a home soil test. A test through the UMN Extension office would be more precise, but we have a lot of DIY going on around here. Here’s me checking our phosphorus results…looking pretty low.

The Sulfur Solution

There are lots of ways to lower your soil PH. Many of the natural remedies recommended on forums and blogs online will work. The problem is time and degree. If your soil has a PH of 7 and your blueberries are coming in a month, you need something quick and effective. You need Iron Sulfate.

Elemental Sulfur will be cheaper and you will need less, but it takes a year to be effective. Rotting pine needles, coffee grounds or sawdust also take time. Iron Sulfate takes about 3 weeks to bring your sandy loam down from 7 to below 5.5.

Here’s part of the future blueberry patch. It extends around the corner of the house (to the left of the photo) with enough space for a pair of lingonberry plants.

I was unable to find straight Iron Sulfate. I ended up finding two products that I hope will do the trick anyways. Espoma’s Organic Traditions Soil Acidifier is available at Home Depot, Linders and other locations in the twin cities. It was about $6.50 for a 5 lb. bag. Ironite has “combined sulfur” in it and iron and the Internet seems to indicate that is an acidifier, my assumption then is that it is at least part Iron Sulfate, but I’m not quite dedicated enough to get a definitive answer. Ironite was available at Ace Hardware in 5 lb bags, but they ordered me a 40 lb. bag. The 40lb. bag was about $22.

I mixed in the Ironite and Espoma Soil Acidifiers. Now I just sit back and wait till the blueberries get here. The week before they get here I will re-test the soil and see how effective these were at dropping the PH level. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tags: acidifier, blueberries, ironite, lingonberries, ph level, ph test