Author Topic: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot  (Read 4327 times)

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« on: October 27, 2017, 05:45:08 PM »
So, we are traveling back to Idaho from Florida with a van full of trees. One that I bought is Miracle Fruit.  I have had notoriously bad luck with these in the past, with it slowly defoliating and dying. But, third time's a charm! Can anyone recommend a good way to acidify potting soil? Most sulphur brands I look at don't have a dosing guideline for pots. Is sulphur the best way to go? How low should I go, and how long do I wait to test the soil to see how acidic it has become? The plant I bought is in a 3 gallon pot that is only half full of soil, so I'll have to do something fairly soon.
It will be in a pot for the winter, and hopefully everything in my greenhouse will be going into rootbuilder pots, but I am going to track the soil temps in the greenhouse this winter first, to make sure I don't everything when they start to go into the native soil.

Thanks!
Carolyn

fyliu

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
    • Burbank/Covina, CA 10a
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2017, 05:52:39 PM »
You could just use all rain or RO water and not use acidifier.

I buy the "soil acidifier" from home improvement stores and put in a scoop whenever I remember, which is 1-3 times a year. I use all rain water also.

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2017, 06:06:47 PM »
I thought they had to have very acidic soil, like below 5. We are high desert, and don't get enough rain in Boise to water anything, and our city water is over 7 pH. Would using a lot more peat moss help, I wonder?

fyliu

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
    • Burbank/Covina, CA 10a
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2017, 06:14:49 PM »
Okay, you get 12 inches there, we get 18 inches in LA.
I did buy RO filtered water from the water machines for a few years to water my miracle fruit. It was about a gallon a week.

Evildeadguy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 377
    • Polk County, FL, Zone 9B
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2017, 06:21:19 PM »
Holly tone works great and you only need to use it a few times a year cause its slow release  i use it for blueberry plants

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F2QIVQC/ref=twister_B01NAXREU5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Pineapples i Grow: Natal Queen

Future

  • The Future
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2029
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2017, 06:40:53 PM »
Pine needles

dmouthhog

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 26
    • Palmetto Bay
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2017, 08:45:14 PM »
I bought a 6 inch high miracle fruit about 2 years ago and immediately repotted it into a 25 gallon ceramic pot using 100% sphagnum moss.  It has flourished with little attention and about 50/50 rain water/hose water (hose water PH defintely above 7).  I recently threw some sulpher pellets into the soil and it flushed with new growth (nothing measured, just a handfull).   I leave it in full sun so it's more of a bush than a tree, but it appears very healthy and gives fruit just about year round.  At the moment there's another little plant growing under the main plant from a fallen fruit.  I'll be giving it its own home here soon and plan to use the same method.  Good luck and safe travels!

OCchris1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 718
    • Old Towne Orange, CA 10B
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2017, 01:26:19 AM »
I use filtered water and Espoma soil acidifier. They look great. Good luck. Chris
-Chris

RodneyS

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 756
  • Cerritos, CA (Zone 11a)
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2017, 05:17:59 AM »
Peat moss

Mark in Texas

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4220
    • Fredericksburg Texas, (central TX), zone 8a
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2017, 10:13:40 AM »
Hi Carolyn, a van full of plants, eh!!!!!  Tom was right as he rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming as ya'll headed out.  ;D

Good to meet you and FWIW the pineapple you gifted me about 2 weeks ago has really grown, like another 4" diameter if you can believe it.  I'll try to get a pic and thanks again.

Miracle Fruit potting soil can be acidified with most anything organic although I'd stick close to peat or pine bark fines mix with in-organics like sand or vermiculite. You can acidify your water with sulfuric acid bought from an auto parts store.  (yes, it is clean and pure).  You may have seen that big black garbage can in my greenhouse.  Using a freshly calibrated pH pen I've acidified that rain water with acid down to about 5.5.  Takes very little as its 78%.  Another good acid although it's kinda expensive is phosphoric acid sourced from a brew shop.

You can also syphon water from a bucket containing acidic water using a Hozon syphonex for the entire collection.  Ratio is something like 12-1.

Good luck!

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2017, 10:55:55 AM »
Thanks!
Yes, we have been having lots of fun traveling with trees. I watered them last night (bottled spring water from Walmart) outside our hotel room, and the hotel owners immediately swooped in and tried to buy them off me! We also have a big piece of coquina that we picked up St Augustine, so the van is pretty packed. Thanks again for the rollinia, Mark, it is happy to have company now. Glad the dwarf pineapple is flourishing! Your hospitality was very generous, and the beverages you provided are still in the cooler, but it is all we can do not to open them - they may not make it all the way back to Idaho...

Carolyn

shot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 967
    • usa fl bokeelia 10
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2017, 01:40:05 PM »
Household items like vinegar mixed in your water use a meter, and maybe flush your pots with distilled water when you think your getting a build up of salts

luc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2448
    • Mexico , Puerto Vallarta , Jalisco . 20 degr. North
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2017, 01:44:56 PM »
What about coffee grounds ?
Luc Vleeracker
Puerto Vallarta
Mexico , Pacific coast.
20 degrees north

RodneyS

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 756
  • Cerritos, CA (Zone 11a)
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2017, 02:16:41 PM »
What about coffee grounds ?

Used coffee grounds lose their acidity after brewing

Mark in Texas

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4220
    • Fredericksburg Texas, (central TX), zone 8a
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2017, 10:44:43 AM »
What about coffee grounds ?

Used coffee grounds lose their acidity after brewing

They also break down and screw up the soil structure.

Happy and safe travels Carolyn!

sunny

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 643
    • Thailand
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2017, 11:06:34 AM »
I mix peat with sand and cowdung, put in full sun and have fruit,

phantomcrab

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 550
    • USA, St. Petersburg, FL Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #16 on: October 29, 2017, 12:52:46 PM »
Try cottonseed meal.
Richard

ricshaw

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1599
    • USA, Southern California, Zone 10b
    • View Profile
    • ricshaw805 YouTube Channel
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #17 on: October 29, 2017, 12:54:49 PM »
Can anyone recommend a good way to acidify potting soil?

I would recommend using a container potting soil mix people use for blueberries in SoCal.

1/3 …Organic Potting Soil/Peat Moss
1/3 ...Azalea/Acid Mix
1/3 …¼" Pathway Bark
A liberal handful of Soil Sulfur.
 

andrewq

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 135
    • USA, Texas, Houston, 9A
    • View Profile
Re: How to acidify soil for a miracle fruit in a pot
« Reply #18 on: November 03, 2017, 10:39:04 PM »
add pine bark fines and peat moss.

container growing is very different from in grounds growing. when you repot you may want to use custom made soil (just mix pine bark fines, perlite, and peat moss) in 5:1:1, 3:1:1 or maybe even 1:1:1.