Gardening Australia – September 2019

Soil alkalinity

Acoupleofyearsago,Ispent time and effort building

raisedgardenbedsforvegies. I decided to go the whole

hogandfillthemwithmushroom compost. Big mistake!

Inthefirstseason,theproduce was disappointing, but

Iputitdowntothehot,dry summer. This year, it was a

disaster.So,somewhatbelatedly, I checked the soil’s pH.

Itwas7.5–8,whichistoohigh for vegies. After consulting

ahorticulturistatalocalnursery, I am now in the process

ofaddingsoilacidifierand cow poo to the beds. I thought

mushroomcompostwould be the bee’s knees for vegies,

andIcouldseemyselfhaving vegies galore to share with

myfriendsandneighbours. So, be warned: mushroom

compostisgoodformushrooms and okaytotopdress

thegardenwith,butit’snot okay as a rais

fillerforyourvegies.Ihave learnt from m

experienceandI’mpassing it on so that

othersdon’thavethesame problem.

JudyDalitz,WattleFlat,NSW

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