PH Meter

I went to Pikes with the intention of buying a pH test. I was imagining the old litmus paper test - get some moist soil, smear it on the paper, wipe it off, compare it to a chart or something. It turns out they have these fancy electronic ones now. Being a techie, I'm always a sucker for buying the latest gadget, and this was no exception.

I ended up picking up the Digital Soil PH Meter. It works well - feels sturdy, and reads a pH almost instantaneously. I checked the area we just planted the azaleas - 6.5. I think thats too high, I read somewhere that 4-5.5 is ideal. I guess I need to get something to work into the soil, plus some pine bark mulch or pine needles to mulch with. I found out that hardwood bark mulch (which we used last year) raises the pH. No wonder the existing Azalea lost its color and looked sick. Apparently at a high pH it can't pull nutrients from the ground.

I also bought some potting soil for some Camellia cuttings - we're going to try to root them. Got stimulator for them too. I'm not expecting too much from that experiment, but wouldn't it be cool to wind up with 3-4 baby Camelias?