Food Plots PH too high?

[garnermtn]

Did a soil test today and the PH was well above base. Its adjacent to limestone field so i guess that explains it. I know most on here are adding lime to get the PH up. Any issues with the PH being too high? Want to plant clover, wheat, and oats

 

[Hunter 257W]

How high was your Ph? Surely it's not so high that it's out of the acceptable range for most deer plot plants? For flower beds and such you can add peat moss to lower the Ph but the cost would be way too high for even a small food plot.

I've always wondered how my soil can be so naturally acidic. There is so much limestone around - there is a limestone quarry just about 3 miles away in fact.

 

[Antler Dirt John]

You can fertilize with grower house litter.
Sulfer lowers ph.
Ground up tree bark is acidic.
Rotten sawdust, rotten hay.
Blood from a processor.
Tree leaves from a city collector will rot and lower your ph.

Just trying to keep it natural...

 

[garnermtn]

I heard sulfur works. If the wheat and oats tolerate a high Ph i guess it doesn't matter. Just thought it needed to be 6.5 range to support growth

 

[Antler Dirt John]

Many plants will tolerate an out of balance Ph, however many nutrients / minerals become unavailable or the roots are unable to take them up due to the effects of a high ph. Unbalanced ph also increases your chances of plant diseases and detrimental microbes. Adjusting your soil's ph toward what is ideal for the desired crop is always money well spent and can mean the difference between an exceptable plot and a stunning plot with tons of forage.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

This is why soil test are so important.sulfur is great for this

 

[KubotaM4900]

What is the ph number?

 

[garnermtn]

Off the chart high. Light Green is alkaline and mine was dark green. At least 8+

 

[Antler Dirt John]

You might consider looking into hardwood sawdust and broiler house litter.

But

Before I went too far I would send a soil sample to a lab to confirm the ph.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Off the chart high. Light Green is alkaline and mine was dark green. At least 8+

I am highly suspicious of that number for that area. Unless somebody has put 5 or 6 tons of lime/acre on it recently, a pH of 8 is all but impossible for middle TN. Is this from a lab type soil test? If not, I think something is wrong with the test methods used to arrive at your pH. I'm afraid you're going to spend a bunch of money trying to get the soil more acidic only to find out later that it was already way more acidic than you thought. If that's the case, then you'd have to spend even more on lime to swing it back up in the alkaline direction. I hate to see you go through all that.

 

[garnermtn]

Its in Hawkins Cove right at the foot of the mountain. Its littered with limestone which leads me to believe it may be on the alkaline side. It would seem the limestone would leach into the soil knocking the acid back. Its poor mountain soil that probably wont support a big plot but a little one is better than nothing i guess. Where do you hunt in FC?