Lemon peel in my soil

Hey so I have Happy Frog soil. When I test using a pretty standard 3 way meter. The soil is 8pH. I’m trying to set the soil before I plant. So I’ve mixed the Happy frog soil with some Patio Plus. About 1/5 patio plus. I am trying to lower the pH of soil using lemon juice in water. Before I poured the water through the soil the water was at 5.5. I’m wondering if I leave the lemon peel in the soil will that help my pH problem or at the very least give nutrients to the soil?

What kind of meter is it? Soil meters are generally garbage.

Damn are they really garbage here’s a pic

ismann said:

What kind of meter is it? Soil meters are generally garbage.

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It would take a while for the lemon peel to break down, but it would become compost in living soil, which often starts out more acidic and then trends toward neutral over time. If you do want to put the lemon peel in the soil I don't think it would hurt, but I doubt it would help much either.

Hey man i have this meter aswell. the ph portion of it is not accurate at all dont trust it. the moisture part is well just ok. the light meter is the most accurate. dont bother with the peel just ph your water higher. im guessing u picked that up at canadian tire or walmart. they also sell soil analysis kits thatll give you a much much better reading. i have used 3 different ones thinking maybe others are fsulty. but nah these meters are a waste of time

OrganicBudz said:

Hey man i have this meter aswell. the ph portion of it is not accurate at all dont trust it. the moisture part is well just ok. the light meter is the most accurate. dont bother with the peel just ph your water higher. im guessing u picked that up at canadian tire or walmart. they also sell soil analysis kits thatll give you a much much better reading. i have used 3 different ones thinking maybe others are fsulty. but nah these meters are a waste of time

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Thank you. Scientifically the sig figs are trash so it doesn’t surprise me. I can at least use the measurements relative to the meter. I’m sure it’s at least precise.

They start out a little high to counter the effects of the peat ,which as it is used will naturally become acidic.Chasing soil ph will only cause problems.

nmibud said:

They start out a little high to counter the effects of the peat ,which as it is used will naturally become acidic.Chasing soil ph will only cause problems.

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so you think I should just leave it. My plants were having problems. Leaves were browning in spots and they were showing signs of nutrient problems. Couldn’t figure it out what was wrong. When I ph’d the soil was at 8 in the patio plus. My water meters ay 6 - 7 every time even with the trash meter so I figured it must be soil pH

You should always feed soil at 6.3-6.5 for best results.The soil will buffer the nutes into the right range.Once you get this in check you can find the true problem.Pics would help solve other issues.