my houseplant have to much acid in the soil..

[meow mix]

so i went to the store and they gave me some pH DOWN. (30% H3 PO4)

then i started thinking maybe thats the wrong stuff? im not very good with advanced chemistry, should i have gotten pH UP if i wanted to make it less acid?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. The lower the number, the more acidic.

So, yeah, you should have gotten pH UP.

Oops!

[meow mix]

2. dang thats what i thought , ty

just looking for some confirmation heh
they almost made me toast plantey! =(

[Zoigal]

3. Acid soil

Have used lime to lower the acidity level of soil...also you might check out leaf litter.
FYO PH lower than 7 is consider acid, above that alkaline.

[XemaSab]

6. Leaf litter can really hurt fertility

If he was talking about a garden or some outdoor plot, I'd say to go get some compost and bust that into the soil and let the chips fall where they may, but acid/base chemistry in the soil is really complicated and when you're talking about a plant in a pot, even a tiny amount of the wrong thing can hurt the roots.

Oh, don't put compost in outdoor soil if you're living in southern California and you want native plants. Too many nutrients just leads to problems. They evolved in poor soil, and they like it.

[MoseyWalker]

4. Number one rule

Don't pee in the pot. Uric acid is not good for plants.

Sorry, but other than that, I have no clue.

[XemaSab]

7. You'd also be introducing salts into the soil

Interfering with the osmotic gradient in the roots. :D

[MoseyWalker]

8. oh, poop. I knew there was more wrong with that than I thought

:)

(do not poop in the soil. Please)

I really wish I did have an answer for this original question, but I don't. I plant, water, weed, and hope for the best.

[XemaSab]

5. The easy thing to do is swap out the soil

Pull them out, knock the soil off the roots, and repot them.

Repeat the process once a year. :D