Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
into small strong similar bags.
Now they are muddled.
Since their visual appearance is very similar.
Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
Thanks.

On 28/01/2022 12:27, john west wrote:
> Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
> into small strong similar bags.
> Now they are muddled.
> Since their visual appearance is very similar.
> Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
> Thanks.
Sample in water and litmus or similar to check Ph?

--
“it should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalin’s Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.”

Vaclav Klaus

On 28 Jan 2022 12:27, john west wrote:
> Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
> into small strong similar bags.
> Now they are muddled.
> Since their visual appearance is very similar.
> Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
> Thanks.
>

I would have thought the method I used to use to test gravel for my
fish tanks would work. Saucer of each, pour on vinegar, the one that
froths is not ericaceous.
--
Regards.
Bob Hobden

On 28/01/2022 12:27, john west wrote:
> Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
> into small strong similar bags.
> Now they are muddled.
> Since their visual appearance is very similar.
> Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
> Thanks.

In my experience, it doesn't matter what compost you use except for a
very few extreme calcifuges. Even then, I'm not entirely convinced it's
the calcium/alkalinity they don't like so much as something else. About
the only plants I grow for which I use ericaceous compost (diluted
further with peat. Isn't that shameful!) are seeds and seedlings of
/Proteaceae/, as they won't tolerate even moderate levels of phosphate.
Even then, once out of the seedling stage they tolerate soil which is
only slightly acidic, providing the phosphate level isn't too high. Thee
are, however, some proteaceous plants which don't seem to mind where the
grow. In my garden these are Embothrium, and around six grevilleas.

FWIW, I've yet to find any rhododendron which won't grow in soil which
everything else grows in - even that which is not free-draining and has
a lot of clay.

What do others posting here find?

--

Jeff

On 28/01/2022 15:13, Jeff Layman wrote:
> On 28/01/2022 12:27, john west wrote:
>> Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
>> into small strong similar bags.
>> Now they are muddled.
>> Since their visual appearance is very similar.
>> Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
>> Thanks.
>
> In my experience, it doesn't matter what compost you use except for a
> very few extreme calcifuges. Even then, I'm not entirely convinced it's
> the calcium/alkalinity they don't like so much as something else. About
> the only plants I grow for which I use ericaceous compost (diluted
> further with peat. Isn't that shameful!) are seeds and seedlings of
> /Proteaceae/, as they won't tolerate even moderate levels of phosphate.
> Even then, once out of the seedling stage they tolerate soil which is
> only slightly acidic, providing the phosphate level isn't too high. Thee
> are, however, some proteaceous plants which don't seem to mind where the
> grow. In my garden these are Embothrium, and around six grevilleas.
>
> FWIW, I've yet to find any rhododendron which won't grow in soil which
> everything else grows in - even that which is not free-draining and has
> a lot of clay.
>
> What do others posting here find?
>
heavy clay on chalk here - forget ericas rhodos azaleas. They just dont grow

--
The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to
rule.
– H. L. Mencken, American journalist, 1880-1956

On 28/01/2022 15:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 28/01/2022 15:13, Jeff Layman wrote:
>> On 28/01/2022 12:27, john west wrote:
>>> Doing a tidy up i moved some normal compost and some ericaceous compost
>>> into small strong similar bags.
>>> Now they are muddled.
>>> Since their visual appearance is very similar.
>>> Is there any simple way to tell which is the ericaceous from the other?
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> In my experience, it doesn't matter what compost you use except for a
>> very few extreme calcifuges. Even then, I'm not entirely convinced it's
>> the calcium/alkalinity they don't like so much as something else. About
>> the only plants I grow for which I use ericaceous compost (diluted
>> further with peat. Isn't that shameful!) are seeds and seedlings of
>> /Proteaceae/, as they won't tolerate even moderate levels of phosphate.
>> Even then, once out of the seedling stage they tolerate soil which is
>> only slightly acidic, providing the phosphate level isn't too high. Thee
>> are, however, some proteaceous plants which don't seem to mind where the
>> grow. In my garden these are Embothrium, and around six grevilleas.
>>
>> FWIW, I've yet to find any rhododendron which won't grow in soil which
>> everything else grows in - even that which is not free-draining and has
>> a lot of clay.
>>
>> What do others posting here find?
>>
> heavy clay on chalk here - forget ericas rhodos azaleas. They just dont grow

That's fair enough, as trying to grow most rhodos *on* chalk is a waste
of time, as that is just too much chalk for them to deal with. I'm not
on chalk, just soil with the consistency of "potters" clay, but I have
no difficulty with rhodos and camellias.

--

Jeff