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Epiphyllums are acid loving plants |
Epiphyllums are Acid Loving Plants
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On the PH scale Epiphyllums can grow in a range of 5.0 to 9, but prefer a Ph of 6.2 to 7. Epiphyllums can grow at higher levels (alkaline) up to 9, but above 8 they will begin to be deprived of nutrients like Iron, manganese, and phosphorus will be less available. Epiphyllums can grow at slightly lower levels also but going below 6 and nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are less available. Below 4 and you could cause damage to the plant. So a good PH balance is very important to Epiphyllums overall health. There are many ways to adjust your PH that are very simple and easy to do. Some use household products you may already have on hand. You can also use certain fertilizers in your normal maintenance schedule to help with adjusting your plants PH levels.
Most city supplied water is alkaline. So below are a few different ways to lower your PH. Or make it more Acidic. .
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1) Add Vinegar or Citrus juice to your water. Lemon, orange or lime it doesn’t matter. Get this at the grocery store. .
2) Use peat moss in your soil mix it has a PH of 3.5. Most garden centers have this. Add 1/3 to your soil mix.
3) Add organic matter to your soil mix as it creates acidic residue. But by its self it’s neutral at 7. Available at most garden centers.
4) Aluminum sulfate is a salt, but be careful you can overdo it and get in the 4 range fast. Available at garden centers.
5) Ferrous sulfate, a salt is another. It becomes instantly available to the plant. Available at garden centers. .
6) Several Hybrid Fertilizer/ACID blends are available see soil mix and fertilizer section
These Charts below give you an idea of the relationship of PH levels and plant nutrient availability.
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