Soil acidity increase (forum)

Raj K starts with ...
I have observed that on application of sugarcane mulch the soil acidity increased from 6.5 to 4.5. In areas where I did not mulch it remained at 6.5. I have never noticed this before. This time it nearly killed my rose and some other veggies whic is why I decided to invest in a ph meter. The guy in Bunnings told me it’s possibly due to the bacterial breaki down of the mulch and it’s common practice to add lime before mulching.

Is this corrrect? Or could there be other reason for the sudden increase in acidity?

Time: 27th December 2018 10:36am

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About the Author Raj K
Murrumba Downs
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Caleb (Staff) says...
Hi Raj K,

The metabolic pathways of decomposition often lead to acidity increases, so it is quite possible that that is the cause. A rise of 2 pH is quite a lot though, so there may be other changes we haven't noticed. As for lime, it is quite a common soil amendment and is often added with a suite of other soil builders at the time of mulching, so a lot of people may not even realize its purpose.

I hope this clears it up a bit, please let us know how it goes and hopefully we can help others with this.
Thanks,
-Caleb from Daley's Fruit Tree Nursery

Time: 25th January 2019 3:03pm

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Kyogle
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