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Re: [nafex] Re: good stuff perhaps



Hi all:

To support what Lon wrote, Michael Dirr (an ornamental plant guy at U.
Georgia) wrote in his book that U Georgia grows azaleas, rhododendrons
(sp?) in red Georgia clay by planting half the root ball in the ground
and then covering the top half the root ball with shredded tree bark.
I assume that the mulch must be about 6" (150mm)in most cases.  You
might want to see if there are any sawmills in the neighborhood.  You
will need truck loads of bark if you plant many blueberries.

> HOWEVER, I have been finding that the thing that makes the MOST
difference
> in most cases, is having a lot of organic matter in the soil.  Not
> necessarily peat or other acid stuff, just plenty of compost, etc.
to feed
> the soil microflora.  That seems to help the blueberries adapt
better than
> anything else.  The correct mycorrhizal fungi (and other flora) have
been
> found to create acidity in the soil that is part of their activity
in
> breaking down minerals and improving water holding capacity.


Joe