Oak Trees for Acidic Soils?

[Mud Dog]

I have a small farm in Southwest Arkansas and (being from Texas) want to plant a few Live Oak trees. The soil has about a 5.5 pH level (unlimed). The land is a lot like East Texas, just with more hills. Does anyone know if this will work?

Thanks,

Michel :D

[CaptainCompostAL]

Compost buffers soil pH. If you plant your oak trees in plenty of compost, you should be fine. You may want to add some lime to the soil around the trees just to ensure that it has enough calcium to increase the trees' growth rate and soil nutrients uptake.

Soil pH is not that big of deal to totally organic farmers, as long as your native soil pH is between 6.0 and 7.0. Soil pH is not just a function of calcium and sulfur and water in the soil. Humus and beneficial soil microbes also balance and buffer soil pH around plant roots.

I have grown several so-called acidic and alkaline plants in the same high organic soil with no problems.

[Mud Dog]

Thanks Capt. I'll give it a try :)