Help. My chili is too acidic. What to do?
leibrook
16 years ago
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fenworth
16 years agomsafirstein
16 years agoRelated Discussions
how do i make my soil to acid?
Comments (9)Are the plants in the ground or in pots? Mixing peat moss into the soil will lower the pH pretty quickly. Adding garden sulfur is easier, but it takes several months for the pH to drop. I'd use sulfur, and make sure the plants are mulched with some kind of organic mulch, like compost or wood chips. As long as there is a lot of organic matter on top, the pH is not so critical to their survival, although they may not produce well until the pH is lower. You can find bags of sulfur at a lot of garden centers. I also see it at Home Depot and Lowes in the garden section with the garden fertilizers. Directions on the bag will tell you how much to use. Alex...See MoreMy pile is too acidic
Comments (3)The presence of pine needles, in a compost pile or soil, means nothing in relation to the soils, or compost piles, pH. As long as the C:N ratio is about 30:1 (and pine needles are about there all by themselves) your compost pile will work and the end result, finished compst, will be very near 7.0 pH. Since pine needles have this coating that makes digestion difficult it may take a long time for you to get finished compost....See MoreMy potting soil is becoming too acidic
Comments (12)Those leaves look like they're suffering from iron chlorosis. The soil could be iron deficient, but iron chlorosis is often caused by alkalinity. I think it's far more likely that your potting soil is getting less acidic, not more acidic. Why do you think it's becoming more acidic? Have you had tests that show it, or is it because the leaves are turning yellow with green veins. If the former, I'll bet you're using a home test kit and I suspect it's not very accurate. If the latter, you've misdiagnosed alkaline conditions as acidic conditions. Get a small amount of fertilizer that says something like "for acid loving plants" or "rhododendron fertilizer" or "azalea fertilizer" (if it has some iron in it, that's even better). you probably want to get something that is water soluble/fast acting. If you're still thinking it's due to acidity, test it with one plant and see if it makes a difference. I really think you need to lower the pH of the soil, not raise it. One other thing to note is that you should make sure you're not over watering. Too much water can also cause chlorosis....See MoreChili too hot....help
Comments (15)I've never been able to get up the nerve to put chocolate or cocoa into chili. Yes, I know it's not going to taste like a Snickers bar when used sparingly but never quite found it to be an appealing seasoning. Also, my experience is when I leave things like chili and sloppys sit the seasonings seem to build rather than diminish so I know if I overdid it from the start, it won't be better for me the next day. After tossing a few batches over the years, I've learned to try to hold back on seasonings, even on coleslaw and potato salad. You can always add more. I've heard of using potatoes to tone things down if overly salty and I'd imagine they'd absorb spices too. I thought about mentioning it but have never tried it so I don't know how well it works. I'm not so sure potatoes would be bad in chili anyway so I'd probably try it first. Taters, meat, potatoes? Nothing wrong with that. Makings of many a "casserole" or as we say in the nort'land "hotdish". I had perfected a chili recipe decades ago after years of trial and error and tweaking. It was fabulous. And I was making it so often I had it memorized... never wrote it down. Need I say more? Yep, I got all chilied out, didn't make it for a long time and if I did write it down, I never found where I put the recipe. :( So when I do make it now it's back to experiment. In my old age, I've found that I use less seasoning than years back. I like things a bit more mild. I've always used beer in chili and have quit with packets of seasoning. Just too much salt in there for me these days. I like to get a lot of the seasoning from things like different sausage. I'll use a "hot" pork sausage, some pepperoni even use jarred/canned spaghetti sauce and things like that rather than the packets or "kits", and of course lots of onion, some garlic, Worcestershire, and things like that spice it up without being overpowering. And though unsolicited, I'm a thick chili person. Don't like it soupy and watery. That's soup, not chili. I like it so I can scoop it up with crackers and have very little juice in the bottom of the bowl. Yeah, I'm a carnivore, give me meat!...See Morewizardnm
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