Patrick Louge our Horticultural Specialist talks about pH levels, see below:
When last did you check the pH of your block?
Following a recent visit to the Gympie region, it was apparent that the pollination of a number of crops in the region was inconsistent and on carrying out further investigation and speaking to a local Gympie bee keeper – Len Weller, a possible reason for the poor pollination is starting to emerge and the reason, given by Len is in the pH of the soil in blocks.
The blocks that have a low pH have the worst crop set, this is not just in tree crops, but also applies to field crops as well. He has seen this in a variety of crops, Avocado, macadamias, different varieties of citrus, melons, zucchini and pumpkins.
Len has been supplying the Gympie region with bees for pollination since 1992 and the first thing he does when a grower requests his services is to check the pH of the block, where he is to place the hives. He says “This check saves a lot of time and heart ache” once he satisfied, he then places his hives on the property.
He says the low pH causes Aluminium toxicity and this in turn poisons his bees, and when you look at the pH chart shown below, one is able to see that once the pH drops below 5 the greater the availability of Aluminium to the plant and Len has discovered that the high levels of Aluminium are transferred to the flowers. Len says As soon as the pH drops to below 5—this Aluminium increase will kill up to 40% of his bees”.
In the photograph below, taken of a frame out of one of Len’s hives, you can see the number of “dead” cells inside the white circles – and this is due to Aluminium, poisoning. The other tell tale sign is dead bees at the entrance to the hive, Len has had the dead bees analysed and high levels of Aluminium have been detected in the dead bees and he says it takes months to get the hive back into a healthy state”.
The white circles indicate infected cells in the brood frame.
He has over the years monitored a number of farms and where the size and yield of the produce has declined significantly, and the pH of the farms has also dropped and in his opinion there is a direct correlation.
Have you a question for Patrick? Contact him via our contact us page.