Effects of Soil Acidity and Organic Matter by Application of Organic Materials and Soil Mulching with Pine Needles for Soil Surface Management in Blueberry Eco-Friendly Farming

Abstract

The blueberry eco-friendly farming requires the soil condition of pH 4.2 ~ 5.2 and high in organic matters for stable growth. Most of soil types of blueberry-growing land in Korea, however, belongs to alkaline soils with low organic matter content. As a result, the eco-friendly blueberry growers use peat moss and sulfur powder heavily to improve the soil condition, but the guideline on the effective use of organic materials was not established yet. Therefore, this sturdy was performed to investigate the effect of increasing soil acidity and organic matters by using organic materials. Among 5 organic materials, the pH of soil was lowest in degradable sulfur + bentonite (pH 4.1) and followed by Peat moss+Chaff+Pine Needlesmixtures(pH 4.5), OrganicAcid +vinegar (pH 4.7), Sulfur powder (pH 4.8), Temperature response Elutioner (pH 5.2). The soil organic matter content were increased in the following order: Peat moss+Chaff+Pine Needlesmixtures (8.4%) > degradable sulfur + bentonite (7.8%) > Organic Acid + vinegar (7.2%) > Sulfur powder <TEX>${\fallingdotseq}$</TEX> Temperature response Elutioner (6.3%). Although different in the degree, all organic materials treated was recognized a good material for improving soil pH and organic matter content. The plant height and stem diameter of blueberry were no clear difference among 5 organic materials. Another study was carried out to investigate amending soils with organic matter by soil mulching with pine needles for soil surface management in blueberry organic cultivation. The effect of increasing the soil pH by pine needle mulching in blueberry eco-friendly farming was recognized in four test fields. Pine needle mulching for soil surface management in blueberry appeared several advantages, such as improving of soil pH and organic matter content. Therefore, pineneedle mulching in blueberry organic farming is considered as the most efficient means of mulching cultivation for amending soil pH, weed suppression and moisture conservation among mulching materials.