Well, pine needles and peat moss and coffee grounds are said to be "on the acid side", but you might have to add a lot of them to see any difference. Gallons and gallons of vinegar, added a little at a time over months? Or Coca-Cola?
I've never read that this next idea was a good idea, but it sounds good based on high-school chemistry.
This is just speculative, approach with caution.
Add diluted acid. VASTLY diluted acid.
Don't burn your skin or eyes. Or lungs. Or plants or worms.
Probably no one advises it because it is so easy to burn yourself with concentrated acid.
Maybe it is just a terrible, dumb idea.
Nitric acid would add nitrates, but it is notoriously corrosive when concentrated.
Phosphoric acid would add phosphates - sounds good to me.
Sulphuric acid would add sulphate - perhaps too much. Does SO4 make other things less soluble?
Don't use hydrochloric acid: chloride is an unwanted ion (salinization). And the fumes stink. And bleach your nose hairs.
My first guess for diluting anything you might find at a hardware store comes from vingar being pH 2.4. If that is safe to handle, diluting the strong acids down to pH 4 MIGHT be safe to work with. That would be 10,000 to 1 - but water it in right away or see what "burns plant roots" means! And will the worms take it in stride?
There are 3,840 tsp in 5 gallons, so 10,000:1 is 0.38 tsp = 3/8 tsp = 2 milliliters in 5 gallons.
Less than 1/2 teaspoon should give you a big bucket that you still DON'T want to get in your eyes!
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Maybe 100,000 to one would be better, to avoid burning the soil life between the time you pour and the time you water it in: around pH 5 ... but you might need many gallons.
100,000:1 would be 0.2 milliliters (between 1/32 and 1/16 tsp) in 5 gallons.
pH 5 ought to be safe to water with, don't you think?
And always "add acid to water, as you oughter" because that releases heat. If you pour a little water into a jar of acid, the heat rleeases can cause boiling, flinging hot, concentrated water right at your goggles. You are wearing goggles and gloves and a raincoat, right, when diluting acid?
Again - probably the reason no one advises this is that it is dangerous. And maybe it tneds to hurt roots because it delivers such a shock. Best to try it in just one spot, first, in the rain. If that doesn't kill anything noticable, try a larger area.
Corey
