Using Groundcovers to Improve Soil Organic Content
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
2 years agoRelated Discussions
What types of organic matter will improve soil drainage?
Comments (9)Plants cannot uptake any nutrients from the soil if there is no moisture there to move those nutrients, so an evenly moist soil is one that contains some moisture, not a lot, so those nutrients can move. A soil that is wet will also hinder the movement of nutrients because the plants roots also need some air, which too much moisture will replace, to get those nutrients into the plants. An evenly moist soil is one where if you take a handfull and squeeze it tightly it will ball up but if you poke it with a finger it will fall apart, a good, workable soil. Well drained means that water will move out of that soil in a timely manner, excess water will not stay in the soil excluding air for very long. Many soils that lack sufficient levels of organic matter will either not drain well at all, holding water in the soil for days, or will drain too quickly, in less than an hour or two, and then will appear and feel dry. In sandy soils organic matter will hold both moisture and nutrients in the soil and in clay soils that same organic matter will open up the soil so excess eater drains away adn the nutrients that often get tightly locked onto the caly soil particles are released for the plants to use....See MoreWhat kind of organic matter to use in high phosphorus clay soil?
Comments (6)Sand is not the thing to add - sorry, because I know you would have worked very hard in doing that. Sand involves the most work but the smallest reward. Leaves from deciduous trees would be a great thing for your soil. It's a question of what you have close to hand. Where I am, I am surrounded by suburbs of deciduous trees and I spend a lot of time collecting them and building piles wherever I deem a good place for a pile to be, which seems to be an ever-increasing number of sites. Improving a soil takes time, but if done over time and using the right sort of things, you will one day have lovely soil. For your bulb garden, a raised bed will provide drainage. It's hard to explain how this is so, but rest assured that the reason for raised beds is because of the drainage they provide. Can you describe what you are starting with? For example, is there any sort of garden, grass, weeds, concrete. A new place or an existing garden of some kind? We are operating in the dark here a little, I think. And what sort of stuff is available for you to get?...See MoreSandy Soil Improvement Using Crowded Seedlings
Comments (13)Thanks for the feedback, everyone! > What you are doing is growing a green manure crop I absolutely agree. I'm just trying to accelerate the process, from seasons to weeks. > Choose vigorous, fast, deep rooted plants. I've been planting cowpea, primarily. It has deep taproots as you recommend, and the seeds are large and contain 25% protein which will add significant nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil. I'm also trying wheat because it looks nice like a lawn grass when crowded, and it's also high in protein, though the seeds are small. > The flaw in your plan is that these plants will be unable to leave behind any minerals or nitrogen that was not already in the dirt I'm using a ridiculously large number of big seeds which are rich in protein. I believe that the amount of nitrogen, etc added from the seeds alone would be significant. > The main disadvantage I see to your plan is time scale. It'll take a LONG TIME to improve your soil substantially by simply cover cropping. I hope to achieve very fast results with the deliberate crowding of the seedlings. The top portion of the soil could be saturated with little roots within 2 weeks, creating lots of channels for water infiltration. It'll probably take much longer for the roots to rot to the point where they'll help the soil to hold more water and nutrients, though. > How deep? How far do you have to dig before you get to a different material? I've not dug deep enough to get to a different material, but it's more than 10cm deep. > you have no earthworms is you have compacted sharp sand. I thought so initially, but since I started watering the soil, I've been seeing earthworm casts at the edges of the area, where some weeds have also started springing up. > Was this a real garden bed once? If so, how did it end up with so much sand? The owners gave up on growing things there and just wanted it to look 'neat' with no weeds....See Moresoil testing: results and your soil improvement after testing.
Comments (5)Wavering on replying, trying to be polite and stay on topic. I think a lot of regulars here have already read about NPK and know what a soil test is. You don't really have to reinvent the wheel, there's a balance between writing your own content and simply reading/sharing what has already been explained. Regarding the 'chemical push,' in short everything is case by case devil in the details in my view. It would depend on what soil test, what is measures, who does it, what they are recommending, have they demonstrated examples of their work, are they benefiting financially from what is happening, and so on. It's not that there is a chemical side and an anti-vaxxer side, it just actually depends on what it is. The science and scientific process is extremely important, but if you are getting so mired in the details and big words that you don't even understand what all the terms numbers and graphs mean, and it's blocking your view of just looking at the dirt, crumple the paper and bin it IMO....See MoreMischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
2 years agoMischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UKgardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)
2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b)westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked prairiemoon2 z6b MAMoses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USA
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