Chickens 2012 multi strain grow log,

[deluxestogie]

Steve2,
If you bring up much clay subsoil with your auger, you might want to add some peat or other organic to it, and mix it well.

Bob

 

[BarG]

That's just what I do, but I have to drill through clay in my part of az

Stev2md, last year I used a post hole digger to go about 12"-16" deeper than my tiller at each plant.I was hitting clay in this area at about 8-10" soil depth. My plants may not have survived considering the severe drought we had. I also added peat and soil mix around each plant. I am planting in the same area as many plants that will fit where last yrs. flourished the best. I also broke new ground in a more sandy loam area. The new ground will be fertilizer free till they show signs of it being necessary. I have tilled in some pellitized lime.

 

[BarG]

"Steve2,
add peat or other organic to it, and mix it well."

Bob

Bob, were you reading my mind while I was posting? I was rewording to add in the peat and soil mix when you beat me to the punch. Steve2md, Bob's answer is more thorough, I come here more to learn than give advice.

BarG

 

[Steve2md]

My thoughts as well. I'm going to make a mix of composted manure, compost, peat,pearlite, and sifted "garden soil". I'm planning on putting 3"or so of gravel in the bottom of each hole to aid drainage. then fill with my mix. I plan to till before and after each crop, and add new material each time. eventually, the ground there should be super fertile and happy. I plan to burn all my stalks at the end of harvest and till them in. (it worked well for the Indians for thousands of years, why not for us?). BUT........
maybe we should move this conversation to a new thread (Admins??) so we can stop hijacking Chicken's thread. We can call it "soil amendment and prep methods or something? Sorry for Jacking your thread Chicken,

Steve

 

[BarG]

"stop hijacking Chicken's thread. We can call it "soil amendment and prep methods or something? Sorry for Jacking your thread Chicken,"

Steve

Chicken, how deep is the soil at your location in Florida. Are you in an area that coral is close to the surface. I've heard stories about having to deal with that in the construction industry?

 

[wazzappenning]

ive heard that clay is very good for plants (full of nutrients), but has to be broken up into small pieces.

 

[Chicken]

Chicken,

Is your Lizard tail's full name "Lizard tail/Turtle foot"? I found some of these seeds today and there are only 50 seeds or so. If you're going the same thing,I'm not going to plant these.

yes thats the full name of them,

Chicken, how deep is the soil at your location in Florida. Are you in an area that coral is close to the surface. I've heard stories about having to deal with that in the construction industry?

fortunattly no my soil is as deep as a backhoe can dig,,,, im in north florida,,,,,down near miami,,and homestead area, it is like that,

i had family down there, they told me they dig a 1 foot hole, then pull out the PICK-AXE to dig the rest,,'' NO THANKS''

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AND YOU GUY'S ARE WELCOME TO HIJACK MY THREAD ANYTIME,

 

[Daniel]

Clay is a very fine particle. This equals that it can pack together tighter. But it also has another characteristic that makes is sticky. it actually has a bond like magnetism to other clay particles. this means that even if you break it up. it will tend with time and moisture. to re link itself to other clay particles. this is part of why clay is so hard to break up. Around here they sell a powder that you add to the soil. It is expensive and you have to do it again and again for several years. But it will cause the clay particles to separate. What you end up with is a talcum powder fine dust. Very nasty stuff. At burnign man they call it Playa Dust and it is very hard to clean off of anything. Airlines now supply plastic bags for the luggage of anyone that was at burning man because the dust gets in their planes and they cannot get it out. So you still want to add sand and organic matter as the clay breaks up.

 

[Daniel]

I copied this from an article on amending clay soils.

Clay particles, bound end to end and side to side in extensive planes, are stacked in a sandwichlike matrix and held together by electrochemical forces. This platelike stacking of horizontally arranged clay particles results in a large surface area.
Because individual clay particles are negatively charged, they have the capacity to attract and hold onto, or adsorb, positively charged elements (called cations) such as ammonium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other trace elements. Clay soils are relatively fertile because of this capacity to adsorb these important plant nutrients. Conversely, the single, uncharged sand particles in sandy soils lack the capacity to adsorb cations and thus they contribute very little to soil fertility.

 

[Steve2md]

I tend to use sand and gypsum when tilling a large plot of clay. that and PLENTY of organics (mulch, compost, manure, etc) it works, but there is a lot of effort involved, hence the post hole auger "planters". every year when I till, the walls of the planters get broken down a little farther. I figure eventually I'll have awesome soil there at all times.

 

[Chicken]

luckily i have no clay in my area,

 

[wazzappenning]

hmmm, i had some clay chunks that i dug up when turning the garden. theres only 1-1/2 feet or so till clay base. i had broken them up and scattered them around. didnt see any last time i gardened. i thought the rain diluted them into the soil or the plants sucked them dry. from what you are saying, they probably pulled a terminator 2 and attracted to each other and then attracted back to the main slab of clay. wow, interesting, never knew that. although if what you said wasnt true, it would probably be hard to find a good slab of clay anywhere.

 

[Chicken]

i have a little tweaking to do to the grow area,,,but if all goes right,,, we plant 60+ plants this weekend,,,with more to follow later,

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By chickenhawk434 at 2012-04-05

 

[johnlee1933]

Nice going Chicken ! Mine are still little dwebes about the size of a pencil eraser.

John

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Because individual clay particles are negatively charged, they have the capacity to attract and hold onto, or adsorb, positively charged elements (called cations)

That's why most soils tests will report on your soil's Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC). The higher the number the better because CEC represents the potential your soil has for holding nutrients. It doesn't indicate soil fertility, just what your soil could hold if nourished/supplemented properly.

 

[BigBonner]

Well this is my first , A chicken with a green thumb . Looking good Chicken .

 

[Chicken]

well after busting my butt all weekend,

im getting very close to putting them in the ground

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By chickenhawk434 at 2012-04-10

 

[deluxestogie]

Chicken,
It looks like you're ready for Daniel's wild horses.

Bob

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Looks like a great setup for your growing season, Chicken but how are you going to squeeze all those plants in there? Is that a tarpaper fence?

 

[Chicken]

Looks like a great setup for your growing season, Chicken but how are you going to squeeze all those plants in there? Is that a tarpaper fence?

notr really tarpapapaer,,, but a material we use on the roadway to deter water,

allthough water goes right thru it,

i posthole dug the holes to give them loose dirt,,,, by this weekend i should have half the thing planted, if not all of it,