This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Clay Soil Amendments

Dave Amorde wrote:
> 
> I live in Orange County, CA. - the adobe capital of the world! It is my
> personal experience, and the opinion of many others, that coarse river sand
> is THE BEST possible long-term amendment to clay soil! That "it makes
> bricks" argument is nonsense! - unless you allow your soil to dry out
> completely. You wouldn't do that to your roses, would you?
>  An additional amendment to clay should also be gypsum. Gypum (calcium
> sulfate) helps break up the clay clods, making it easier to blend in other
> ingredients. It does this by a chemical reaction with the sodium salts in
> the clay. In doing so, it also allows these toxic sodium compounds to be
> leached out of the root zone. Add 10 to 20 pounds per 100 sq. ft. and water
> it in a few days before you plan on adding the other amendments. Other
> inorganic amendments, such as perlite, are also good but expensive.
>  Organics are great, of course, for not only breaking up the soil, but for
> adding nutrients, and feeding the earthworms and beneficial bacteria.
> However, they don't last - they decompose, and are consumed by the roses and
> the earthworms. Once they are gone, you are back to clay soil again! Unless
> you plan on digging up your rose beds every few years to replace them, I
> would suggest a balanced application of sand and organics.
>  If you have clay soil REPLACE two-thirds of it with a mix of 50% sand and
> 50% various organics - manure, oak-leaf mold, mushroom compost, redwood
> compost, etc. Various amendments are available in different areas. Make sure
> that any manures have aged for year. The best strategy is to vary the
> organics according to their decomposition rate. Manures will decompose very
> quickly, while redwood and other ground barks take much longer - stretching
> out their benefits.
How nice that you've made your soil amendments work. Keep up the good
work with the gypsum.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index