Re: Clay soil
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Clay soil
- From: "* G* C* <j*@erols.com>
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 23:24:16 -0600 (MDT)
Mike Lowe wrote:
>
> I have seen considerable discussion (and cussin') on clay soil since the
> iris-l inception -- however I have never seen 'land plaster' (finely ground
> gypsum) mentioned.
>
> It has been used extensively in Virginia to modify the tilth and water
> handling properties of heavy clay soil. It acts as a flocculation agent
> (modifies clay so as to form very small clumps rather than the usual
> homogenous plastic mass) and greatly improves the 'workability' of clay
> soils. It also modifies the water handling/penetration/retention of clay
> soils.
>
> Do we have anyone on the list who can give additional information? I garden
> in soil one step removed from beach sand and have no practical experience
> with this.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mike, mikelowe@tricities.net -- http://www.tricities.net/~mikelowe/
> http://www.worldiris.com
> South Central Virginia, USA USDA Zone 7A, pH-5.4, very sandy loam
Mike -- I posted an item on this several months ago. When I first came
to Virginia from Indiana many years ago, I needed to quickly convert the
only sunny spot in the yard from yellow clay to a bed for transplanted
seedlings then only a few months old. None of the area nurseries had
ever heard of gypsum. I finally found it at an industrial plant in
Lanham, Maryland, where I persuaded them to sell me two 50-lb bags. I
mixed these and a pulverized old tree stump (guess who pulverized it)
into a 200-sq-ft area of clay. It worked fine and the seedlings
prospered. These days, I use oak leaf and wood twigs mulch, which I make
with a 3-hp shredder, or used mushroom soil, which I have just acquired
and seems terrific.
Griff Crump, along the tidal Potomac near Mount Vernon, VA
jgcrump@erols.com
