Re: Re: CULT: clay...the end?

Linda,

>Only about 2% of fresh organic matter added to soil is still there after
>one year, and most of that is gone within another few years.  The more
>you till, the faster the organic matter breaks down and goes away.  On
>the other hand,TB iris <really> like loose soil for their roots.

That is hungry stuff!  Does it disappear faster in clay than in sandy soil?
I suppose if one had good friable loam you wouldn't be able to tell.  The
soil did stay more loose after adding copious amounts of organic material
and then cooking it under plastic for a couple of months in the heat of
summer.  In fact, now four seasons down the way the solarized patch is still
easier to handle than a sister bed of the same clay with the same organic
material.  Does the heat cause it to bind together differently?  If you dig
8-12 inches in the solarized bed you still hit brick in the solarized bed.
In the sister bed that ranges from the surface to only a couple of inches
before it is brick.

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA

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