Re: Adding Clay vs Bentonite to your garden to raise the CEC.

In a message dated 12/19/99 8:41:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, Lubadub@aol.com 
writes:

<< Wayne:
 I thought about adding actual clay to my garden as there is almost none in 
 the soil as is. My CEC is 23 and so I just went out and bought some humus. I 
 can deal with 40 pound bags of humus much easier than I can deal with clay 
 even if it did come in bags in a powder form. Bentonite is something I am 
 unfamiliar with. Where do you get it? What does it cost? Has anyone actually 
 tried it? What is the more long range effect of adding it? Is it stable? 
 Humus is the final breakdown product of organic material. It is what is left 
 after the soil bacteria has done their thing. It continues to break down but 
 very slowly. Bentonite?
 Marv in Altoona
  >>
Marv,
   Bentonite is just a type of clay. I wouldn't worry too much about the CEC. 
With the constant feeding that most of us do with water solubles, it doesn't 
matter too much. The CEC would be more important in a field soil where a crop 
is fertilized once a year. You want the soil particles to hold the fertilizer 
elements in the root zone during the growing season. Your probably putting on 
fertilizer every week. Your humus applications will be cool. Do you have a 
pure sand soil??? I wouldn't go out looking for bentonite. Bentonite , 
Kaolinite and Montmorilinite are 3 types of clay. If you can find some pond 
dredgings you will certainly have some clay and silt in it.
                    pumkinguy

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