Re: Soil Concoctions

Ernest:

Welcome to the group and this wonderful sport hobby.  I was actually
waiting for some other people to respond to your query, since I think there
are more qualified people than myself to give you input.   If I were you I
would start off by taking a soil test in the location that you are planning
on growing in.  Perhaps simply ammending the soil you have with the compost
would do just fine.  In fact in my experience I prefer to use ammended
garden soil rather than a from scratch mix.   I found that the  natural
soil had good CE capacity and tended to eliminate much of the
micro-nutrient problems one  can encounter with "soilless" media.   If the
soil under your plot is even marginally good I would opt to ammend it with
compost and adjust the ph.   

In my opinion adding peat is an expensive way to add organic matter, which
can more easily be addded with compost.  Vermiculite, besides being fairly
expensive as well serves to increase the water holding capacity and improve
areation in the soil, which is also accomplished by adding compost.   I
have a personal aversion to adding sand to garden soil.  Although sandy
loam soils are well drained and excellent for growing stuff, adding sand to
clay soils or other mixes is not the way to achieve better drainage.   In
fact I believe that adding sand to clay just makes bricks.   

Please remember this is only one growers opinion.   I hope several others
will respond and give you a couple of perspectives on the project.   

About performing crosses and breeding in general......there aren't any
single good written resources on giant squash breeding, at least that I'm
aware of.   Plant breeding in general can be researched in any decent
college level plant breeding text book.   Your best bet for genetics and
breeding answers is to stick with this group and ask whatever questions are
on your mind.   In my opinion the collective experience of the growers in
this group is far more informative and enjoyable than any book I've ever
read. 

Good luck, 

Rick from Wisconsin

----------
> From: Ernest Quintiliani <click@ma.ultranet.com>
> To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
> Subject: Soil Concoctions
> Date: Wednesday, January 14, 1998 4:13 PM
> 
> Hey Ho, folks,
> 
>     Now that I've settled into the list, I have a few questions I'd like
> to run past you more experienced Pumpkineers out there.  This will mark
> my first serious attempt to grow a huge AG, and I must admit I'm a bit
> green.
> 
>     My city has a wonderful Municipal Compost program; Good black stuff
> with lots of leaf mould. has a Ph of around 7.5.  We can take as much as
> we can haul off.  I was considdering mixing the soil for my mound this
> year from scratch, and thought about using a combo of 3 parts of this
> compost, two parts peat, 1 part vermiculite and one part sand for
> drainage.  Any comments or ideas; Remember, I'm new at this.
> 
>     Also, I'm interested in cross breeding. Anyone know of any
> resources/publications?  Thanks!
> 
> 
> Ernest.
> 
>      We can take as much as we can haul off.
> 
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