Re: Soil Concoctions thanks
Richard,
Thanks for the advice; I will have a soil test done as soon as weather
permits in Spring. I am beginning to think that purist is the way to go
Ernest
Richard J. Noffke wrote:
> 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.
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> > message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
