Re: soil, boil, toil, and trouble

>OK all you experts here is the question for me in a nut shell. I have a
>patch of l300 sq. ft of 99% composted leaf and l% composted manure 8-l0
>inches deep, in which I grew my first AG at 408 lb.. I had trouble with
>pollination with only one taking very late 20 ft. out and all other
>females prior to this withering before bloom. Also a slow virus took out
> a significant amount of my plant by the end of the season. The compost
>lies over the original soil which has yet to be tilled into the compost.
>With out knowing for sure what its make-up is I would have to guess it
>has a fair amount of Virginia red clay although the first few inches may
>well be good top soil. It seems to drain well to me with no pooling or
>muddiness. The question is should I be considering amending the soil at
>this point in my career? Do I add sand? Do I till in the soil from
>beneath. I have plans to get about 5 yards of ZOO-DOO manure this time
>where as last year I only had l. Good idea or bad?  It is hard for me to
>know at this juncture whether my approach was responsible for the
>success of the 408 or for the troubles I incurred along the way. What do
>my expert friends out there think I should do for this years attempt?
>
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Joe,

First I am not an expert but I have some thoughts I can share with you.
All soils are not created equal what works for one guy might not work for
you.  Soil is alive and ever changing....The organic matter you add has to
be digested by the soil before it is used by the plants.  By adding to much
matter you can give the soil a stomach ache....it ties up minerals and
nitrogen and takes months to get back on track.  But if the soil is low in
organic matter it is the quickest way to get it on the right track.  To
build a good supply of humus.  I believe thats where you hear of the
copious amounts of manure being added is to  whip new  ground into shape.
But once you have a good base of humus going you don't want to rock the
boat by adding too much.  Soils high in organic matter are more prone to
soil desease......anything over 15% is asking for probs in my
opinion.................Did you get a soil test what was your OM??....Brock



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