On 7/26/2014 3:54 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Derald wrote:
"Terry Coombs" wrote:

We're building a house , and I find myself with small pieces left
over . Are these any good as a soil amendment ? Gypsum iis the main
ingredient , and I don't know if it acidic or basic . I don't really
have any other way to dispose of this stuff , if I can add it to my
compost heap that'd be a double plus .
Gypsum is often used to add calcium without adversely affecting pH.
Whether that's what it does, I dunno. It also is added to clay soils
in an attempt to "improve" its texture. Dunno whether that works,
either. Gypsum also is used to reduce the concentration of sodium in
certain soils. Dunno whether....
You may find these enlightening or confusing:
http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/gypsum.html
http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Gypsum.pdf
To address your question directly:
I, personally, would eschew adding gypsum wallboard ("sheetrock")
because I don't know what other compounds or chemicals might be used
in its manufacture.

Well , looks like it goes to the landfill then ...though the addition to
clay soils is intriguing ... ours here is best described as clay and silt
with rocks .

We put gypsum through the fertilizer spreader twice a year here. This is
actual raw gypsum, comes in small pellets in bags from the local big box
stores. It does help to turn the Houston gumbo we have under our
property into something other than clay that gets hard when dry and
slick when wet. Started doing that at our Corpus Christi, TX house back
in the seventies, doing it now in this Houston area house. This house
has five feet of gumbo clay under it and about a half inch of sand on
top of that. At my age I may never get it all turned into something
useful. That's why our vegetable gardens are all in raised beds.

Digging holes in this gumbo to plant anything just turns the hole into a
swimming pool or water reservoir every time it rains. I used a large,
long pry pole in these holes to make more holes in hopes I could get
down deep enough to drain the swimming pool. So far so good but lots of
labor.

Going to pull the cuke vines this evening if it gets a little cooler,
also the squash plants are coming out and the crowder peas. What the
bugs haven't eaten or pooped on is just dying anyway. The sweet chiles
are doing great as are the tomatoes. Tomatoes need pruning, they're
growing so wild the sunlight can't penetrate. Hopi lima beans are
blooming like crazy and the bees are working them over really good but
no beans as yet.

My herb garden looks like a jungle. We have been harvesting and
dehydrating herbs since May and there's ten times more than we started
with. Nearby neighbors are mostly young people with at least two jobs
and they don't want any fresh herbs as they don't know what to do with
them and mostly eat fast food anyway. Even the flowers are going crazy.

Picked the last of the figs today, got every bit of a quart of figs this
year. Not bad for a four feet tall tree that was planted last year. The
Meiwa kumquat is covered with blooms, if they all come to fruition I
will have to prop the tree up, it too, is only about four feet tall. At
least all this stuff is trying so I'm happy.

Already put up thirty packages of chopped chiles and have no idea how
many packages of chard are in the freezer. I'm getting tired and hope
everything starts slowing down soon.

George