On 6/7/2008 9:10 AM, Paul Tiwana wrote:
I hv clay in the soil. It keeps the soil wet and cold
any rememedy ?
Also how to enrich the soil when it is dry,
Does bone meal fertizer any help in the early stage, or peat moss ?
Plz suggest s good fertilizer.
I h a v small garden, ie, 10 X 16 feet only
Please adivise
Paul
Top with soil gypsum (NOT decorative gypsum rock). Over a period of a
week or more, lightly rinse the gypsum into the soil. Gypsum reacts
with clay to make the latter more easily worked. Just wait about 4 days
after the last rinsing before digging. More gypsum should be applied
annually.
After the gypsum has dissolved into the clay, dig and turn the soil with
a spading fork (which is NOT a pitch fork). Do this at least to the
depth of the fork's tines. Then, cultivate and break up clods with a
4-prong potato hook.
Peat moss will help some, but it must be worked thoroughly into the
clay. A potato hook is good for this. Peat moss will remain in the
soil much longer than compost. However, good compost should also be
added; it contains soil bacteria that make soil nutrients available to
plant roots.
Just go easy with both peat moss and compost. You should keep the soil
near the surface still mostly clay. Otherwise, plant roots might not
penetrate below the area that has been improved.
Bone meal's primary nutrient is phosphorus. Phosphorus will not
dissolve and leach through the soil. It must be placed where roots will
find it. Thus, you need to work bone meal down into the soil during the
preliminary digging and turning. Broadcasting it on the surface merely
wastes effort and money.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/