Quote:
Originally Posted by coykiesaol
I recently planted a vegtable garden in our new house and while planting discovered that our soil is clay. At the time I didn't think much of it and continued to plant the tomatos, peppers, basil, peas, squash but after looking online I found that it seems my plants are doomed. That once their roots grow past the hole that was dug for them and filled in w/ good soil and compost that the roots will not be able to penetrate the clay. What do I do know that my plants are already in the ground? Do I dig them up and make bigger holes? Do I let them go and hope for the best? We are planning on making raised beds for our garden later this summer, we just didn't have time right now since we just moved in last weekend. Is there anything to save my veggies?
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Is your soil clay in the sense of being a brick pit the London Brick Company hasn't exploited yet, or just, like most people's clayey soil, rather clayey? In the latter case, if you dig in plenty of organic matter, you'll probably find it is wonderful stuff for growing many kinds of veg.
Plants like peppers and basil often do better in pots than in the ground, because they would prefer a higher soil temperature than British ground often obtains. So don't be downhearted if your attempt to grow them in the ground is disappointing. I grew some peppers in the ground and some in pots last year as an experiment, got almost nothing from the ground-grown ones and lots off the pot-grown ones. Black plastic pots are the best for these purposes, to my wife's aesthetic disappointment.