Quote:
Originally Posted by Higgs Boson
On Oct 27, 11:48*am, Zanahoria
wrote:
--
Zanahoria
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Many REAL gardeners prefer to amend the soil rather than use the
fast fix of Miracle Gro. *So since you have time ahead of you, perhaps
you could work on amending your clayey soil. *I garden in an area of
adobe (clay) soil, so I work on adding compost, worm castings,
other elements that change the pH toward the cidic. *Easy to
research on-line, using keywords like "amend alkaline/clay soil",
"change pH" & so forth.--
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The time invested will pay off hugely down the line. *Meantime,
your canes will probably be very happy in the containers with loamy
composted soil.--
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If you're worried about their being alive, just scratch along the cane
with your fingernail. *You should see green if they''re alive. *But
why wouldn't they be, dormant or not?--
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So don't panic; you have plenty of time to do your research. *Just
send good thoughts, and adequate but not too much water to
your future raspberry bushes. *(Mouth is watering...)--
HB
Thanks Higgs.
I intend to when I start preparing my vegetable patch in January. I did
not think it was appropriate to start that kind of thing until after
Winter? I did not realise the ground in my garden was so compact and
sodden...
I have a compost bin bubbling away in the garden and my Aunt has three
horses and a chicken farm so I'll be asking her to stockpile some manure
for me in December :P Hopefully that, compost, some double-digging and
whatever you can buy to break up clay will do the trick.
No I know they're alive now, I was just thinking if they don't do anything
i.e. dormant until March that's 5 months as just some sticks poking in the
mud... how do you know they're doing OK? Will their rootballs grow? if so
I might buy some bigger pots to put them, if not, I'll just leave them
where they are.
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Zanahoria[/i][/color]
***Wonderful about the compost bin and the chicken manure. But try to
utilize the chickie-doo-doo only after it has had a chance to --
what? age? cure?
*** Point being that very fresh chicken manure is really dynamite and
could possibly burn plants. Auntie probably knows this g
HB
|
Hi,
My advice is get digging, mix a bit of the chickens left behinds with any old leaves and rotting plant bits you have and get it dug in. On clay it is better to get it dug early as the frost will help break it up.
The other thing is many clay soils in the U.K. are also acid, so unless you have chalk near you a couple of ounces per square yard of lime will work wonders, I'd use magnesium limestone, which is brown.
Zanahoria is right about fresh chicken manure, it can often scorch young roots, so careful with it.
But get as much organic matter dug in as your trench can sensibly take.
As for cutting them dowm, yours is a late [autumn fruiting variety] this fruits on the young new growth. I would cut them down when the new shoots are about six inches high in spring time, the old canes will give a little protection over the winter.
Good luck.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]