In article ,
SteveB wrote:
I live on top of some sand dunes. Southern Utah iron powder blowsand.
I know there are plants that love sandy soils, and some that love loamy
soils. Can someone give me some advice on planting directly into sandy
soils, really sandy. Or, I can mix it with whatever % of compost required.
I planted some watermelons this past summer. Nice spot. Sandy area.
Irrigation system. They didn't do well at all. I think probably I
overwatered them.
Help on dealing with sandy gardens appreciated.
Steve
http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Cha...l%20Myths_file
s/Myths/Compost%20overdose.pdf
Ideal soils, from a fertility standpoint, are generally defined as
containing no more than 5% OM by weight or 10% by volume
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Take a soil sample with surface organic material scraped
aside. Sample should be taken from a hole 8" to 12" deep (the material
from that hole is your sample). For organic analysis, the sample would
first need to be dried and weighed, then aerated and held at a temp
greater than 455F for several hours, and then reweighed.
If you put a similar sample in a large jar with water and shake your
sample until it forms a slurry, the sand will fall out after five min.
or so, the silt after 20 min., and the clay after 24 hours (descending
particle size). The height of each band in comparison to the total
sedimentation will give you the approximate composition of your soil.
Good soil will be 20 - 30% clay, 30-50% silt, 30 - 50% sand, and 5 - 10%
organic material. Amend soil appropriately.
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No reason to till after the first preparation of the garden (no reason
to till the first/last time but it does speed up soil development).
Spread out your soil amendments:
€ N:
€ 18.37 lb. chicken manure/ 100 sq.ft. (2.88 oz/sq.ft.)
€
€ P:
€ 3 lb. / 100/sq.ft. (.48 oz/sq.ft.)
€
€ K:
€ How much wood ash should you use in your garden? The late Bernard
G. Wesenberg, a former Washington State University Extension
horticulturist, recommended using one gallon of ashes per square
yard on loam to clay-loam soil, and half as much on sandier soils.
Keep garden well mulched (2" - 6").
If you have time to grow a cover crop, make it buckwheat, or rye,
because they produce a lot of roots (organic material) for your garden.
Don't use chemical fertilizers, because they will be washed away in
sandy soil.
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