Soil amendments which ones?

Well I for one am fed up of not knowing which ones are any good, do we go with peat? Mushroom? Seaweed? Or are there any other fantastic ideas out there? Which ones are best with sand and which ones are best for clays soils? Let’s get the ball rolling on this topic because it’s a bit of a grey area that no one seems to talk about.

turf doc

On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 14:21:47 +0000, turf doc wrote:


Soil amendments which ones?

Well I for one am fed up of not knowing which ones are any good, do we go
with peat? Mushroom? Seaweed? Or are there any other fantastic ideas out
there? Which ones are best with sand and which ones are best for clays
soils? Let's get the ball rolling on this topic because it's a bit of a
grey area that no one seems to talk about.

turf doc


What's up Doc..?
Organic matter is organic matter. What you choose and how you add it is up
to the end user IMHO. There isn't a perfect soil amendment. Amending clay
soil for a blueberry would be different than the amending for a cedar.
Amendments have to be tailored to the situation, the availability of
products to use and personal preference.

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Thanks Timothy point taken but we are in the lawns banter section are we not? maybe I should have made my self a little clearer...soil amendments for turf. As to which type of turf situation I leave up to you but I’m guessing that it would be different for say a football pitch as apposed to a cricket pitch / wicket!

turf doc wrote:
we are in the lawns banter section are
we not?

No. You are posting to alt.home.lawn.garden Usenet newsgroup through some
sort of banter uk portal.

HTH

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 12:10:43 +0000, turf doc wrote:


Thanks Timothy point taken but we are in the lawns banter section are we
not? maybe I should have made my self a little clearer...soil amendments
for turf. As to which type of turf situation I leave up to you but I’m
guessing that it would be different for say a football pitch as apposed to
a cricket pitch / wicket!

As Steveo stated, your some other place than I am. Quite honestly, your
being cheated by not accessing the whole Usenet. Check out this page of
mine:

http://resources.ywgc.com/info/usenet.shtml

I really wouldn't see much difference between a football pitch and a
cricket pitch as far as soil base and amendments goes. For full
disclosure, I've never been with in a mile of a cricket pitch to truly
know the difference, but I'm assuming that it would be a lot like a
baseball field.

The running paths would be high clay mix that is packed. The grass areas
would be a higher sand mix than the average home lawn for the drainage.
It's not fair to compare a home lawn with a playing field IMHO. A play
field would be an engineered environment with embedded drainage lines,
layered soil and rock and the like. The average lawn install consists of a
dump truck of fair soil and a bobcat. 80)

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"turf doc" wrote in message
...

Soil amendments which ones?

Well I for one am fed up of not knowing which ones are any good, do we
go with peat? Mushroom? Seaweed? Or are there any other fantastic ideas
out there? Which ones are best with sand and which ones are best for
clays soils? Let's get the ball rolling on this topic because it's a
bit of a grey area that no one seems to talk about.

turf doc

I have used mushroom compost as a soil conditioner in waxy soils which do
not drain mainly as a source of organic matter to make it more pliable. It
also adds some trace elements to the soil. You can put it on turf but best
done dry, not when the compost is damp. It also adds some trace elements
into the soil and provides some nitrogen. Mushroom compost, if made right,
is also a good ph level which will sweet acidic soils so it has several
uses. What it will not do is add microbal activity into the soil as the
compost has been steam steralised. For microbes living compost or some form
of animal shit is ideal.

Seaweed is supposedly an ideal soil conditioner as it contains a balance of
all the nutrients your soil needs. I chuck that stuff on my compost when I
can get it or add it to my liquid compost. I don't know how seaweed would go
as an additive straight onto soil as it takes a time to break down. It is
better worked into compost or in a liquid composter. You can buy seaweed
mixes as both a soil conditioner and foliar spray. Best make your own
however. It is cheaper and more fun. It is best used as a source of
nutrients rather than simply a soil conditioner.

The idea of liquid composting is that you always have a good supply of
compost tea available. I use a 200l barrell with a hessian sack inside
filled with basic compost. As the organic matter breaks down you simply add
more to the sack. The nutrients get dispersed into the water along with
various microbes. I treat is very much like a normal compost bin except for
things such as paper. You can add mixes of organic matter to alter the
content/mix of your liquid compost. Seaweed works well but takes some time.
One guy I know puts road kill in his.

The liquid probably needs a few months at least to be of any value. When you
strat to have a compost smelling liquid use a tap in the bottom of the
barrell and draw down what you need, the rest can stay in the barrell for
another day. Water the liquid down 10-1 or thereabouts and spray it on your
lawn of plants as a liquid fertiliser. It not only fertilises but seeds
microbal activity through the soil. It is also good as a foliar spray to
feed the plant directly. One theory is that the beneficial microbal activity
in the liquid compost crowds out the diseases.

rob

"Ronn Cliiborn" wrote in message
...
George.com,
Hello, I have seen several of your post re mush. comp.
I am just wondering what part of the country you live in that grows
mushrooms.
Do they grow them in caves? or Dark Houses?

I'm interested to hear about it and would take it to email if you so
desire.

Ron

hadn't remembered I wrote that much ******** Ron. Most of it seems correct.
Certainly the soils I dug mushroom compost in have become significantly more
fertile. I get the odd batch of compost direct from a mushroom farm here in
New Zealand. The stuff is 'spent' as in mushrooms have been grown in it
already so I am not sure there is a high nutritional value left in it. The
farmer mixes it himself so I have seen what goes in to it (other farms may
use different mixes), basically some poop, straw and lime (dolomite or
agricultural) which he rotates every so often in a barn. The lime is the
component I said will sweeten soils.

The compost is steam sterilised for use, some farms may use chemicals, and
it has been hot composted so there is not much biological life left in it. I
have never had any mushrooms sprouting from the spent compost which is
actually fine by me as I use it as a cheap mulch around hedges and shrubs or
occasionly as a soil conditioner.

rob

George.com,
Hello, I have seen several of your post re mush. comp.
I am just wondering what part of the country you live in that grows
mushrooms.
Do they grow them in caves? or Dark Houses?

I'm interested to hear about it and would take it to email if you so
desire.

Ron



On Mon, 6 Mar 2006 01:15:51 +1300, "George.com"
wrote:


"turf doc" wrote in message
...

Soil amendments which ones?

Well I for one am fed up of not knowing which ones are any good, do we
go with peat? Mushroom? Seaweed? Or are there any other fantastic ideas
out there? Which ones are best with sand and which ones are best for
clays soils? Let's get the ball rolling on this topic because it's a
bit of a grey area that no one seems to talk about.

turf doc

I have used mushroom compost as a soil conditioner in waxy soils which do
not drain mainly as a source of organic matter to make it more pliable. It
also adds some trace elements to the soil. You can put it on turf but best
done dry, not when the compost is damp. It also adds some trace elements
into the soil and provides some nitrogen. Mushroom compost, if made right,
is also a good ph level which will sweet acidic soils so it has several
uses. What it will not do is add microbal activity into the soil as the
compost has been steam steralised. For microbes living compost or some form
of animal shit is ideal.

Seaweed is supposedly an ideal soil conditioner as it contains a balance of
all the nutrients your soil needs. I chuck that stuff on my compost when I
can get it or add it to my liquid compost. I don't know how seaweed would go
as an additive straight onto soil as it takes a time to break down. It is
better worked into compost or in a liquid composter. You can buy seaweed
mixes as both a soil conditioner and foliar spray. Best make your own
however. It is cheaper and more fun. It is best used as a source of
nutrients rather than simply a soil conditioner.

The idea of liquid composting is that you always have a good supply of
compost tea available. I use a 200l barrell with a hessian sack inside
filled with basic compost. As the organic matter breaks down you simply add
more to the sack. The nutrients get dispersed into the water along with
various microbes. I treat is very much like a normal compost bin except for
things such as paper. You can add mixes of organic matter to alter the
content/mix of your liquid compost. Seaweed works well but takes some time.
One guy I know puts road kill in his.

The liquid probably needs a few months at least to be of any value. When you
strat to have a compost smelling liquid use a tap in the bottom of the
barrell and draw down what you need, the rest can stay in the barrell for
another day. Water the liquid down 10-1 or thereabouts and spray it on your
lawn of plants as a liquid fertiliser. It not only fertilises but seeds
microbal activity through the soil. It is also good as a foliar spray to
feed the plant directly. One theory is that the beneficial microbal activity
in the liquid compost crowds out the diseases.

rob

"Ronn Cliiborn" wrote in message
...
George.com,
Hello, I have seen several of your post re mush. comp.
I am just wondering what part of the country you live in that grows
mushrooms.
Do they grow them in caves? or Dark Houses?

I'm interested to hear about it and would take it to email if you so
desire.

Ron


In the mid-Hudson Valley we have had mushroom shit for years. Originally in
old limestone caves but now in dark houses. Referred to as "shit" because
they are started in rotted horse manure.