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Hard soil
"David E. Ross" wrote in message ...
On 6/30/2014 2:50 AM, Guv Bob wrote: "David E. Ross" wrote in message ... On 6/28/2014 12:22 AM, Guv Bob wrote: "David Hare-Scott" wrote in message ... User Bp wrote: In alt.home.lawn.garden Guv Bob wrote: How's a good way to break up hard soil? Since it's all level, my first thought is to soak it good for a couple of days. I wonder if renting an aerator might also be good. If your soil is like mine, there's a very narrow range of moisure levels at which it's workable. I understand local farmers refer to it as "36 hour soil", which is the schedule window for plowing. Too wet and it's like warm tar, too dry and it's extremely hard. In the middle, it's rather crumbly. I'd soak a patch and poke it each day after. _Maybe_ you'll find a day when it's workable. HTH, bob prohaska Hereabouts this is called "Sunday soil", too wet to work on Saturday and too dry by Monday. The problem with working it on Sunday is that it will always stay the same, you haven't addressed the problem of why it is so hard on Monday. Appreciate all the good info. For breaking up the soil, what about adding a weak solution of detergent as a wetting agent in one of these hose attachments? http://www.walmart.com/ip/21065376?w...546436&veh=sem When you sprinkle just a small amount of water, does it soak in or bead up? If it beads up, then yes you need a wetting agent. However, detergent or soap are alkaline, which can further harden the soil structure; so make it very weak. Use it on the gypsum. Trying to wet the soil before applying gypsum will merely waste water. I have been soaking the yard once a month for about 30 minutes. Mostly it stays on the surface but soaks in after an hour or so. Then use a minor amount of liquid soap or detergent in the water AFTER you apply gypsum. A 30 minute soak right now is excessive. It can result in wasteful runoff. A 30 minute soak right after applying gypsum will wash away the gypsum. The initial wetting down should be less than a 5 minute sprinkle, just enough to make the gypsum damp. The next day, a 5-10 minute sprinkle will start the gypsum dissolving; do not sprinkle long enough to puddle or start rinsing the gypsum away. (Sprinkling instead of flooding will hasten the dissolving of the gypsum because of the force of the water landing on it.) Then every third day, repeat the dissolving sprinkle. Thanks. To be clear, When I said soaking for 30 minutes, it does not run off. The yard is level and all of it soaks into the ground. |
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