Does anyone know anything about this product?

Soilfloc Plus
Categories Soil Conditioning Soilfloc Plus

A modern clay breaker. Apply to the soil and allow the rain to wash in. Rate
of use: 4-6 oz per square yard. (136-204g per square metre).

I'm wondering if this is as good as it sounds. I have clay about 10" down and
if this could just be poured onto the soil, gets washed in by the rain, and
will then break that clay down, that could be very helpful. If it actually
works.

Any ideas about this stuff- has anyone used it?

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

it sounds like gypsum...........here in Eastern Tennessee where we have red
clay, we're taught in the master gardening classes to apply gypsum to clay
to help break it down. if the product has a website, I'd search the main
ingredients.
madgardener
"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
Does anyone know anything about this product?

Soilfloc Plus
Categories Soil Conditioning Soilfloc Plus

A modern clay breaker. Apply to the soil and allow the rain to wash in.
Rate
of use: 4-6 oz per square yard. (136-204g per square metre).

I'm wondering if this is as good as it sounds. I have clay about 10" down
and
if this could just be poured onto the soil, gets washed in by the rain,
and
will then break that clay down, that could be very helpful. If it actually
works.

Any ideas about this stuff- has anyone used it?

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

In article , madgardener wrote:
it sounds like gypsum...........here in Eastern Tennessee where we have red
clay, we're taught in the master gardening classes to apply gypsum to clay
to help break it down. if the product has a website, I'd search the main
ingredients.

And, at 4-6 oz per sq. yard, it is a joke. You can make a serious
difference to clay only by changing the composition of the soil,
which means large quantities of whatever.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
Does anyone know anything about this product?

Soilfloc Plus
Categories Soil Conditioning Soilfloc Plus

A modern clay breaker. Apply to the soil and allow the rain to wash in.
Rate
of use: 4-6 oz per square yard. (136-204g per square metre).

I'm wondering if this is as good as it sounds. I have clay about 10" down
and
if this could just be poured onto the soil, gets washed in by the rain,
and
will then break that clay down, that could be very helpful. If it actually
works.

Any ideas about this stuff- has anyone used it?

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)


I am pretty certain this stuff is a polyacrylamide which is used to
flocculate particles in water treatment-such as waste water from mining etc.
How and why it would work on solid clay I don't know.

On 28 Jan 2006 17:37:56 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article , madgardener wrote:
it sounds like gypsum...........here in Eastern Tennessee where we have red
clay, we're taught in the master gardening classes to apply gypsum to clay
to help break it down. if the product has a website, I'd search the main
ingredients.

And, at 4-6 oz per sq. yard, it is a joke. You can make a serious
difference to clay only by changing the composition of the soil,
which means large quantities of whatever.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

As Maddie suggests, many of these so-called clay breakers are gypsum
based, i.e. suppliers of calcium at a relatively low pH (e.g. compared
to lime, another calcium source). The combination of calcium ions and
a low pH is a very effective flocculant for clays in general, and a
little goes a long way. 4-6 oz/sq.yard may be little low, but it's
not way off. I've seen 6-12 oz/sq.yard suggested for improving the
texture of clay soils with gypsum (if my maths is OK; actually stated
as 2000-4000 kg/hectare).
http://www.gypsum.co.nz/pages/product/applying.php

Calcium (whether from gypsum or lime) improves the soil texture by
making the clay particles clump together (flocculate), improving the
crumb structure and allowing better drainage and air movement.

But I doubt you can just sprinkle it on and stand back and bingo,
perfect soil. It'll need working into the clay, along with the other
usual recommendations of grit and humus to get decent texture and
drainage (hence your "large quantities of whatever"?).

The OP can probably get gypsum much cheaper than this stuff. e.g
builders plaster, which is probably best hydrated before use. (IIRC
we've had a discussion before on URG on the merits of builders plaster
as a soil additive, and a slight doubt lingers in my mind....)


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
Does anyone know anything about this product?

Soilfloc Plus
Categories Soil Conditioning Soilfloc Plus

A modern clay breaker. Apply to the soil and allow the rain to wash in.
Rate
of use: 4-6 oz per square yard. (136-204g per square metre).

I'm wondering if this is as good as it sounds. I have clay about 10" down
and
if this could just be poured onto the soil, gets washed in by the rain,
and
will then break that clay down, that could be very helpful. If it actually
works.

Any ideas about this stuff- has anyone used it?

--
VX (remove alcohol for email)


I don't know about this product, but having gardened on heavy yellow clay
with peat below for the last 28 years, I can say from experience that
nothing works better than a spade and copious amounts of compost/manure.
It took me about 5 years to get a decent texture that didn't form into a
ball when pressed in the hand.
All I have to do now is add compost to the top layers and the vast amount of
worms/other creatures take it down. I'm always amazed where the worms came
from as I didn't have any when I first started digging the ground.

Steve

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 20:17:37 +0000, 80/20 wrote
(in message ):

I don't know about this product, but having gardened on heavy yellow clay
with peat below for the last 28 years, I can say from experience that
nothing works better than a spade and copious amounts of compost/manure.
It took me about 5 years to get a decent texture that didn't form into a
ball when pressed in the hand.
All I have to do now is add compost to the top layers and the vast amount of
worms/other creatures take it down. I'm always amazed where the worms came
from as I didn't have any when I first started digging the ground.

Steve

I'd dig if I could, but other than occasional holes for planting, I can't. So
I've been using the no-dig version of this, or the almost-no-dig version. I
just add copious amounts of compost, manure, etc and leave the various soil
life-forms to get on with it. After one year I notice the top layer is
looking an awful lot better, and whenever I plant anything there are
earthworms everywhere- but I think it may take a fair bit longer to get any
improvement lower down. If there is going to be any.
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

"VX" wrote in message
s.com...
On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 20:17:37 +0000, 80/20 wrote
(in message ):

I don't know about this product, but having gardened on heavy yellow clay
with peat below for the last 28 years, I can say from experience that
nothing works better than a spade and copious amounts of compost/manure.
It took me about 5 years to get a decent texture that didn't form into a
ball when pressed in the hand.
All I have to do now is add compost to the top layers and the vast amount
of
worms/other creatures take it down. I'm always amazed where the worms
came
from as I didn't have any when I first started digging the ground.

Steve

I'd dig if I could, but other than occasional holes for planting, I can't.
So
I've been using the no-dig version of this, or the almost-no-dig version.
I
just add copious amounts of compost, manure, etc and leave the various
soil
life-forms to get on with it. After one year I notice the top layer is
looking an awful lot better, and whenever I plant anything there are
earthworms everywhere- but I think it may take a fair bit longer to get
any
improvement lower down. If there is going to be any.
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)



No dig gardening is perfectly feasible see:
http://www.organicgardening.org.uk/factsheets/gg2.php
for more info.

"80/20" wrote in message
...

I don't know about this product, but having gardened on heavy yellow clay
with peat below for the last 28 years, I can say from experience that
nothing works better than a spade and copious amounts of compost/manure.

It took me about 5 years to get a decent texture that didn't form into a
ball when pressed in the hand.

All I have to do now is add compost to the top layers and the vast amount of
worms/other creatures take it down. I'm always amazed where the worms came
from as I didn't have any when I first started digging the ground.



Steve



if you put compost and manure out, the worms will come even if you don't
have one worm. And there are worms in clay wheather we see them or not.
I've dug up my red, sticky stuff that keeps the shape of the long handled
spade and see slippery thin red ones. So they just get a bit happier when we
add compost, leaves and manure so they can drag it back into the clay and
break it down their way. And it does take longer. But I like it better
than adding too much gypsum. It was once suggested to me to use old broken
pieces of drywall as that's gypsum and easily handled and every home
improvement center has broken pieces of drywall they'll give away........



madgardener

"80/20" wrote in message
...
No dig gardening is perfectly feasible see:
http://www.organicgardening.org.uk/factsheets/gg2.php
for more info.

if you like the no dig method, check out the Ruth Stout books (she gardened
into her old age and devised what she called no digging methods before it
was popular. How to have a green thumb without an aching back was one of her
books.
maddie

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 02:14:17 -0500, "madgardener"
wrote:

SNIP
It was once suggested to me to use old broken
pieces of drywall as that's gypsum and easily handled and every home
improvement center has broken pieces of drywall they'll give away........



madgardener


For 'drywall' read 'plasterboard' in the UK?


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 02:14:17 -0500, "madgardener"
wrote:

SNIP
It was once suggested to me to use old broken
pieces of drywall as that's gypsum and easily handled and every home
improvement center has broken pieces of drywall they'll give away........



madgardener


For 'drywall' read 'plasterboard' in the UK?

--
Chris

Yes -they both contain gypsum ( calcium sulphate). Drywall tends to be the
term used when you place plasterboard (often foil backed) on a soothing to
hide a damp wall.

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 08:59:12 -0000, "Rupert"
wrote:


"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 02:14:17 -0500, "madgardener"
wrote:

SNIP
It was once suggested to me to use old broken
pieces of drywall as that's gypsum and easily handled and every home
improvement center has broken pieces of drywall they'll give away........



madgardener


For 'drywall' read 'plasterboard' in the UK?

--
Chris

Yes -they both contain gypsum ( calcium sulphate). Drywall tends to be the
term used when you place plasterboard (often foil backed) on a soothing to
hide a damp wall.

A problem with using plasterboard on the garden is that it's
inevitably in lumps, whereas powdered gypsum or builders plaster can
be spread much more evenly, and it will dissolve and wash into the
ground more quickly.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

In article , (madgardener)
wrote:

I can say from experience that
nothing works better than a spade and copious amounts of
compost/manure.

So did you try some other method in part of your plot and get worse
results?

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/