The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.

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sharky

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« on: January 23, 2009, 18:20 »
Literally the soil on my plot is such heavy clay, the only crops that will grow  are the kind that grow out of the earth, root crops are a definite no go.   :cry:  :?

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Steve.P

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2009, 18:29 »
Same here sharky,

I really have to work at my soil to get root crops to grow. The first year was the worst, its got better since then. I have seen on (i think was gardeners world) that adding sharp sand works to break up the clay, but its getting hold of it thats the problem. I have found that growing root crops in an earthed up row helps
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richyrich7

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2009, 18:50 »
You can lime that helps break it up too, add as much organic matter as you can get your hands on and winter dig.
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sharky

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2009, 19:00 »
So it is at least possible to condition the soil to grow root stuff?

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zazen999

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2009, 19:13 »
Quote from: "sharky"
So it is at least possible to condition the soil to grow root stuff?


It definitely is.

I have heavy clay and we added layers of cardboard last year, and already we are seeing an improvement.

I also dig a few beds [1m squareish] and mix the clay with sand and coffee grounds, and some home made compost, sieve it back into the bed [I mark it off with 1m long wood lengths], and sow carrots into that.

Leeks love heavy clay. They push it apart, the roots help break up the clay. make holes as deep as you can, pop the little leeks in, water in and leave for a few months. You need to dig deep to extract the little blighters of course, but they do grow.

Beetroot, I sow straight onto a compost mulch, and the roots go down into the clay and help break it up.

Also, mulch with anything organic you can find. You can grow through cardboard, put wet cardboard down, pile a few inches of clay onto the top to weight it down, and make holes in the card and plant straight through. Over time, it will break down and be absorbed.

I'm also leaving one bed a year fallow, this will be the bed that is followed with root crops. I'll be piling cardboard/newspaper on top the of the bed, putting home made compost on top and sowing bee attraction plants like limanthes on it. When the autumn comes, it will all get dug in and another mulch of compost will be put on the top.

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yummy

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2009, 19:49 »
We make parsnip sized holes with a dibber and fill em with a mixture of sand and compost. We did that in our first year and got some great parsnips. (forgot to sow em this year)

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shaun

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2009, 19:58 »
add leaf mould ,sharp sand,manure and as much compost as you can get,werked for me.
feed the soil not the plants
organicish
you learn gardening by making mistakes

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poultrygeist

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2009, 20:03 »
Gypsum ??

aka claybreaker.

Rob

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shaun

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2009, 20:06 »
never used it,can you buy gypsum ?,i dont like the idea of putting board finish plaster on my soil  :wink:

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poultrygeist

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2009, 20:09 »
Got a 25kg bag of it sat in my porch going spare. :wink:

As far as I know, you just dig it in and within a fairly short time the clay will granulate allowing you to dig in all that humous and sand.

Don't know the rate of application though.

Rob 8)

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poultrygeist

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2009, 20:13 »
A couple of articles on clay soil...

LINK1

LINK2

Rob 8)

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shaun

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2009, 20:18 »
we have a paper mill in our town that recycle all your news papers etc,and with this comes a pulp waste,so to get rid of it they pay farmers to spread it on the fields and plough it in,its blue/grey in colour  :shock: dont know what it does to the soil though  :?

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Faz

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2009, 22:02 »
That paper sludge contains quite a lot of china clay, in addition to paper fibres, so I wouldn't recommend adding it to your soil if it is already very heavy.

I have really bad clay in my garden, and last year was the first year I have grown anything in it. We had enormous parsnips, the only trouble with them was actually getting them out of the ground for Christmas dinner. They didn't seem to mind the clay at all.

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PinkTequila

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2009, 00:32 »
with a bit of effort all soil however heavy can grow  any crops. just needs some work and some muck.  Heavy clay soil is the best you can get if you have a little patience and time to improve it.

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vegmandan

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The 'my heavy soil is too heavy', thread.
« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2009, 02:29 »
Couldn't agree more.

I have a clay soil but If you can dig literally tonnes and tonnes of grit and compost/strawey manure into it eventually you'll have fantastic soil.

I dug in a 2 inch layer of Limestone Grit last year and it helped no end.

Mind you we're talking tonnes and not bags so you'll need to get a trailer or even a wagon,and have a Quarry nearby.

I got quarry waste which is just anything from dust to 6mm, when a load is overloaded they tip it off and they sell it to the public for free virtually.

Forget this "Softly softly" approach of adding grit and compost slowly.

Get as much as you can in and rotavate the hell out of it so It's well mixed in and you'll be amazed at the results. :D
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