[drypulse]

Hello! I have recently got an allotment and I was interested to know how good the drainage was, especially as I believed it to be very waterlogged, as it was thick clay. I read about a test where you dig 18 inches down by 6 inches wide, will the hole with water, let it drain and fill it again and measure how fast the water level drops over an hour. 2 inches in half an hour is meant to be ideal...

Well I did that test and the first time i filled the hole the water drained completely within 5 minutes, the next time i filled it, it drained within 10 minutes. So i filled it again and it drained in about 20 minutes! I know the ground is really dry at the moment, but if i had poor drainage would it have drained so fast? Maybe my soil drains too well?! Is there another test i could do?

Any advice will be as always, greatly apprieciated!

Joe

[Yorkie]

Doesn't sound like poor drainage to me 

Is the soil actually clay?  When you squeeze a lump of moist soil in your hand, what happens to it?

[drypulse]

when it's moist i can rub it into a ball easily, and when its really dry it is rock hard, but if i dig down it gets quite sandy, like a lighter colour to the top soil, i guess this is the sub soil? I was chatting to my neighbour and she said that the person before me kept the soil in good condition until he became unable to garden anymore, so maybe my soil is better then i thought?

[Yorkie]

That sounds OK to me - quite clay on top and better drained below.  You can always improve the clay on top with regular addition of organic matter (home made compost, manure, leaf mould etc).

[drypulse]

great, thanks for that! I'm glad you think it's not too bad One other thing, my friend has given me about 5 bin liners full of guinea pig poo, mixed with straw, can that be dug in on a bed i would be using until next year? I don't have a compost heap yet heh

[Schubunny]

great, thanks for that! I'm glad you think it's not too bad One other thing, my friend has given me about 5 bin liners full of guinea pig poo, mixed with straw, can that be dug in on a bed i would be using until next year? I don't have a compost heap yet heh

Don't know if this helps but I have four rabbits and they have a similar, but not identical diet. Hay and greens mainly. We let it compost down and then dig it into the soil. It doesn't have anything but hay and bunny poo in it though and I just use newspaper which is quite easy to pick out when emptying on the heap.

[drypulse]

thanks schubunny that does help hopefully i can get my compost bin sorted quickly!

[TerryB]

Hi drypulse
If your not using the bed untill next year, you could dig it staight into the soil.
A quick compost bin can be made by turning a builders 1 ton bag upside down, cut a flap in the bottom and put a pipe/cane in each corner. The flap keeps the rain off, if you get any.

[drypulse]

thank you! I hope i do get some rain soon!