liming clay soil

VickyR · « **on:** February 28, 2007, 13:08 »

Hiya

this will be my first post so hello everyone....have really enjoyed the forum so far.

I got my allotment in August last yr and have cleared and double dug some beds which we left uncovered for the frosts to break the soil up a bit. They are really claytastic and I'm worried that nowt will grow!

We're going to use the worst bed for potatoes and another of the rubbish ones for beans....but what's the best way to give the crops a good start?

Should I manure them (worried tatties will be all tops and no bottoms) or go for lime? If I lime, can I plant straight away? Could I plant and then lime? Guess I should have thought about this earlier, but we were knee deep in brambles until about November!

Ah, the things that I spend time worrying about

! If you have any sage advice I would really appreciate it

Vicky

muntjac · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2007, 13:18 »

hiya vicky and welcome to the family ,,,,,,,,
ok dont lime taters they will scab .
feed loads manure and sharp sand into the clay ,you have as many bags as you need from focus its about a £ 1 a bag spread a bag over 2 sq yards . loads manure on top rotavate the lot in chop up as much of the clay as you can over a couple days ,collect old growbags .leave a note on the housse gate asking for them a note in newspaper shops will help as well . mix them with the soil sharp sand wil break the clay up allowing water to pass through humus will help retain it eventually with effort and work you will break down the clay into loverly soil ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, hope that helps

WG. · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2007, 13:25 »

All of the above + gypsum

WG. · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2007, 14:01 »

Quote from: "whisky_golf"

All of the above + gypsum

You could save some up-front work by improving only pockets of soil into which you plant your potatoes. The work still needs to get done sometime but at least you are watching (or eating) the fruits of your earlier work.

VickyR · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2007, 14:36 »

Thanks! Good job I just got a car....we have been walking too and from the garden centre to our allotment which is on a massive hill. Sounds like I will need the car to move all the compost,grow bags, gypsum and sand I'll be needing . Much obliged to you all for the advice!

WG. · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2007, 15:20 »

Gypsum is sold (expensively) as ClayBreaker but I reckon you could smash up plasterboard offcuts (soak them to remove the foil backing, or plan on picking it out of the soil). Does anyone know the organic "rules" on using plasterboard? It might have fire-retardent or fungicidal stuff in it.

muntjac · « **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2007, 16:02 »

id stick to the sand n manure n sweat

shaun · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2007, 21:35 »

Quote from: "whisky_golf"

Gypsum is sold (expensively) as ClayBreaker but I reckon you could smash up plasterboard offcuts (soak them to remove the foil backing, or plan on picking it out of the soil). Does anyone know the organic "rules" on using plasterboard? It might have fire-retardent or fungicidal stuff in it.

wouldnt fancy using plaster board dave,there are so many different types nowadays
most of them have glass fibres,silicone additives to repel moisture,i'm sure there will be more ,also the paper or foil lining will have some chemicals in it also

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liming clay soil

WG.

WG.

WG.