Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: billathome65 on February 11, 2011, 21:19
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Ok It's back to the soil issue very clayish loads of fertiliser and more needed but I can see by looking at it that it is going to take a very long time to get the soil to a decent leavel.
So I suppose if worse comes to worse I will have to leave it this year unless there are any veg you good people feel will be ok in this soil?
Sorry i have not tagged this onto my previous post but I thinking new start new thread.
Thanks for any help even if the advice is leave it empty :(
Cheers Billy boy
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Sounds like a job for the brassicas to me. They like firm soil & clay is nutrient rich.
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The advice is throw on some fish blood and bone every few weeks during the growing season..............and try growing everything you fancy.
Some will do well and maybe some not so well. But nothing will grow unless you plant it ;)
What you don't like the look of may actually be decent soil..........there's only the 1 way to find out!
By the time you make compost this year, and add it for next, you may be surprised how much improved the soil will be
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Thanks DD I like most brassicas Radish gives me indigestion though ::) but fancy trying them. I saw a big 5ltr tub of Fish blood and bone at a local garden centre last week at £15 is this a good price?
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Swap you some clay for some sand :D
Thats after 3 years of adding everything organic I could get my hands on.
To be honest if it can be planted it will probably grow, not that Id fancy trying to dig spuds out of clay. Id also be thinking of some green manure to get as much root material in the soil as possible.
http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/sow_help.htm (http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/sow_help.htm)
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Swap you some clay for some sand :D
Thats after 3 years of adding everything organic I could get my hands on.
To be honest if it can be planted it will probably grow, not that Id fancy trying to dig spuds out of clay. Id also be thinking of some green manure to get as much root material in the soil as possible.
http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/sow_help.htm (http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/sow_help.htm)
How much do you want :tongue2:
I suppose I'm probably getting a bit hung up on the clay more because it holds water and I'm worried this may interfere with the growth but after saying that DD advice on brassicas is very sound as if I'm not mistaken veg such as cabbage like wet soil?
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we used to live where the soil was clay and just yuck but we managed to do quite well out of it especially first time and stunted growth due to moving home - what did best were runner beans, peas, sugar snaps, beetroot, courgette, rhubarb, sunflowers and some other stuff. all we did was make sure that the soil around the roots was mixed with compost.
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Bill, unless the clay gets constantly waterlogged don't worry about it just get your stuff bunged in.
I started my present plot from scratch by digging up a lawn on heavy clay soil five seasons ago. The pic shows what it looks like now after loads of organic matter has been added. Be aware that clay soils are often alkaline which suits brassicas but is not so good for other things. Don't add lime unless you've actually checked the pH.
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I could make house bricks with some of my clay when I started in 2007 but still got crops off it. Patience, manure, green manure and compost do marvels over many seasons.
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With plants, veg and such like, I would think its the PH that is important to get right to get the best out of your soil, not the soil type.
Just watch clay soil in the summer when its hot, as it bakes like rock. I would water in the evening, never in the morning.