properly amending clay soil?

BlackPeter said:

My grandfather was big in horticulture and I think the gene skipped my father and went to me. I find it incredibly fascinating, and to be honest, a lot of it is intuitive. If you kind of 'put yourself in a plants shoes' for lack of a better term - and even have a cursory understanding of plant life its just too much fun. Can't wait to toss info back and forth this summer poplars! I'm sure I'll have a slew of questions.

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yep, it really is a lot easier than it seems. once you understand the basic needs of the plant, all you gotta do at that point is get in 'tune' with it's cycle. from then on it's easy peasy... (besides guarding against thieves..)

and for sure about the horticulture in the family thing... my mom worked in greenhouses since she was 17... and she's a bomb ass cannabis grower too, taught me everything I needed to know about it.

Clay pan will always return but if you are using a smaller portion of your garden you could disk well and then actually amend the soil texture by adding large amounts of sand. Generally texture amendment isn't advisable but on a small scale does work. Clay has a super high CEC and great water absorption properties but doesn't drain or aerate well - adding enough sand (which is generally pretty cheap) will improve the drainage and aeration. I would also toss a bale of coco or straw into the mix as well.

Lucky you, my parents are pretty dead set against it. They're the hard headed type that don't even want to hear the logic. Which is a shame, but I hope to convert them in the future. How did you get your plants so bushy and huge last year and the year before by the way? Any lst or super cropping? Seems like an incredible yield from just a handful of plants.

Gastanker said:

Clay pan will always return but if you are using a smaller portion of your garden you could disk well and then actually amend the soil texture by adding large amounts of sand. Generally texture amendment isn't advisable but on a small scale does work. Clay has a super high CEC and great water absorption properties but doesn't drain or aerate well - adding enough sand (which is generally pretty cheap) will improve the drainage and aeration. I would also toss a bale of coco or straw into the mix as well.

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yeah I figure removing around 85% of the clay then adding all that other stuff will be great.

also just a reminder there are 2.75 feet deep holes under the tilled bed, so this is just to give the plants wide room to grow.

BlackPeter said:

Lucky you, my parents are pretty dead set against it. They're the hard headed type that don't even want to hear the logic. Which is a shame, but I hope to convert them in the future. How did you get your plants so bushy and huge last year and the year before by the way? Any lst or super cropping? Seems like an incredible yield from just a handful of plants.

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out where I live the sun is very very intense in the summer time, we get more sunny days than cloudy days by a LONG shot in the summer time. just 2.5 feet wide holes 3 feet deep and I got those yeilds without doing anything too special other than caring for them and getting them everything they needed.

where i live is all hard packed clay. over yrs of playing around. the best thing is to remove your clay down to at least two feet. make one side higher them the other and slop to one corner. put in a few inches of gravel. i used sand and gravel from sand bar in a near buy river. at least. 2 inchs. put down two layers of weed barrer. cover that with some more sand. and layer of soil cheap potting soil is fine even saw dust as long as its clean. layer in some clay. and sulfur. your ph is prob around 8.should be 6 to 6.5.
. and it could use some acid. keep layering. adding grass clippings alpha meal. ect it will all help. also in the lowest corner of your garden dig a hole 3 feet down and leave it open for run off. you dont want your clay hole to be a big bowl and hold water. the deeper you go the better. perlit. i have even gone fishing and layered in a hole layer of fish. best grow i ever had. its alot of hard work but i like clay as a base.