Questions tagged [soil-amendment]
About modifying a soil's content.
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Is it true that you can't add too much natural fertiliser such as Fermented Plant Juice to a potting mix as opposed to synthetic fertiliser?
I have been making "fermented plant juice" (FPJ) as explained in Nigel Palmers book - The Regenerative Growers Guide to Garden Amendments. Basically, you mix plant material with sugar, 50/50 ...
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how to obtain information on fertilizer amount per volume
Very simple question but hour long search with no answer. Concentration of fertilizer is relation ship of amount of fertilizer (either mass or molar) with volume, NOT with area, yet all fertilizers ...
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Interpreting soil test instructions
I tested my vegetable garden soil with a lusterleaf rapitest Soil Test Kit. My soil test came back as depleted for nitrogen and phosphorous, and adequate for potash. This is the section of the test ...
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Strategy for a new flower bed in poor soil
I have a small area in front of my house with some grass and existing shrubs. I want to make an L-shaped flower bed in my space without disturbing the existing shrubs.
I have removed some of the ...
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Inter-veinal chlorosis in AllMix and CootMix potting soil
The soil
Stage 1:
BioBizz AllMix with some additional Perlite. Around 50% as a total. AllMix is originally 30% perlite with mostly peat moss and some organic matter.
The containers were 2 gallon ...
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Does Sassafras Sawdust Make A Good "Brown" For Kitchen Composting?
I've read Sassafras is a slow decomposing wood.
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Southern California Sandy Hillside - Stabilization
We recently purchased a home that has a fairly steep hillside in the back. I haven’t measured the grade but I’d say it’s somewhere between 35-45 degrees. You can walk it fairly easily.
My question for ...
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scoria sand: What is it good for?
I have sifted scoria to isolate the coarse sand from the fine one.
I have the coarse ingredient which I will use it mainly for my succulents. However, I am left with a bag full of fine scoria sand, ...
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How do I fix copper toxicity in my soil?
I made a mistake and installed a retaining wall in my garden made out of creosote-treated wood from an old bridge, which contains chromium copper arsenate. Our strawberries planted below the wall ...
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Does it make any sense to heat soil in an oven in effort to kill pathogens?
So this year, a lot of my inside potted plants got attacked by powdery mildew and other afflictions. All affected were previously given soil that I sifted from the composter that is on the porch of ...
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Additions to an existing rice husk mulch for fixing soil nutrients?
I have a small garden that i just mulched using rice husks with 2-3 cm deep without incooporating them into the soil. Rice husks are very abundant here in Indonesia.
But lately from my googling around,...
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Sul-po-may and blood meal at the same time?
My university extension suggested a combination of sul-po-mag and blood meal to increase my vegetable garden's potassium and nitrogen. Link: How to increase nitrogen and potassium at the same time?
I ...
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Is deep soil mixing necessary for compacted clay soil before planting a tree?
I am a newbie gardener, and would like to plant around 15 polyalthia longifolia trees in my garden.
The main problem here is that my garden's reddish-clay-soil seems to be compacted.
Clay sticks ...
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Cheapest and fastest method to lower the soil pH for potatoes?
I am going to plant some potatoes in two/three weeks, but my soil's pH is around 6.8, which is not very suitable for them. I would like to know if there is a way to lower the pH in two/three weeks in ...
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Adding worms to clay soil - worth it?
I have a large area of miserable clay soil which I'm looking to start rehabilitating. For the past 15 years it's been neglected and had nothing but some unwanted grass. It's very compacted due to ...
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Grape vine why is it drying up
So I planted this grapevine in spring. It started from a little twig was growing beautifully health all green and vibrant but like five weeks ago started seeing leafs drying up see below pix(the leafs ...
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Whats up with my grapevine
Im located in south Jersey
Soil is clay but was amended with leafcompost, micronutrients stuff and topped with 4" woodchips. Only watered it when planted and monitored the moister level before ...
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Does disintegrating perlite produce clay?
Perlite sand is extremely fine. Is it clay? Will it cake up my soil over a long period of time(e.g.10 years)?
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What natural substance can I use to up the pH balance?
What can be used as a natural pH up substance for my medical marijuana plants water? I have them growing in soil & have been using citrus powder to lower my ph.
Ashtyn
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Keep adding, but never removing soil in a raised bed ...how is that possible?
All the advice seems to be to add a few inches of compost every fall to a raised bed, but no one mentions taking soil out; how can you just keep adding soil to a raised bed ...I mean surely it will ...
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Does "adding iron to the soil" make sense?
Some people believe discarding iron items e.g. screws in the soil "make is rich in iron, for the good of the plants". This is in the context of the dark soil in northern Bulgaria. Safety ...
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Deiffenbachia (Dumb Cane) houseplant
I have watered it according to the instructions, my indoor temp is around 70-75 F° I moved it closer to this backdoor about a week ago and haven’t given it any nutrients after transplant.
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Cover crop and rehab or amend and plant
I just pulled up a rather sad potato crop and was considering putting down some winter squash. I tested the soil and it's got low nitrogen and phosphorus. I would like to build up healthy soil. Should ...
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Geotechnical Engineering Classification and Percolation
I plan a project that is 4’ below ground and it’s a safe diy, I plan to place 2500lb limestone blocks for seating and don’t want them to sink or flood in the 10x10x4 hole..
Our soil classification is ...
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How far away should I plant new citrus tree?
My two 12-year-old orange trees did not recover from the hard freeze in the Houston area earlier this year. I have given time for new growth and cut a couple branches to check for green wood. Nada. ...
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How much peat moss would I need to lower the ph of my soil
I had my soil tested. The ph is 8.2. What is the best product to lower the ph. I’m reading about sulfur, aluminum sulfate and peat moss. Peat moss looks like the best bet but how much do I need to ...
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How to amend existing soil in raised beds?
What is the favored way to lighten & amend soil inside a raised bed? My raised beds are aluminum troughs with volumes of 220 gallons. They are 2 x 2 x 8ft. We've been using them for a few years to ...
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A section of land/soil is bad due to salt? How to fix?
A section of a alfalfa farm soil is bad. It is told that the cause is salty soil. What can be done to fix the soil?
Update edit
As requested by @csk , the source of the salt is: well, the land has ...
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Is this growing medium good for compost?
This straw-like growing medium was used to grow dhingri (oyster) mushroom. However, due to climate getting hotter here, the mushroom died, and now I am thinking if this medium is suitable for compost ...
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Vermiculate has a bad history of being tainted with asbestos; what about perlite?
I avoid vermiculite because of its horrible history of being tainted with asbestos. Wikipedia states that, nowadays, vermiculite is supposed to be tested for asbestos, but knowing a bit about testing ...
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What makes Ammonium Sulfate a soil acidifier but not Potassium Sulfate
Adding elemental Sulphur is a common practice to lower pH of soil. Ammonium Sulfate can also have the same effect.
I read that Potassium Sulfate and Magnesium Sulfate may not have the same acidifying ...
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Soil improvement for poor-producing squash for next year
I have two 8x4 raised beds that I grow various vegetables in, alternating tomatoes in one or the other with the other being squash, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, and a few other vegetables.
This year, ...
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Is it OK to put sod on top of gravel?
I have a small area (approx 400 sqft) near the pool where I'm looking to put down sod. I ordered the sod to be delivered today. Yesterday I used a mini tiller to loosen the dirt. I found that under ...
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How do I explore and make changes in my garden?
We recently bought and moved into our home. The previous owner set up some great plants (natives, water smart, fragrant and pollinator friendly) and trees with watering automation as well.
The visible ...
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High Sulfur and alkaline pH on Soil Test for Bermuda Lawn
I did a My Soil Savvy test on my Bermuda lawn (Phoenix, AZ) and the Sulfur was 42.90ppm with a recommendation of 6-12. The test also showed my pH at 7.14. Any ideas on how to reduce the sulfur and ...
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Do I still need to water transplanted plants if they're being transplanted into a flood plain?
My mom, and I just transplanted 10 rhubarb plants (thinning 6 that were planted near each other), and I was wondering if there would be enough moisture in the soil to not need to water them (suction ...
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Poor draining sandy loam soil
I tested my soil and discoverd it has 10% clay, 29% silt, and 59% sand. I've noticed my soil sucks when it comes to draining water (unless it's slowly raining). Water will pool on the top of the ...
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UK equivalent of US University Soil "Extension" Offices
I recently found out that there is a (state?-)tax-funded community resource in the US associated with Land-Grant State Universities called "Extension Offices". They offer soil testing kits, ...
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How to make well-drained sandy soil from potting mix?
I want to plant sage, which is said to grow best in well-drained "sandy soil". I bought some potting mix from the hardware store.
Is off-the-shelf potting mix already sandy, well drained soil?
...
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Improve soil in established flower garden
The soil in my garden is very hard; it's probably clay if I do just a little deep. However, I already have some plants established in my garden and I don't want to dig them up. It's a small area, ...
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Garden Soil Mix
First time gardener her.
The wife and I decided to get our thumbs green and give veggies a go.
We are going to be growing in buckets and garbage cans, and a few potato sacks.
I was investigating ...
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What are the effects of planting potatoes as a 'cover crop' in newly forming soil as a pile of decaying wood chips?
Related to How do I plant potatoes that sprouted in my pantry?
In a field I'm forming soil as mounds of wood chips with finished compost, muck, and soil mixed in, like small windrow planting beds. I ...
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Can we use coco and peat moss at same time?
As a soil mix, is it wise to use both coco peat and peat moss to have the good of both the worlds?
Since some plants requires soil to dry out in between watering, peat moss will compact and pull ...
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Is Perlite safe to use in the home or will it cause health issues?
I'm new to indoor farming and I was wondering:
Is it safe to use Perlite in the soil or should I stick to more
natural organic materials like pumice or gritty gravel?
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Is yellow pumice/perlite a problem or indicator of bad quality?
The pumice is not in a pot, but still in the packaging, and I haven't put any water on it.
Is this yellow pumice a problem or sign that the pumice is cheap/bad quality? I am not sure as a lava rock ...
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How much drainage in seedling potting mix?
I made my own seedling potting mix. It has 35% drainage and 65% water hold matter. Now, that I see it, I feel like it has too much drainage. I used roughly the same percentage of as Sungro's ...
user27895
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Is Natural Cinder a good soil amendment?
Found this online:
Natural cinder of 4-8mm chunks a good stuff to add alongside perlite/pumice for succulents and other soil mix?
EDIT: What about coal cinder?
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Gritty mix for cactus and succulents usage
I am seeing some gritty mixes for succulents and I cannot find any info on the product regarding it usage.. Will succulents or cactus do well if they are placed in those gritty mixes?
Here are gritty ...
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Pumice or perlite for succulents?
Is pumice better for cactus and succulent mix and such than perlite? Is it all about the chunks?
I am thinking of making my own soil mix for succulents and cactus and other plants like jade plants ...
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Perlite and Vermiculite sustainability
Are perlite and vermiculite sustainable?
For potting mixes, I have to use quantities of perlite and vermiculite. But I am concerned about their sustainability, and how they are obtained.
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