21
votes
Adding worms to clay soil - worth it?
There's little point in adding worms to soil which seems to have none, they'll just go elsewhere - the thing to add is as much organic material as possible, so if you can get hold of things like leaf ...
- 132k
13
votes
Are there any benefits from leaving dead leaves in the soil around a plant?
Leaves are good compost if they are shredded. If left as is on garden beds or lawns they tend to clump and can smother the smaller perennials.
To do my fall clean up I put a bagger on the mower and ...
- 58.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Why it is bad to add sand to soil?
This reference says that you need to add prohibitive amounts of sand to remediate clay soils. And if you don't get it right, you get a soil like concrete
The problems occur when sand and clay are ...
- 23.1k
12
votes
Accepted
How often should I loosen soil?
Once, and then don't walk on it. Since you are starting with raised beds, which presumably have not been walked on since they were made, I'd not get overly concerned about it.
There are, to be sure, ...
- 23.2k
12
votes
How to keep soil a rich black colour
Well soil is just the color it is. Some soils are dark brown, some are red, some are
yellow. After several years of conditioning with good compost all soil will darken with organic material.
If you ...
- 6,356
10
votes
What type of dirt to use for filling the backyard before preparing the vegetable beds?
Good quality topsoil is probably best, preferably with some organic or humus rich composted materials added (composted animal manures, leaf mould, spent mushroom compost, garden compost, anything like ...
- 132k
10
votes
Accepted
What is this caterpillar?
Hippotion celerio (Linnaeus, 1758) Gabi Moth, Vine Hawk Moth
You must have disturbed it as it has tucked its head under its thorax and expanded its eye segments. It's agriculturally important as the ...
- 23.1k
9
votes
To be effective, how long does Glyphosate weed killer need to be applied before it rains?
From pioneer.com:
"Foliar absorption of herbicides occurs in a liquid phase only; once a water droplet has dried on the leaf surface and herbicides have crystallized little to no additional ...
- 211
9
votes
What's the best way to remove grass/topsoil to prepare for grading?
It depends on whether you want to keep the sod or no and if the ground is already pretty flat. I haven't used a sod cutter, but I think the ground has to be fairly level. I don't think it works well ...
- 5,102
9
votes
Ideas needed to sort out this waterlogged, dark, mess in front of my house
It's not good for that water to be sitting around your foundation like that. I have a few suggestions that vary in the level of time, money, or practicality.
The simplest is going to be to add dirt ...
- 5,102
8
votes
How often should I loosen soil?
Unless it is rock hard you really do not loosen the soil, because when you do you should keep in mind all of the weed seed under will be giving them a chance to sprout (unless it came in a bag). ...
- 2,582
8
votes
Is it helpful to add coffee grounds to a droopy mother-in-law's tongue?
No; the current fad for coffee grounds use is just that, a fad, and its not helpful for almost all potted plants. Remove the coffee grounds, or as many as you can, they don't do any good at all and ...
- 132k
8
votes
Medium you can add to soil to improve airiness and create loose soil
This link (10 Ingredients to Make Your Own Potting Soil) lists ten ingredients for making your own potting soil. The only thing I would add is, where it talks about compost you've made yourself, it ...
- 132k
8
votes
Accepted
What are these small white balls that appeared on the soil in my greenhouse?
How impressive!
I think you can relax - this is not a sign of a massive insect infestation and not a fungus, but one of nature’s wonders known as slime mold.
The “eggs” are the spore-carrying ...
- 16.3k
7
votes
Accepted
What's a nitrogen-fixing ground-cover that grows on very little rainfall?
Not exactly a ground cover, but perhaps Mesquite? It is a legume...
New Mexico State University Guide 150
lists a number of cover crops (which may not suit the homeowner's sense of "groundcover") ...
- 23.2k
7
votes
How to keep soil a rich black colour
From my own experience I've found that if your plants can tolerate a little acidity, you can blend in dark hemlock bark fines. They can be had around my area for about 20 dollars a cubic yard. Dark ...
- 71
7
votes
Accepted
Help me decide in a location for my raised bed garden
Full sun - most vegetables like as much sun as possible, although in very, very hot countries, some shade from the midday sun may be beneficial.The berries falling doesn't matter either way, but they'...
- 132k
7
votes
Accepted
Covering soil of Ponytail Palm
I've only seen this practice a few times in plants sold through the big-box stores. I believe they glue the gravel together so it doesn't fall out of the pot during shipping. The gravel is meant to ...
- 9,464
7
votes
Accepted
How to prepare a soil that is compacted and has a lot of rocks
Depends on what you really have, soil-wise, what want to do with it and how you will do that.
Bury it in 3-6" of topsoil is a perfectly normal option - not one I usually reach for, but common enough, ...
- 23.2k
7
votes
Accepted
How much soil to remove from root ball when repotting?
In theory, when you perform a transplant you should avoid damaging any of the roots at all, since any damage to roots causes the plant stress during transplant. In practice, you will always damage ...
- 514
7
votes
Is cow dung really bad for potted houseplants? (There are videos in the question.)
First, cow dung doesn't have a very high level of nitrogen, specially compared to other forms of manure - the problem with fresh cow dung is a very high ammonia level, but if its dried in heat or sun, ...
- 132k
7
votes
How can I soften clay soil and enrich it for plants?
You need to incorporate as much humus rich material into the soil as you possibly can, so that means things like composted animal manures, good garden compost you've made yourself, leaf mould, spent ...
- 132k
7
votes
Accepted
What makes potting soil good for pots?
Potting soil also gets compressed over time.
The most important thing about potting soil is that it shouln't contain fungus spores, insect eggs and weeds. I say "it shouldn't" because I have bought ...
- 5,406
7
votes
Why are mineral fertilizers not allowed in organic farming?
The term 'organic', in this instance, essentially means anything used on the land must contain carbon. Therefore, things like composted manures, composted plant waste, green manures,essentially, waste ...
- 132k
7
votes
Why are mineral fertilizers not allowed in organic farming?
There are several reasons:
Where to put boundary for organic and “traditional?”
What is the difference between a pesticide, an growth regulator, a herbicide and a fertilizer?
Maybe for most of cases ...
- 14.2k
7
votes
Which soil types are the best and worst thermal insulators?
I think you are looking the problem from a wrong point of view.
Thermal insulator is not a good term and also not good way to have warmer soil.
First fact: the soil temperature. The surface ...
- 14.2k
7
votes
Accepted
English word for a "soil filter machine"?
Screen ,or screen drum, strainer or sieve could be used. For analysis of particle sizes in limited volume, screen sieves ( Taylor is a common name ) are commonly used.
- 8,626
6
votes
Is it really important to give blueberry plants acidic soil?
Pine needles will not acidify your soil! They are slow to decompose, and even after they do, dead pine needles are pH neutral and thus have no effect on soil pH. It's amazing how many people, ...
- 69
6
votes
Why is there concrete buried across my entire backyard?
We caught our builder burying crumbled concrete below our garage floor when building. They were bringing it from other job sites to save on dump costs. Since our house was the next to have concrete ...
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
Can I use greens, such as grass, as a fertilizer for tomatoes?
If you have a household, you can generate enough waste to start some Bokashi bins. You can purchase these from Green Zone Egypt. These create compost in buckets but the process needs to be finished ...
- 23.1k
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