crapy dirt in Georgia

I dug 3 holes today 2x2x2 and I had to use a pick axe to do it. I filled them with water trying to saturate the dirt/clay around them. What would be the best mixture of potting soil to fill them with?....peat moss...cow crap....worm poop?

Growing up in GA we always used peat moss.

I used on part peat moss, one part horse manure, one part miracle grow potting soil, and one part of the soil from my yard.(Very sandy) So far I haven't lost one plant out of about twenty.

Chris Dog carpe diem seize the day very cool thanks for the tips!

i know ur feeling.... 32 inch holes in the clay was fun.... 10 minutes for each hole (2) and then a 2ft(2).... blah.... i threw dirt on top for the planting. http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=64828 link on my installation.

IMHO, I'd start dumping compost there as often as possible. I'm in N. Texas and I swear a potter could throw the soil in our yard. So I've got some experience in dealing with heavy clay. Sulphur may also help break up the clay but go gently with it as it can change soil pH. Coarse sand can also help break up clay, but it takes a lot of it. Compost does wonders for dense clay, though. You can try to obtain something from your local home center called humic acid. It's basically very concentrated compost tea and 1 gallon of concentrate is about $15.

HTH,

M.

morrighu said:

IMHO, I'd start dumping compost there as often as possible. I'm in N. Texas and I swear a potter could throw the soil in our yard. So I've got some experience in dealing with heavy clay. Sulphur may also help break up the clay but go gently with it as it can change soil pH. Coarse sand can also help break up clay, but it takes a lot of it. Compost does wonders for dense clay, though. You can try to obtain something from your local home center called humic acid. It's basically very concentrated compost tea and 1 gallon of concentrate is about $15.

HTH,

M.

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Ga has a lovely ground.... i swear you could make pots with it. We have been throwing stuff in the backyard since we got the place... 20 years ago and the compost is still only an inch or so above the clay. Ga you have to dig it out and put new soil in. The clay will be clay... I have yet to see it turn to nice soil even with mixing it stays.

Sandy loam
vermiculite, or perlite to help drainage.
Compost or aged manure for nutrients, maybe some bone meal.
and peat moss
mix it up with some top soil/loam

If your yard is all clay, just dig a shallow hole and build your mounds with the above mixture.

DeadDoc said:

Ga has a lovely ground.... i swear you could make pots with it. We have been throwing stuff in the backyard since we got the place... 20 years ago and the compost is still only an inch or so above the clay. Ga you have to dig it out and put new soil in. The clay will be clay... I have yet to see it turn to nice soil even with mixing it stays.

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I think they do make the Terra Cotta pots with it (A least it is the same color).

Chris_Dog said:

I think they do make the Terra Cotta pots with it (A least it is the same color).

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It wouldn't surprise me one bit. Maybe I should dig all mine out and sell it to a potter. Make some money!

first i dug out about 6-8 inches of dirt, then i tilled in a couple bags of sand. Then i tilled in a couple bags of compost and then a couple bags of top soil. i made my mounds and planted the rhizomes. Mine have only been in the ground 4 days so no sprouts yet but the water just drain quickly.

Atl300zx said:

first i dug out about 6-8 inches of dirt, then i tilled in a couple bags of sand. Then i tilled in a couple bags of compost and then a couple bags of top soil. i made my mounds and planted the rhizomes. Mine have only been in the ground 4 days so no sprouts yet but the water just drain quickly.

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Where about in Marietta are you? I'm extreme NE Cobb Co.

i am off of new chastain road. Extreme north marietta.

Hell where are both of you???
I am extreme east between Sandy Plains and Johnson Ferry.

For or lovely Ga clay mix in Compost, and Garden soil. That soil conditioner that HD sells lightens up the clay really nicely. The clay is a bit acidic so add about 2# of dolamitic lime per 100sq/ft To enrich the soils nutrients buy some bone meal, blood meal, and Triple phosphate. All organic all slow release.

I got some bat guano from a friend of mine and that stuff mixed with the above......just WOW!!

Big "A";667032 said:

Hell where are both of you???
I am extreme east between Sandy Plains and Johnson Ferry.

For or lovely Ga clay mix in Compost, and Garden soil. That soil conditioner that HD sells lightens up the clay really nicely. The clay is a bit acidic so add about 2# of dolamitic lime per 100sq/ft To enrich the soils nutrients buy some bone meal, blood meal, and Triple phosphate. All organic all slow release.

I got some bat guano from a friend of mine and that stuff mixed with the above......just WOW!!

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Sandy Plains and Shallowford pretty much (live off Wigley).

Too late for now for the mixing of the ground.... but I will use that for the rest of the area next planting season. I'm using a liquid 24-8-10 I think (24 for sure). I was wanting to buy nitrogen pellets but they don't carry in store... online only. I used Moo-Nuer (sp?) bag with a cow on it heh. Used that also for my small herb/veg garden

we need to get together sometime and share brews sometime. I am having people over on the 17th to celebrate 1 yr of homebrewing.

Are any of you guys members of any brew clubs around the area? I know there are a few ITP but I don't feel like driving 40+ miles to a meeting . There needs to be a brew club in the Cobb County Area.....

Neal

p.s. sorry to keep taking this thread even farther off topic

Atl300zx said:

we need to get together sometime and share brews sometime. I am having people over on the 17th to celebrate 1 yr of homebrewing.

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My Bday is 16th and heading to allatonna for the weekend for some drinking and relaxing.... mini vacation which is a less than a week before my actual vacation. Congrats on the 1 year... Mine is in mid of June.

There is one out of a LHBS called Beer Depot/Beer Necessities right near north point mall... and thats the only one I truly know of.

Not extremely helpful for this year, but for next year starting a compost pile would be your best bet to turn the soil directly around the hops fertile. When done properly compost has no odor and you can put ANYTHING you would normally eat/drink in it. I have a small yard and so can only create a yard or two of compost, but during the accumulation phase almost everything biodegradable goes in there. It's 52F outside right now and yesterday my compost pile was ~140F.

So basically set aside a small area for composting and begin putting all of your yard/kitchen waste material in there. Make sure you keep a good bit of carbon sources (leaves, hay, paper, etc.) to offset all the greens (nitrogen) and always have a foot or so of light dry cover overtop (I use a combination of straw/hay. Let it do its thing this growing season and after the harvest and the bine cutback chuck this partially decomposed stuff right over the hops. Continue to make more compost over the "winter" (in quotes since you're from Ga), and next spring put the new compost around the rhizomes. Do that for a season or two and you should have VERY fertile ground.

There is also a product some people with extreme clay soils swear by but the name escapes me. It's some liquid that has enzymes and such to facilitate aeration of the soil. Sounded a bit far-fetched to me, as the compost has all the advantages plus providing nutrients, but some people love it.

Slightly off topic but i posted a get together for us in the brewing event/local gatherings

http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=66307

hammer one said:

I dug 3 holes today 2x2x2 and I had to use a pick axe to do it. I filled them with water trying to saturate the dirt/clay around them. What would be the best mixture of potting soil to fill them with?....peat moss...cow crap....worm poop?

Click to expand...

Why don't you just build a raised bed to plant them in? A good book on this is the "Square foot gardening" book. Then it won't matter what type of soil you have.