Improving clay

CraigS · Mar 16, 2016

PeterS said: ↑
I have just watched that, Stuart - very interesting. The biology of soil is pretty complicated and I know very little of it. The problem with reading or videos is that they raise so many more questions that I would love to ask.

There are two main principles that I am mindful of. One is that plants need oxygen at their roots. The leaves create sugars and starches by photosynthesis - taking in sunlight and carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen. The sugars and starches are the food that plants need for growth, and are then moved around the plant by its vascular system, to where they are needed - be it in the leaves or roots. These starches are then burnt in the roots (and other parts) to give the energy needed for new growth. The act of burning the starches uses oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. This explains why plants grow as much during the night as during the day. As long as there are enough stored starches the actual growth carries on 24 hours a day and doesn't need sunlight. The act of using up oxygen at night also explains why nurses used to (mistakenly - as the effect is so small) remove flowers from hospital wards at night.

Its this need for oxygen that makes the soil structure so important. If clay soil is waterlogged or compacted, there will not be enough oxygen at the roots and the roots will die - they literally drown. If the roots die they can't draw up the water that the plant needs, and the plant will die, ironically, from a lack of water. So getting an open and well drained soil is absolutely key. One way of doing this is to encourage worms.

The second point relates to the video. I always like to see how nature handles problems. In the wild plants thrive without any artificial feeding. However they are fed, because the old foliage dies back and rots in situ, returning all the nutrient to the soil. Everything is 100% recycled. So for that reason I like to shred my dead foliage (I was doing it today) and return it to the border as a mulch. Again 100% recycling.

But when you grow a crop or use the council green bin, you are permanently removing nutrient from the soil and not returning it. Its recycled elsewhere. I suspect that under these circumstances you do need to put something back, or you will ultimately exhaust the soil. This is what happens in the Brazilian forest, where the soil is poor. As long as the crop (of trees) dies in situ and returns its goodness to the soil, you have a lush jungle. But when patches are cleared and crops grown and taken away, the soil soon becomes exhausted and useless. I would love to ask Dr Ingham about how to replace the nutrients that are taken away when a crop is removed.

I don't know anything about humates - but would be interested to hear how you get on.
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CraigS · Mar 16, 2016

Hi Peter,

Forgot to say that it is my intention to ease back on the applications once a good web has been re-established, I say re-established because someone before me, must have wrecked it.
My body starts to feel stiff at the thought of digging a lovely deep straight edge these days, I'm sorry to say, so everything I eventually do, has to be about less disturbance for me and the land.
Cheers
C
http://www.planetnatural.com/organic-gardening-guru/

CraigS · Mar 16, 2016

Peter,
I'm also sharpening up on my compost making but I'm going to have to rope a friend in here, to use their arms.

C

PeterS · Mar 17, 2016

Craig - We will be interested in knowing how you get on.

CraigS · Mar 17, 2016

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Improving clay

CraigS Gardener

CraigS Gardener

CraigS Gardener

PeterS Total Gardener

CraigS Gardener

Clay soil/improving drainage

improving clay- sharp sand? or Gravel? or both?

Property immediately at end of garden, advice on improving view?

Any thoughts on improving a barren landscape?

Improving the soil

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Improving clay

CraigS Gardener

CraigS Gardener

CraigS Gardener

PeterS Total Gardener

CraigS Gardener

Clay soil/improving drainage

improving clay- sharp sand? or Gravel? or both?

Property immediately at end of garden, advice on improving view?

Any thoughts on improving a barren landscape?

Improving the soil

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