I live on a sand dune. That is, what ain't lava boulders. Nice southern Utah sandstone sand. I want to plant some melons by some of the tree rings where they seep out. Lots of regular water, but little nutrients.
Question: Where I plant, should I till out a cavity and put in peat moss and other bagged amendments? Locals here say melons grow fine on sand, but I'd guess you'd have to at least add some fertilizer.
Help appreciated.
Steve
your area/your land grant college:
I have a sand beach in my back your and I burried some large black pots filled with potting soil. The plants are doing great with lots of room to spread out.
MJ
My friend's summer place on L.I. was all sand. They added bags of compost and composted cow manure plus a fertilizer. They mixed it all together and grew great veggies including beautiful carrots.
I live right down the road from you, and I had some luck with making small mounds of old leaves and grass, covering that well with commercial soil, and just planting in that. The soil helps the seed to sprout, and as the organic stuff underneath rots, the roots go down and eat up all those good nutrients. By the time they hit the clay underneath they were so strong they could make it in anything. I used drip irrigation to keep the water right at the roots.
--S.
Add as much organic matter as you can get hands on, preferably already rotted. Melons are heavy feeders AND need some water retention in the soil as otherwise they will wilt excessively on hot days even with regular watering. Peat most is a very expensive way to do this. I would use lots of horse (or cow) manure plus compost if available plus some chicken manure and also lime if the soil was very acid. A cavity will be useless as a well grown melon will send out roots well beyond that. Mulch the surface well and plant through it.
David
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