Soil amendments which ones?
Well I for one am fed up of not knowing which ones are any good, do w go with peat? Mushroom? Seaweed? Or are there any other fantastic idea out there? Which ones are best with sand and which ones are best fo clays soils? Let?s get the ball rolling on this topic because it?s bit of a grey area that no one seems to talk about.
turf do
-- turf doc
What's up Doc..? Organic matter is organic matter. What you choose and how you add it is up to the end user IMHO. There isn't a perfect soil amendment. Amending clay soil for a blueberry would be different than the amending for a cedar. Amendments have to be tailored to the situation, the availability of products to use and personal preference.
Thanks Timothy point taken but we are in the lawns banter section ar we not? maybe I should have made my self a little clearer...soi amendments for turf. As to which type of turf situation I leave up t you but I?m guessing that it would be different for say a footbal pitch as apposed to a cricket pitch / wicket
-- turf doc
No. You are posting to alt.home.lawn.garden Usenet newsgroup through some sort of banter uk portal.
HTH
As Steveo stated, your some other place than I am. Quite honestly, your being cheated by not accessing the whole Usenet. Check out this page of mine:
The running paths would be high clay mix that is packed. The grass areas would be a higher sand mix than the average home lawn for the drainage. It's not fair to compare a home lawn with a playing field IMHO. A play field would be an engineered environment with embedded drainage lines, layered soil and rock and the like. The average lawn install consists of a dump truck of fair soil and a bobcat. 80)
I have used mushroom compost as a soil conditioner in waxy soils which do not drain mainly as a source of organic matter to make it more pliable. It also adds some trace elements to the soil. You can put it on turf but best done dry, not when the compost is damp. It also adds some trace elements into the soil and provides some nitrogen. Mushroom compost, if made right, is also a good ph level which will sweet acidic soils so it has several uses. What it will not do is add microbal activity into the soil as the compost has been steam steralised. For microbes living compost or some form of animal shit is ideal.
Seaweed is supposedly an ideal soil conditioner as it contains a balance of all the nutrients your soil needs. I chuck that stuff on my compost when I can get it or add it to my liquid compost. I don't know how seaweed would go as an additive straight onto soil as it takes a time to break down. It is better worked into compost or in a liquid composter. You can buy seaweed mixes as both a soil conditioner and foliar spray. Best make your own however. It is cheaper and more fun. It is best used as a source of nutrients rather than simply a soil conditioner.
The idea of liquid composting is that you always have a good supply of compost tea available. I use a 200l barrell with a hessian sack inside filled with basic compost. As the organic matter breaks down you simply add more to the sack. The nutrients get dispersed into the water along with various microbes. I treat is very much like a normal compost bin except for things such as paper. You can add mixes of organic matter to alter the content/mix of your liquid compost. Seaweed works well but takes some time. One guy I know puts road kill in his.
The liquid probably needs a few months at least to be of any value. When you strat to have a compost smelling liquid use a tap in the bottom of the barrell and draw down what you need, the rest can stay in the barrell for another day. Water the liquid down 10-1 or thereabouts and spray it on your lawn of plants as a liquid fertiliser. It not only fertilises but seeds microbal activity through the soil. It is also good as a foliar spray to feed the plant directly. One theory is that the beneficial microbal activity in the liquid compost crowds out the diseases.
rob
George.com, Hello, I have seen several of your post re mush. comp. I am just wondering what part of the country you live in that grows mushrooms. Do they grow them in caves? or Dark Houses?
I'm interested to hear about it and would take it to email if you so desire.
Ron
In the mid-Hudson Valley we have had mushroom shit for years. Originally in old limestone caves but now in dark houses. Referred to as "shit" because they are started in rotted horse manure.
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