C
Cptn Feathersword
Guest
Hey guys, noob here who has the good fortune to live in a very fertile area. The soil is volcanic, so black and lush you could almost eat it for dinner lol. Under that is clay but there is a good 50cm+ (1.5 feet) of black gold on top.
However, this black soil does not drain, Im talking 100% water retention here. Aggriculture is the main industry here and the region is famous for its high quality produce but nothing gets watered, ever.
If I water the soil it only penetrates 50mm (2") down and forms a nasty slurry, rain however does not cause the same problem.
We have a rainy season in summer that lasts 6 weeks and a 2m (6 feet+) snowpack in winter that lasts from december to early april so I guess there is enough moisture in the soil from that to last the entire summer.
If I put a shovel in the ground it is always moist from about 5cm (2") down.
I have a pic of the soil but not sure how to upload it, I will try.
So this awesome but non draining soil poses a bit of a problem when it comes to a grow. I have some bag seed plants atm that were started in this soil (in starter pots) but were stunted badly when it turned into concrete from my attempts at watering so I transplanted them to a 75% perlite/ 25% vermiculite mix and about half of them have recovered.
This is not how I want to grow long term though and I think that if I did dig pits and put the perlite/vermiculite mix in they would just end up cocooned in a slurry of dirt and end up mini wells. Theres just nowhere for the water to go.
So my plan atm is this, please critique any way you see fit.
*Grow autos due to the smaller root system, they shouldnt hit the clay like a photo plant would.
*Germinate in jiffy cubes making sure to put them in the ground before the tap root hits the bottom.
*Take them to my location where I will have tilled plots of 100% local soil.
Water them in gently but not enough to create a slurry in the surrounding soil.
*Let them grow 100% natural just like all the fruit and veg does around here.
What do you guys think?
However, this black soil does not drain, Im talking 100% water retention here. Aggriculture is the main industry here and the region is famous for its high quality produce but nothing gets watered, ever.
If I water the soil it only penetrates 50mm (2") down and forms a nasty slurry, rain however does not cause the same problem.
We have a rainy season in summer that lasts 6 weeks and a 2m (6 feet+) snowpack in winter that lasts from december to early april so I guess there is enough moisture in the soil from that to last the entire summer.
If I put a shovel in the ground it is always moist from about 5cm (2") down.
I have a pic of the soil but not sure how to upload it, I will try.
So this awesome but non draining soil poses a bit of a problem when it comes to a grow. I have some bag seed plants atm that were started in this soil (in starter pots) but were stunted badly when it turned into concrete from my attempts at watering so I transplanted them to a 75% perlite/ 25% vermiculite mix and about half of them have recovered.
This is not how I want to grow long term though and I think that if I did dig pits and put the perlite/vermiculite mix in they would just end up cocooned in a slurry of dirt and end up mini wells. Theres just nowhere for the water to go.
So my plan atm is this, please critique any way you see fit.
*Grow autos due to the smaller root system, they shouldnt hit the clay like a photo plant would.
*Germinate in jiffy cubes making sure to put them in the ground before the tap root hits the bottom.
*Take them to my location where I will have tilled plots of 100% local soil.
Water them in gently but not enough to create a slurry in the surrounding soil.
*Let them grow 100% natural just like all the fruit and veg does around here.
What do you guys think?
