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Austin MN

This year with my new patch the soil texture is a very heavy clay with a sand subsoil. Iv added all I want to add to get the soil where I want it but it is still very heavy clay!

My question is have there been any monsters grown out of a heavy clay based soil?

I know Chris Stevens soil is very heavy clay and LL is too if i recall right?

any others out there?

5/8/2016 4:31:28 PM

Muddy Waters

add sand

5/8/2016 5:33:47 PM

Ireland

Im the same Tanner. No point in complaining so i just get on with it. Itll take a couple years to get it to where you want it texture wise but trust me itll get there. I dont know if any big ones on this soil type but im sure theres plenty even though most seem to have a loamy soil

5/8/2016 5:33:53 PM

Austin MN

Bubba id have to get a semi truck load to get it fixed...don't got that kind of money or tools to do that

5/8/2016 5:46:53 PM

Muddy Waters

sand is cheap in Michigan like $5 a yard if you pick it up.125$ for 5 yds delivered 5 yards per 800 feet will do a lot.I did it like 3 & 4 years ago.My soil is perfect texture drainage.Its the cheapest way to fix it.A gravel train of sand would cost a lot less then compost.

5/8/2016 5:53:14 PM

Torrance, Ca.

If Stevens and LL are growing in clay, I wouldn't worry one bit Tanner:)

5/8/2016 6:06:52 PM

Austin MN

I'll have to look around to see what I can mind. Might try to get corn meal in there the worms love it and it breaks up the soil!

5/8/2016 6:07:10 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

Try adding more gypsum. That will bust clay

5/8/2016 7:35:38 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

Oh ya bar patch is heavy clay soil... Been adding sand every time it rains

5/8/2016 7:36:04 PM

Austin MN

Garry I added 150 pounds to 2000sqft dont want to add to much as im afraid it will mess with my soil nutrients.

5/8/2016 7:56:26 PM

Muddy Waters

150 lbs is nothing tanner. you can grow pumpkins in pure water. just add the nutrients to your waterings. clay is hard and will not allow root explosion.clay is loaded with nutrients.diluting the clay wont hurt a thing

5/8/2016 9:50:35 PM

Zurich Ont Canada

I stared out with heavy clay 4 years ago. Now the soil is amazing. Every year I add lots of compost, leaves,peat moss and green feed with barley. It takes awhile but it will improve the tilth every year.

5/8/2016 9:59:14 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

If you add sand to the clay I have you will get adobe. The stuff used to make mission walls Try adding gypsum.

5/9/2016 3:24:00 AM

Netherlands

Whatever you do, don't add sand. Compost is much better. I grew the WR squash on heavy clay in 2007.

5/9/2016 4:45:00 AM

Weatherman

North East Ohio is all clay add compost.

5/9/2016 5:48:20 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Compost will set you free, lots of cover crops, drop in Perilite.....as well

5/9/2016 9:31:02 AM

50 Acres

Arnprior is mostly clay. ie Dochart Brick & Tile Co. I add compost and peat. I am leary of sand. I think clay + sand = Adobe bricks. Just my opinion.

5/9/2016 10:25:50 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Yo Bubbles......A note of caution to gardeners who would attempt to improve clay soils by amending them with sand: This is a very risky business unless the sand (often incorporated as much as 50:50 by volume) is a very sharp sand. Otherwise, additions of sand to clay soil can create a cementlike creature that resists root growth and impedes the flow of air and water.

Read more: http://www.finegardening.com/improving-clay-soils#ixzz48AoYeYfO
Follow us: @finegardening on Twitter | FineGardeningMagazine on Facebook

5/9/2016 11:37:53 AM

South Hero, VT

I have heavy clay soil here in Vermont. What I have learned works after 10 years is to never let my patch be bare, letting various cover crops grow wherever there is room and tilling them ahead of the vines. Secondly, employing a subsoiler or heavy duty broadfork to improve drainage. Sand can be added, bit by bit, only after enough organic matter is incorporated into the soil. Compost can also help, but it is expensive, and you have to find a supplier who knows what they are doing.

The trade off from adding organic matter is an increased possibility of disease and slugs.

It's a never ending battle.

5/9/2016 12:39:02 PM

Mn

You're young....I would just move out to Rhode Island and see if Ron and Pap will let you grow a couple on their empty plots...you could live in Rons basement and pay rent by pulling weeds and such....this is a much better option than fixing the soil

5/9/2016 1:05:57 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

How deep is the sand subsoil? Can you get a tractor with a twisted shank chisel plow deep enough to mix the top with the sand below it? Is there a high water table in the sand? Around here in our glacial till soils I have seen sand subsoil get exposed and water boiled right out of it. That can happen if the sand layer runs up into a hill and develops artesian pressure. Exposing the sand could turn things into a wet mess. Groundhog radish fall cover crop can help break up the clay. Deep roots that decay quickly.

5/9/2016 2:25:34 PM

aurora, IL

Broad fork the patch and add composted manure and till it in. I have heavy clay too. There is no quick fix with improving clay soils, it can take years. Also, sew in a cover crop with deep roots like winter rye.

5/9/2016 9:15:34 PM

Muddy Waters

Just add sand no Portland cement needed lol

5/9/2016 9:30:12 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

I have added sand for years so I call ... B S....on. That.. Tanner I'll send you a soil sample and see for you're self.. Sand makes clay soft as butter.. And fluffy been adding for years

5/9/2016 9:44:48 PM

Austin MN

I agree Q-tip pap Ron what a roommate? He liked being drinking buddies in New York with me!

5/9/2016 9:51:09 PM

Upa Creek, MO

Not a pro a pro on clay or soil in general, but doesn't region matter? Our clays North in Mo are a grey\brown and in the southern part we are ultisols or a deep red clay which extends only Into the Deep South. My point is we have 2 different types at least here in Missouri so all the opinions from those above might be relative to their areas.

5/9/2016 11:14:03 PM

Bowdon, GA

Had a very heavy clay here. A neighbor tried sand without organic matter. It looks nice when you first plow it but after a few rains its about as hard as a driveway. You can add sand but you need lots of organic matter is too. At least in Georgia clay anyway. I sub soil in the fall when its dry so it fractures the ground better and use deep root cover crops. For my new patch this year I just hauled in 12inches of topsoil on top of the clay subsoil. That was much quicker.

5/9/2016 11:40:58 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

I looked up the ag. soil report on our 5 acres. We have 2 types of clay. One is called Van Vleck clay after a local ranching family.Add organic matter and gysum.

5/10/2016 4:36:27 AM

Weatherman

The clay in North East OH is yellow clay, you can make pottery out of it.

5/10/2016 5:56:47 AM

Muddy Waters

I think it does depend on your region. sand works great in Michigan

5/11/2016 10:59:40 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

If you use sand, it should all be about the same particle size to help keep it from packing. The finer the better. If you get a variety of particle sizes, they all lock together.

5/12/2016 12:03:53 AM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

I like rough sand helps unclog drainage.. And goes threw tiller nice.. Just me I'm no expert.. Do not do what I do it won't end well.....

5/12/2016 1:00:54 AM