Soil test results

[duajones]

interesting reading there Jason. I was told by a local nursery today that my test results were typical for the area, with my ph actually being better than the norm, its usually over 7.5.

[landarc]

Duane,
It is not practical to think of removing the P from your soil. I do believe that listening to the people that have succeeded in your area is a good point to start. Also, as Ami points out, just because it is there does not mean t is going to affect your plants. Things such as pH and soil type will affect how well a nutrient is used. I would continue in the process if amending and developing your soil, I do like heavily composted manure and green waste as a means of improving soil. If it is truly a heavy clay, I do not like adding sand, as it tends to improves clays ability to clump.

[dice]

Yeah, adding sand to heavy clay can produce a
soil that is more like concrete than it was before.

You have to add a *lot* of sand to get an effect
like sandy loam, where there is just enough clay
in it to improve the water holding ability of the
sand without also filling all of the air spaces between
sand particles.

(If drainage is an issue, amend with gravel instead
of sand to improve the drainage before adding your
organic amendments.)

[amideutch]

duajones, got out and dusted off a book I've had for a while from Rodale called " Getting the Most from Your Garden". It deals with organic intensive gardening and also breaks down the states into geogrphical areas and they interviewed different gardeners in those areas as to their problems and what they do to solve them. For your area they interviewed a lady from Georgetown, Texas and this is what she had to say.
"The georgetown gardener must contend with an alkaline clay soil that resembles cement when dry and epoxy when wet. The only thing you can do to improve the soil is till in lots of manure, compost, sand and whenever I can get it, seaweed."
So you are on the right track with what you have been doing as also shown with your lower ph than the other folks in your area.
The other thing you can do is in the fall, do you have a fall in Texas,? grow some green manure and till it in before winter. One type of green manure they mention is "Buckwheat". Plant it, let it grow and dig it in. Ami

[duajones]

Seaweed is plentiful right now, just have to drive to the beach to get it. The georgetown lady said it right, it resembles cement when dry and epoxy when wet. Meanwhile, a customer and I were discussing the local soil today and he mentioned using a product called tru gro, claimed that it really improved the compaction of his soil. Claimed it was expensive but works. Im leaning towards doing what I have already done , more compost with maybe the addition of seaweed.

[jdwhitaker]

The tru gro product is expanded shale. It is very expensive in bags, but fairly inexpensive if you can get it in bulk. The TXI website shows the closest place to you to get bulk expanded shale is in Richmond (outside of Houston) at CJF Soil Supermarket. Of course you'll need a pickup to haul the stuff. I've hauled half a cu. yd. in my half ton pickup.

I use it for mixing potting soil, but many folks in the Dallas area claim it works wonders for breaking up clay soil.

http://www.txi.com/products/tru_gro/tru_gro.html

[amideutch]

Dua, if you have access to seaweed go for it. Ask TomsTrees as he is a seaweed guru. Check out some of his posts on it. Ami

[feldon30]

dua lives 4 hours from Houston at the beach (Corpus).

[amideutch]

I know where Corpus is. I was at Biloxi for 10 months and never saw seaweed there. I guess it depends where you are on the gulf and if any storms may have washed some up on the shore. Ami

[duajones]

There is so much sargassum on the beaches right now that the tourists have complained about it. And I spoke with a local nursery owner about the tru gro product yesterday, and he that he has used it in his garden and that it worked great to loosen up the soil. We didnt discuss price as I am sure they only have it in bags. Will have to do some more research on the product.

[amideutch]

dua, check out the "Salt in Seaweed Mulch" thread in this forum if you havn't already done so. Ami

[duajones]

good read, thanks for the tip Ami