gardening in sandy soil

[chic rustler]

do you guys have any tips for gardening in Sandy soil? amendments, mulching methods, etc?

My plot is pure sand....or silt, can't tell the difference. I tilled in as much organic matter as I could find back in the spring. mostly black mow manure, horse manure and bedding, chicken waste and rabbit manure. then I munched with wood chips. now I'm trying more layers for the fall garden but the soil is still dry and baron. we will see if that helps at all. I have a working compost pile, but I'm saving that for the raised beds I plan to build.


any tips welcome. thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

@baymule a fellow Texan is calling. Wakey, wakey!

 

[digitS']

I think that you are on the right track, Chic Rustler.

Welcome to The Easy Garden! My father's mother was from Montague. Texas is a big state but that's not too far away .

I garden in glacial till that is about half gravel. The remainder is clay from windblown dust and then there is organic matter. I think we could do without the gravel and just replace it with sand. That would provide a potting soil mix ... according to the Sustainable Ag Information Service (link).

There are quite a few farming areas in the U.S. with very sandy soil. Most plant nutrients are just added with each crop grown. You are doing that organically and that plant food takes more time to become available.

Better, tho! Organic matter holds moisture.

There are ideas in the Bio-intensive school that about half our garden space should be growing "compost crops." That is kind of extravagant but I wish that I could do it. Cover crops would be an alternative.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Baymule, also a Texan, is doing the same thing you are talking about, building soil from pure sand. I guess she's not available but she should hop on this thread pretty soon. But you are going the right track, add lots of organic matter. Lots of manure, dead leaves, grass clippings (if you have any), wood chips, kitchen wastes (I know those are probably going into the compost). Other than rabbit manure that can go directly on the garden at any time, the other manures need time to break down before you plant. The nitrogen can burn the plants.

Don't expect great results the first year or two. You are building a soil at nature's pace and that can take time. But constantly adding lots of organic matter will get you there.

 

[catjac1975]

do you guys have any tips for gardening in Sandy soil? amendments, mulching methods, etc?

My plot is pure sand....or silt, can't tell the difference. I tilled in as much organic matter as I could find back in the spring. mostly black mow manure, horse manure and bedding, chicken waste and rabbit manure. then I munched with wood chips. now I'm trying more layers for the fall garden but the soil is still dry and baron. we will see if that helps at all. I have a working compost pile, but I'm saving that for the raised beds I plan to build.


any tips welcome. thanks

Organic material additions is a life long thing. I don't know what you climate is like but for us adding leaves to or soil along with manures has created gorgeous soil. It will always be sand which has many growing benefits as well. I get truckloads of shredded leaves from landscapers who can dump them free of charge, unlike the town dump. I mulch my flower beds with them and till some into the vegetable garden. I do not much the veggies with leaves as they harbor pests. And organic material competed or otherwise will help you soil. If you have pure sand you may have to bring in loam. I find wood chips take quite a while to break down. Decomposition temporally steals nitrogen from the soil.

 

[chic rustler]

I've been talking to baymule on another site. she's light years ahead of me for sure.

this season I mainly got leaf growth. huge bushy plants and not too much food. then it got hot and everything kinda slowed up or died except the okra. I made my own fertilizer from rabbit manure with a bucket of water and aeration. it worked well....a little too well I think. but we have gotten at least 100 lbs more food than we started with so it's not a complete failure

 

[digitS']

In plant growth, first comes leaves. Later, flowering/fruit/seeds. So, you have made a good start.

You can take advantage of that! Leafy greens - we probably use far fewer of them in our diets (& far too much of substitutes) for our good health. Cabbage has some storage qualities but most greens can be grown in cool weather for much of that part of our year.

Perhaps you had the N-P-K scale skewed a little too much to the N side. Nitrogen is okay with the leaves, anyway .

Steve

 

[chic rustler]

yeah, I think you are right Steve. I habe big plans for the fall garden. mostly root crops. I will probably just hoe in some compost when I plant the seeds for the root crops and leave it at that.

 

[thistlebloom]

Welcome Chic Rustler!

 

[baymule]

Howdy! Yup, we have been commiserating on our beach sand that masquerades as soil, over on SS. You are on the right track, it takes lots of organic material and compost. I'm on my 3rd year and this year is better than the previous two. If all I had to do was tend to the garden, then it would probably be a lot better, but we bought 8 acres with a double wide and nothing else. We have worked our tails off making this place into our little farm.

All around us is red dirt, you know the rusty red iron ore dirt that makes white horses look orange! Right across the road is red dirt, but we and several of our neighbors have sand. Around here they call it sugar sand, it is fine and white like sugar. With no humus in the soil, the sand heats up under the searing hot sun, roots wither and the plant dies. The more compost you can add, the better. It will take some time, but just look at the beautiful garden you have! You have already done outstanding. It can only get better.

TEG is where you will learn more about the different varieties of vegetables. We get into some great discussions as we laud or lament what tomato, okra,corn or cabbage variety we planted. TEG is a lot of fun, because of the great people here! So glad you decided to join us.