I Need help! how to amend the soil?

[pokerman2006200]

Sorry i'm a newbie here. I wanted to know how u guys amend the soil out in the fields. do u amend the soil right where u dig the hole? do you bring all the amendments to the sites and mix them there? i plan on making 100 holes.

 

[DirtDevil]

I use miracle grow organic choice in the GREEN bag

 

[pokerman2006200]

how much is each bag? i was thinking of amending the soil with manure, peat, perlite, dolomite lime. also am thinking of using a gas auger to make the holes.

 

[Guest]

Hi pm2006200, (whew!)

I would suggest that the method and ingredients you use to amend your outdoor soil are based soley on the current structure and nutrient content of your native soil. Certainly, there are areas where one has no choice but to replace the soil, but it would be my assertion that this act should be the last and only hope and certainly not the first possiblity.

Is there herbacious vegetation growing in the area now? Are food crops such as corn or soybeans grown in your area? It is possible that there are steps that could be taken that would cost much less and be much easier than packing in lots of amendments. Not saying you won't have to do that, but that an assessment is needed to make that determination. Don't exert the effort and spend the $ if you don't have 2.

Thats my way of thinking pm. sb

 

[trichburner]

When's harvest time ? Just for an example ; my area is mid-late Oct . I'm doing a late season grow this year , so I'll be planting within three weeks . My plants will only veg for a month then they'll start to flower . With this short of a season , they do not need much root space . Since my plants aren't going to be very tall anyways , I'll be packing a shovel and a hoe along for soil prep . I will not be adding any ferts or other amendments . First thing I'll be doing is knocking over all the weeds in roughly a 5' wide x 30' long strip . Second step is to bust up the top 6" of soil and turn the vegetation under with the hoe and use the shovel on any large roots . Then I'll go back over the area and dig with the shovel to bust up an additional 4-6" of depth . The planting and beyond is all semantics , I'm sure you have your method planned out for that .

Since you're planning on using an auger anyway , that just might be all you need taking Silverback's advice into consideration . If your native soil is rich and you have a similar harvest time to my own , you won't need any ferts . I wouldn't even worry about the soil compacting unless it's a heavy clay soil .

 

[Guest]

trichburner has a very good point about the needed root space given the date. You won't need a lot. Im forcing clones that I will put out in the next couple of weeks and I won't use a pot any bigger than 2 gallons.

 

[pokerman2006200]

thanks for your replys i appreciate it.........the land where i plan on taking them has a lot of tall grass. i'm thinking the soil will be ok with a little amendments....harvest time is probably mid oct. i'm at 43n...also it has alot of ticks around, any suggestions on keeping them off u?

 

[Guest]

If you have tall grass, check the PH. ( they sell Rapidtest Ph tester for about 12 bucks that work well. After that pour on some nitro rich ferts and go.

Yeah, i take off all of my clothes out on the back porch, run naked to the shower and then put on clean clothes and wash the others. I only pull 1 or 2 per week out of my head that way.

 

[Ajunta Pall]

Poker for ticks the best thing to do is to go at night if possible and wear long sleeves. When I go during the day to my site, take yesterday for an example, I pulled 8 ticks off me, all but three were small. When I go at night the count is down to 0-2. Mostly zero though.