[slownickel]

Is anyone growing in these high calcium soils in France? Sorry, je ne parle pa francais....

Love to hear about experiences in those soils if anyone is willing to share....

[baduy]

Originally Posted by slownickel

Is anyone growing in these high calcium soils in France? Sorry, je ne parle pa francais....

Love to hear about experiences in those soils if anyone is willing to share....

Hi
I live in such an area. Those soils are a pain in the ass to work,stones of various size everywhere so a shovel is of virtually no use, better use an iron bar. The calcareous clay under is super dense and needs to be broken and mixed a bit if not it's like concrete, unlike in northern parts f France you can't rely on winter frost to break down the clay structure so you have to do it yourself. Very thin humus layer too as vegetals here have thick leaves not good for fast composting and the lack of rain doesn't help. Another downside is that once dry the soil takes forever to accept to absorb new water,water makes a river if your soil is not perfectly flat making the small ocasionnal summer rains uneffective appart from the foliar watering,once dry it needs a real several hours long rain to moist again. There's also nutriment block issues with Mg which are the worse,some strains seem to be more sensible than others, this year I'm having a bad experience with a sweet tooth, and no matter what I do I'm basically watching her decay slowly, but it's not that common and sometimes it can be ok.
Mycorizal fungi is a must in those soils, I believe that's the type of soil in which they prove to be most helpful.
To sumarize in a garden nothing that cannot be overcomed with a bit of work and once you find it's balance it can suddenly turn into something surprizingly good but in guerilla it's really a pain in the ass and you can easily end up with a miserable harvest

[slownickel]

Baduy,

To grow in that soil with high carbonates, will most definitely be variety sensitive.

Do you have a soil analysis?

If not, if you pay the freight to the lab that I use, I would gladly pay for the analysis. I am very interested in those soils.

I imagine your water is full of bicarbonates. Do you have a water analysis?

[ChaosCatalunya]

I grew in shitty red Spanish clay OD for a few years, sinking large pots of Coco was the solution there in most places.

Fighting Nature is really a struggle

[baduy]

Sorry I don't have a soil analysis and I can't PM yet.
But I was thinking of a soil analysis for next year ( something I've been procrastinating the last years) if I do one be sure I will let you know the results.
By the way I'm confused are you interested specifically in the soil from the few dolomitic ranges or in the highly calcareous soil you generally see in South of France with the "garrigue" as the most common ecosystem?
I mean it's conceivable to grow in the garrigue,challenging and exhausting for little retribution in terms of quantity but you can grow some great pot, but the dolomitic mountains by themselves are nothing but rocks and dust.
It's been some time I wonder why the PH tolerance of strains is never mentioned by breeders,my bet is many have no idea cause they breed in a controled environment and most customers are more concerned about resistance against pests anyway. Would be interesting data though.

[baduy]

"Terra rossa" yeah that one is hard as stone in summer.

[slownickel]

I imagine that the soils there are saturated with calcium and magnesium. The high magnesium would surely be a real big problem to deal with. Rocks mixed with that clay and some medium, will little water, should be amazing

Are you in the same area where they grow the most amazing grapes in the world?

If you pay for the shipment to the lab that I use in the US, I will pay for the analysis.

[baduy]

what volume is a sample a lab needs?
About grapes yes, it's said that on this soil there are only three crops which don't even need you to thrive: figs,grapes and olives all the rest is a headache

[slownickel]

200 grams per sample.

go to spectrumanalytic on the internet and follow their instructions for shipment and tell them to bill it to michael kraidy they will contact me and i will post the results.

[slownickel]

What do you use for water?