Hi Wombat,
I wonder if you might be able to steer me straight with this one.
I dug a bed out of a shaley hill, about 2 foot deep about a year ago. I dunno was feeling fit or something at the time... anyway, it was nothing but clay and rocks, so I treated it with lime (MicroCc) and then filled with a mix of pony and goat manure and hay.
The bed is edged downhill in bamboo, that yellowed for a short time, but is now thriving and there are some cannas that have shot on the high side. Originally it was to be a carrot patch...but carrots died. Then I planted pumpkin seeds...no sign of them. Then sunflowers...they came up everywhere but there...
What do I need to do to get this bed workable? Have recently treated it with fish emulsion. Any suggestions would be great.
Dodgy Bed - Wombat?
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Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
Hi. Know I'm not Wombat but may be able to offer some suggestions.
check your soil PH (can get a kit for about $10 from Big W and they last for ages)
don't know about pony or goat manure but I got a bit energetic this year and piled the cow manure on only to find I was having some germination problems - soil PH was alkaline - have been using some sulfate of ammonia to try and help.
try a bit of blood and bone to raise the nitrogen levels
treat it like a compost heap and check that everything has decomposed (may need some more time)
not sure about the temps but I've got some bush beans in at the moment and we've had some warm days 8) (43 and 44 deg cel) they usually grow fairly easy - you'll get some beans and add nitrogen to the soil.
try a green manure crop - some wheat (from the chook feed) or some millet (for Summer), oats and clover through the cooler months. let it get a bit of height and dig back in.
I have been trying a different way again - using the manure as a mulch around the plants (away from the stems), wetting right through and covering with a good biscuit of hay. the manure is then broken right down and ready for the next lot of plants in the rotation.
Hope this is of some help.
check your soil PH (can get a kit for about $10 from Big W and they last for ages)
don't know about pony or goat manure but I got a bit energetic this year and piled the cow manure on only to find I was having some germination problems - soil PH was alkaline - have been using some sulfate of ammonia to try and help.
try a bit of blood and bone to raise the nitrogen levels
treat it like a compost heap and check that everything has decomposed (may need some more time)
not sure about the temps but I've got some bush beans in at the moment and we've had some warm days 8) (43 and 44 deg cel) they usually grow fairly easy - you'll get some beans and add nitrogen to the soil.
try a green manure crop - some wheat (from the chook feed) or some millet (for Summer), oats and clover through the cooler months. let it get a bit of height and dig back in.
I have been trying a different way again - using the manure as a mulch around the plants (away from the stems), wetting right through and covering with a good biscuit of hay. the manure is then broken right down and ready for the next lot of plants in the rotation.
Hope this is of some help.
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Guest
Righto Nick, you are a saint. (Ok, Christmas jokes should really be over, I spose 
)
Blood and Bone going on...when I get up from here.
Not sure when I will next see a Big W, but think the nursery in a nearby town may do soil tests, so will see if they can do one. Have never had a soil test, despite others suggesting it. Am a bit fraidy, I think. If they are anything like water tests, they usually come with a list of things that cost lotsa dollars and have lots of names I have to spell out in syllables.
Beans, it is.
Thankyou Nick - didn't mean to sound like I wasn't open to others input, just had an excited moment of "Ah! this bloke'll know!!!"
Thanks again!
)Blood and Bone going on...when I get up from here.
Not sure when I will next see a Big W, but think the nursery in a nearby town may do soil tests, so will see if they can do one. Have never had a soil test, despite others suggesting it. Am a bit fraidy, I think. If they are anything like water tests, they usually come with a list of things that cost lotsa dollars and have lots of names I have to spell out in syllables.
Beans, it is.
Thankyou Nick - didn't mean to sound like I wasn't open to others input, just had an excited moment of "Ah! this bloke'll know!!!"
Thanks again!
Christmas jokes - never over - Puss in boots - now whos been reading kids books??
With the soil Ph kit (mine is a manutec) should be able to get the same brand, just for a few more $ from the nursery, you gather some samples (about a teaspoon of soil) from different areas and test (I think) individally. This only tests the acidity or alkalinity of the soil which is important as veges generally like a neutral kind of soil.
This is different to a soil analysis (tests what nutrients are or are not in the soil ie nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium)
I used to have a garden (well kind of) in clay type soil (along with the rocks) when I was growing up. It may pay to check what the neighbours are doing (even if they have flower gardens) to see how they are treating the soil.
My beans are just about ready to start flowering - time for the chooks to break in and scratch up the garden - I planted them on an area which I treated a bit like a compost heap in such I layered manure, hay and grass on a section about 40cm high. everything has broken down well and the worms are starting to go mad (finally)
With the soil Ph kit (mine is a manutec) should be able to get the same brand, just for a few more $ from the nursery, you gather some samples (about a teaspoon of soil) from different areas and test (I think) individally. This only tests the acidity or alkalinity of the soil which is important as veges generally like a neutral kind of soil.
This is different to a soil analysis (tests what nutrients are or are not in the soil ie nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium)
I used to have a garden (well kind of) in clay type soil (along with the rocks) when I was growing up. It may pay to check what the neighbours are doing (even if they have flower gardens) to see how they are treating the soil.
My beans are just about ready to start flowering - time for the chooks to break in and scratch up the garden - I planted them on an area which I treated a bit like a compost heap in such I layered manure, hay and grass on a section about 40cm high. everything has broken down well and the worms are starting to go mad (finally)