soil Dug out soil in garden to amend

[Proud Marine Dad]

So I dug a 17' long, 2' wide by 12" deep trench in the garden and piled the soil along the edge of the furrow.
Now I am going to buy some Kellogg garden soil and blend in with the existing soil so that my tomatoes will have some nice airy soil, good nutrients and root depth for once.

My question now is how should I replace the original soil and amendments back into the furrow?
I was thinking I would put native soil maybe 6" deep on the bottom and then mix the store bought garden soil with the native soil and put that on top creating a ridge and cover it with black landscapers fabric. That or put the amended soil on the bottom, I am not sure which would be better.
I saw some pepper grows on here on land like that and it got me thinking I should try that.
I think Rich was one who had it on his page.

Any input would be appreciated as the tomato plants are under fluorescent shop lights in the garage and are about 5" tall now so it's getting close.

 

[MilkStud]

I would put the original so about three inches then the garden soil where the roots will be to promote good growth, finaly cover it with the orginal soil. Then again your natural soil is good i use to live in montery and the soil there was pretty good its self. Whatever you chose it will have success

 

[Capsicum]

I would put the original so about three inches then the garden soil where the roots will be to promote good growth, finaly cover it with the orginal soil. Then again your natural soil is good i use to live in montery and the soil there was pretty good its self. Whatever you chose it will have success

Cant agree more. Use very little top soil mixed with your native soil.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

The soil is clay and I am trying to soften it as well.

 

[Pash]

Mike, I like where you are going with this. You've put in a lot of work all ready. As long as you've gone this far, here's what I would do:

Dig that trench even deeper (at least another 12")
Throw a bunch of organic matter in the trench
-Alfalfa (from a feed store)
-shredded newspaper
-leaves
-spent coffee grounds (given away free at Starbucks)

Throw some Kelloggs N'Rich on top of that to kick off the decomposition process.
Pile your native soil on top of that and form a mound.

This is what I've done in my hard, clay soil and my soil is getting nice and soft. And the organic matter has attracted tons of worms.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Thanks Rob. I would like to do that as well but another 12" deep would be back breaking and I still have another row to dig just like this one as I am making two mounded ridges lengthwise in the garden.
If I am going to go deeper I will need a tiller. My next door neighbor is a mechanic at Hertz equipment rental and he can bring me home a Barreto 13 HP tiller at his cost of only about $60 for the weekend.
Of course that's $60 I don't have at the moment so I may have to do it all by hand which means I won't be planting anytime soon. It's always something.

 

[Capsicum]

The soil is clay and I am trying to soften it as well.

I have clay soil. I use pine bark to amend it. I pour water in the area and the water sinks right in, best drainage ever!!!!!

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

I have clay soil. I use pine bark to amend it. I pour water in the area and the water sinks right in, best drainage ever!!!!!

Do you buy commercial Pine Bark William? I know gypsum is one of the best things for softening clay and some amendments like Kellogg Amend has gypsum in it.
It's confusing on deciding which Kellogg product to amend it with as several are great. I think I am going to buy the Garden Soil in the blue and white bag as it has forest humus, worm castings, bat guano, chicken manure, kelp meal, alfalfa meal and bone meal. That is a pretty good list of ingredients there I think.

 

[Capsicum]

Yea sounds good.

I use pine bark mini-nigguts Then some gypsum and leaf compost. The leaf mold I make for free and I have some slow realese fertilizer that takes care of all other nutrients. I use the slow release very light not to hurt the micro life in the soil. I have a lot of rows so this is the best method for me.

My native soil is rich but after growing the same area I need the fertilizer and the leaf mold to add nutrients. The barks keeps the soil very loose for a very long time.

A natural system is ideal where you find a balance and only topdress with compost then the soil would never need to be tilled as the microlife would till it for you. This system takes time to build and is easier in warm climates.

 

[stickman]

I don't think you can go two feet down with a roto-tiller. It can only get down the distance from the axle to the ends of the tines. You need a pick to loosen up the hard packed clay so you don't break your back trying to get it out of there with a shovel. When I prepared my soil I dug out the trench, half filled it with compost, and mixed that with the soil excavated from the trench. It made a pretty good mound, but in a few months it'll drop down quite a bit. I prepare the bed the same way every year, and it's a lot easier after you've done it the first time... as long as you don't walk on the soil and compact it afterwards.

 

[orangehero]

If you are going to dig deeper than 12" to promote drainage and aeration don't throw the fertilizer and nutrients at the bottom of the trench. Keep fertilizer additions to the top 6" of soil as that is where most of the microbes live that break down the material.

 

[Avon Barksdale]

Gypsum will only help if your soil is sodic, if not it won't help and may make things worse. Gypsum is a good source of calcium but for improving tilth of clay soils it's probably mostly empty hype. The best thing is to add lots of organic matter. I second the pine bark fines, that is one of the best things for improving your soil structure. Although some say not to add peat to clay it seems to help loosen it up pretty well. It doesn't have very many nutrients but clay is usually pretty good at holding nutrient already. Pine bark, compost, and maybe a little peat should help a lot.

 

[MilkStud]

Unless you mod the roto-tiller haha The kellogg soil sounds real good it has everything you need for a great grow.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Unless you mod the roto-tiller haha The kellogg soil sounds real good it has everything you need for a great grow.

I am just leaving it at 12" deep as that plus a 10" high mound on top leaves plenty of room for tomato roots I think .
Yes this Kellogg soil does have some good ingredients as well. It also has dolomite lime and oyster shell for pH.
This may become my go to soil conditioner as it's less than $8 for 3 cu. ft.

I wonder how forest humus compares to pine bark as far as loosening the clay soil?

 

[Pash]

Thanks Rob. I would like to do that as well but another 12" deep would be back breaking and I still have another row to dig just like this one as I am making two mounded ridges lengthwise in the garden

I hear that! I spent 6 months digging holes and burying material. Stretching out the job was the only way my back could handle it.
Also: I'm lazy!

It's confusing on deciding which Kellogg product to amend it with as several are great. I think I am going to buy the Garden Soil in the blue and white bag as it has forest humus, worm castings, bat guano, chicken manure, kelp meal, alfalfa meal and bone meal. That is a pretty good list of ingredients there I think.

I've been researching Kellogg's a bit. I only use their N'Rich and Patio Plus because they are the only soils of theirs that are OMRI certified. Still I've found ground up aluminum cans and plastic in both products. N'Rich would work well for what you are doing. Whatever you do, stay away from Kellogg's Amend or Topper as they contain biosolids (sewage sludge.) If you want to get freaked out, read up here.

That being said, I would eat sewage sludge if Kathy Kellogg Johnson asked me too; because I am in love with her.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Thanks Rob. Personally I think people take the biosolids way overboard. I highly doubt it's bad stuff otherwise I don't think Kellogg would put it in their soil.
Also the websites that I have found that talk so bad about Kellogg soils containing biosolids sound like they have an agenda.

 

[Capsicum]

I see chilli farms that use the native clay soil and they dont even fertilize. I would only use one bag for the whole row.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

otherwise I don't think Kellogg would put it in their soil.

Unfortunately, companies all over the world put bad shit in their products all the time. Lobbyists for laws regarding ingredient delarations, "acceptable toxicity amounts" per the FDA its all corrupt somewhere my friend. Mass produced products tend to be sketchier in regards to safety and moral hazard than small batch companies.

 

[nitwit]

the more deeperer you digs down the betterer

more root penetration and better drainage is the goal

you can use the additives in all of it or just the top of it

the digging and loosening helps to get the roots to breathe

 

[theghostpepperstore]

I used pine bark chips and compost this year to amend a clay area where I wanted to plant some tomatoes. I basically removed the sod and first few inches of soil, added a few bags of pine bark and a yard of compost, tilled to 10 inches and covered with plastic mulch. Also worked in some crab meal on the second till through. So far the tomatoes look real happy, I wished it drained a little faster but I am sure it will get better with time.