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I don't know which is more annoying...

Poisonette

Poisonette

The rain we had the past 3 days or the mostly clay soil I have to work with... or a combo of both.

I wanted to spend the day getting my plants into the ground. They're doing great, better than expected under the lights, but I need to get them in the ground. They're becoming root bound.

But... clay + water = mess! Slimy, sticky, clumpy, yucky, mess!

Top it off, our soil takes 10 hours to drain 1 inch and we had a ton of rain. I'm not sure how much, but it was a lot. It might be Monday before the soil is dry enough to dig into, and even then it might still be too wet at the depth I need.

Oh well... At least I've got healthy plants, harding off nicely, and doing well. I think they'll be ok for a few more days.
Thanks for reading.
 
I feel you on the rain. Today was the first sunny day we've had in over a week now.

As far as the potbound business goes, I can attest that this is not what you want to happen. If you can find cheap black plastic pots the next size up from what you've got them in now, definitely pot them up ASAP. I potted up the best 2 plants I had of each variety, just to see the difference. They sat in those pots for a week or two, and then got moved to raised beds and large pots when the rain finally stopped. The ones that got potted up look head and shoulders better than the ones I let suffer for that period. They're nice and green with thicker stems, more leaves, and are now starting to fork, while the others who were left rootbound are looking rather down and out, and just now starting to produce happier greener leaves.

It sucks to have to wait, but if you pot up in the meantime, they'll be much better off when they get transplanted. MUCH better off. Turn that negative into a positive! Take this layover as a period to grow some new roots, and get them searching deeper. When they hit the ground, they'll thank you for it.
 
Reminds me of a trip to Eugene,OR. many years ago for a uni visit.

It rained the whole time...was a slimey, sloppy clay-ey mess.

Totally ruined a nice pair of jazz oxfords...yes, it was the 80's. ;)
 
A raised bed with some top soil, composted manure, perlite, and peat sound pretty good too. Get above that nasty clay.

The only top soil we have in our part of the world came with the turf when they laid it. Right on top of the clay.

Good luck.
 
Got the tiller... got the sand... need the compost.
Need it to stop raining. Grrr!

Thought about raised beds, but I don't know if I wanna truck in the top soil. Then place it where I want it.
Got a 2wd 1500 Ram, 8ft bed... but I still got a clay swamp yard. LOL!
 
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