Posted by Sheryl Gavin on July 14, 2010 at 11:20am
I've just moved into a new place with (yay) volcanic soil. No more sticky boggy clay! The previous tenant kindly left behind some raised beds. I've grown veges successfully in the past but haven't paid any attention to the nutrients (or lack thereof) in the soil. How do I work out what nutrients are lacking? I have noticed an absence of weeds in the empty beds and wonder if that means the soil is "dead". Soil 101 hints and tips required please.
You need to be a member of ooooby3 to add comments!
What nutrients are in the soil, and what are available to plants are two separate issues. That is where calcium (lime) comes in. It assists the availability of nutrients to the plants by various chemical reactions in the wonderful soil web of life. Consider generous amounts of lime in your nutrient programme. I have found this crowd "http://www.environmental-fertilisers.co.nz/index.htm" has the best biologically sound fertilisers in NZ. They are located in Paeroa, but have retail outlets. Now is a good time (when it isn't too wet) to aerate and add your ferts now, giving some time to work into soil before spring planting...Happy growing
Seaweed tea makes a great organic liquid fertiliser too. You need a bucket or barrel to soak the seaweed in and after a few weeks or months (obviously it gets stronger with time) you can take "tea" from the vessel to water your plants with. Best if you mix the tea minimum 1/1 with fresh water to dilute before applying it to your garden.
Replenish your "teapot" with fresh water for more brewing. It can be a bit stinky and is best if you cover with a lid whilst brewing. Plants thrive on it as seaweed contains oooodles of nutrients. Eventually you can add the seaweed to your garden as compost if it hasn't already liquified completely.
Some people say you should wash off any excess salt before you begin but I've never worried too much about doing that.
The link below also gives a manure tea recipe. http://www.aselfsufficientlife.com/manure-tea-best-natural-fertiliz...
If the raised beds have been used in the recent past, weedlessness is probably just the last tenant being nice and leaving you clean beds. Raised beds in particular would suggest that somebody's been cultivating them!
Soil care absolute basics: add heaps of compost, if you're doing some digging over, try to avoid mixing the fertile top layer of soil (top 30cm or so) into the less fertile lower soil, and sow a green crop.
Green crops
A good combo is mixed seeds of a grain and a legume - my fav combo is oats and lupins, but other good crops include mustard, phacelia, broad beans, alfalfa, etc. Just remember that with a green manure you're not going to get a crop off it, so don't plant beans thinking you'll get a harvest of beans as well as soil prep - you need to dig the green crop back into the soil a few weeks before it starts to flower to get the best nitrogen hit for your soil. If you wait until the plants flower and start producing seeds, all the nitrogen and energy goes into the fruit production rather than your soil. A good way to tell when it's ready to dig in is to have a look at the roots - they should have bulbous little nodules on them that look pinkish and green when you cut them in half. Once you've chopped up the plants a bit with your spade and dug them back into the soil, wait for about 6 weeks or so for them to break down a bit before planting your next crop.
Replies
Replenish your "teapot" with fresh water for more brewing. It can be a bit stinky and is best if you cover with a lid whilst brewing. Plants thrive on it as seaweed contains oooodles of nutrients. Eventually you can add the seaweed to your garden as compost if it hasn't already liquified completely.
Some people say you should wash off any excess salt before you begin but I've never worried too much about doing that.
The link below also gives a manure tea recipe.
http://www.aselfsufficientlife.com/manure-tea-best-natural-fertiliz...
Soil care absolute basics: add heaps of compost, if you're doing some digging over, try to avoid mixing the fertile top layer of soil (top 30cm or so) into the less fertile lower soil, and sow a green crop.
Green crops
A good combo is mixed seeds of a grain and a legume - my fav combo is oats and lupins, but other good crops include mustard, phacelia, broad beans, alfalfa, etc. Just remember that with a green manure you're not going to get a crop off it, so don't plant beans thinking you'll get a harvest of beans as well as soil prep - you need to dig the green crop back into the soil a few weeks before it starts to flower to get the best nitrogen hit for your soil. If you wait until the plants flower and start producing seeds, all the nitrogen and energy goes into the fruit production rather than your soil. A good way to tell when it's ready to dig in is to have a look at the roots - they should have bulbous little nodules on them that look pinkish and green when you cut them in half. Once you've chopped up the plants a bit with your spade and dug them back into the soil, wait for about 6 weeks or so for them to break down a bit before planting your next crop.