Working with heavy clay soil had been tough during rainy seasons. I had recently added a drainage setup using an NDS product, and its made a noticeable difference less standing water and healthier soil structure overall. I had still experimenting with cover crops to complement the drainage, but the combo looks promising. Has anyone else paired drainage systems with soil amendments in clay?

Healthy soil is a living, breathing ecosystem. It's not just 'dirt,' but a perfectly balanced physical and biological mixture of minerals, decaying organic matter, living organisms, air, and water. Tap on the different parts of the soil cross-section to discover what makes the ground beneath our feet thrive.

Two years in a row my entire 36 tomato plant garden died after I built raised beds out of locally sourced compost, stone dust, topsoil, and store bought peat moss. My blueberries and strawberries are hanging on but not doing much. I had Andersons test my soil where I expected too much nitrogen because of the amount of compost I put in but it turns out I am an idiot and it was the opposite. Andersons is recommending a 7-0-7 fertilizer from their site. Lawnbox® Lawn Luxe® 7-0-7 – Andersons Lawn. Is there any better alternative? I would prefer to go organic but at this point I just want plants that grow. What would you do if this was your garden?

For some context im from iowa but lived in Minnesota for awhile. I heard from someone that I used to work with (she's from iowa aswell) that seed company's are trying to make non gmo's for like corn and soybeans illegal. She also told me we are losing a layer of top soil every year. Just curious if we were to do what the isrealites did back in the acient times now if it would help slow the loss of top soil.

So we are about to put in an offer on an old Apple orchard that is dating back at least till 1940 and stopped production in 2020. It is 16 acres and BEAUTIFUL. We fell in love with it. HOWEVER, upon research I’m worried about ground contamination from arsenic and lead. We have a baby and a toddler and the thought of exposing my family to potentially harmful compounds makes me back off even putting an offer in. Obviously we would have to put it contingent on a soil and water sample but is it worth it? I am a nervous nelly and have already had a scare with the C word so maybe I’m just being extra cautious looking out for long term effects. Would love anyone’s input on this! Thanks in advance

I am growing a large variety of natives with different drainage and fertility requirements. Some of my plants thrive, and some I continue to have challenges with.

Does anyone have a good reference book or online resource for creating different blends of potting media? I am growing plants out in 50-cell trays, pint pots, and 1 and 2 gallon pots.

My goal is to have potting media on hand that handles the drainage requirements for each one of my plants that is compatible with their container size.

Thanks!

I have a 25L pot i need to flush to get my ph back to around 6-6,5, so how do I do it best and easiest?

Does 25L of water gonna make it?

Can I mix my ph:d water with Cannazym when I make the flush?

I’ll try to make this short. Just got soil that I’m going to make into a teapot (began making it into clay) I want to compare the clay I obtained with a highly desirable clay that is no longer mined. How much and how difficult is it to test for the composition? Furthermore the samples were obtained from a mountain that is important to many and I wanted to see the impact people have had on the terrain pollution etc. I took 5 samples from different elevations gradually further away from roads etc. lmk if this is going to be too expensive to test 5 samples should I just test the clay to compare my sample with the other clay and ditch the pollutant idea? Any advice is great will try my best to answer questions.

Had my soil tested a few months back and everything came back within normal range, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium all fine. But I had got several plants with yellowing leaves, starting from the bottom and working up, and it doesn't look like typical nitrogen deficiency based on what I had read. Watering seems consistent, no standing water or drainage issues that I can see. Soil drains at a normal rate when I do a basic perc test.

I wonder if this could be a micronutrient issue that a standard test would not catch, or something related to soil biology rather than straight nutrient content. Not sure if it worth paying for a more detailed test or if there something more obvious I should check first.

His approach focuses on what happens to rain after it reaches the ground. Rather than allowing water to quickly run off or disappear, his farming practices aim to help the soil capture and store it.

Are the ones on Amazon that are $15-$20 worth buying?

I'm just doing 5 to 10 sample's of my front and backyard.

Succulents mostly. Maybe other things.

Hello, my fellow Green Thumbs, I have a quick question for you guys. If you could help me out, that'd be great.

So I'm using a mixture of Roots Organic Lush and Fox Farm Ocean Forest soils in 5-gallon containers. My question for you guys is, how long do the nutrients in the soil last? Or do you have a timeframe so I know when to start feeding my plants nutrients?

Cheers, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

My plants are loving the mixture of those soils together. I would show you pics of them, but I can't put them on here. They are only 2 weeks old. I've also been giving them Silica since they popped, not a lot at first, but I've been gradually increasing the ml.

Cheers.

Im growing photoperiods cannabis plants

I suspect it’s the heavy clay content. The actual topsoil is very thin with heavy/tacky clay almost immediately. I’ve been adding leaf compost, mixed compost, and a layer of shredded pine mulch on top, but the clay soil almost seems to eat the compost. The area is on a slope. They’ve been using tractors to mow it for decades so compaction is a real issue. I was able to create some no dig beds by building on top of this soil (in a different area) that are performing quite well a few yards away. However, trucking all that compost and soil in was both financially and labor expensive. What’s the best way to condition this soil, aerate it, and access the nutrients contained within? I have access to inexpensive leaf compost collected by a local city for $20 a truckload. Would that be sufficient?

I plan to put in new beds this fall by laying down undyed cardboard sheet and a heavy layer of mulch on top to kill the grass. I’m in the process of reclaiming the lawn with native plants and vegetable gardens.

Any book recommendations for someone who isn’t a soil scientist, but wants to know more?

𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟒𝟓𝟎𝟎𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰.
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲!
𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬....𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮♥︎

Hi soil heads. I’m about to start a flower farm for dahlias and I had a soil test done. I’m location in south west Victoria in Australia. Keen to get any thoughts on my results and what I should prioritise, obviously need to improve the pH. Planning to talk to an agronomist but they aren’t easy to find.

Hello! this may not be the right place but I’m a senior in high school deciding what I wanna do in the future and i’ve set my sights on soil classification. My uncle told me about this job and he owns a contracting business and pays a company to come out and test soils for septic and foundation for houses. Is this actually considered soil classification? And is this job lucrative to actually be worth getting the bachelors in soil and water science?

Hey again everyone!

I have been working hard to make my state collection happen these past few months. I finally got the diorama built (still need to add Alaska and maybe Hawaii if I get a permit) and am loving how it looks so far. Gives me more motivation to fill in the gaps lol. A couple states are half filled (MT, NM, SD, KS, and AR) with some general soil I grabbed while I was there; will fill the rest with state soil once I get it.

I have recently gotten MI (with a soil core to grab the E layer) on a work trip and TX and LA from a visit to Houston. Thanks to help from family and friends, I was also able to obtain AZ, AK, and ID, with potential help from WA, NV, and CA. Still am trying to find a way to get UT and MT, as they are quite out of my way. Hopefully an extension agency is out there and is willing to help.

I have many plans for how to get the remaining soils for this project. I've divided it into 4 main trips; I should be able to get Oregon this November at CANVAS given the soil isn't totally frozen. Next time I go to see family out west, I'll take a huge trip through SD, down to KS, to Denver, then down to I-40 where I'll get a bunch of soils from NM, AR, MS, AL, TN, KY, OH. I still haven't visited New England, so it should be a great opportunity to see that part of the country and grab soil on the way. Lastly is the south, where I'd have to take a plane and rental car to grab FL, GA, and SC. Maybe a spring break trip ;). I will take a soil core to every location I can drive my personal car to as to be as representative of the soil as I can.

I have mapped everything out and got coordinates for the collection sites and placed it in an excel, see attached. Many hours of driving but I'm young so I can handle it. This will be a many year project... I have been diligent about collecting outside of quarantine zones and have planned around them but will keep an eye out if any new restrictions are released.

I also combined the Smithsonian maps for a quick guide to state soil locations. Did it in power point so its a little off on the borders but oh well. Helps me visualize my routes. Everything was planned with MapQuest and the Series Extent Explorer from UC Davis.

If you recognize any location or state soil that may be near you, please please pleaseeee shoot me a DM if you are willing to help. I'd love to pitch in for shipping (especially for MT and UT). I love soil so much this project has been so cool to curate.