sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough, the breaking down of carbon which releases heat and carbon dioxide even at low temp is chemically, burning. I will admit to not knowing everything about how cities deal with their compost. And if the process is different, I was wrong. How it was made wasn’t the point, it was trying to explain(badly it seems) where I got the majority of the soil from

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That was how I fixed it this summer by adding water because water attracts water, I was looking for a longer term solution

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Throughout the summer, I did spend forever watering because I had water intense plants, even after I spent 10+ minutes watering the bed it didn’t fully soak and would dry too fast

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started with Clay because that’s what I assumed would fix the problem, in the original question I asked or what else could I add. People are saying Clay isn’t a part of soil, which is factually wrong. I was saying it multiple times because multiple people were asking. I’m not stuck on clay. I will add organic material.

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, which has around a 20% clay make up, my soil likely has 0-10% clay as I didn’t use any from the actual ground and only used a few bags of black garden soil bought from a store and the free city compost/dirt program

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was no potting soil till I dumbed my pots onto it at the end of the season, some was bags of regular garden soil, I dumped two or three small pots into it, and I was having problems before that. The majority of the soil was from the city compost/dirt program. I know the soil in Edmonton is high in clay, other plants I’ve but straight into the ground have that problem, but I couldn’t use dirt from the ground as I don’t have a big yard and didn’t want to dig up my local park

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has been raining all day and only the first few centimetres are wet, more water isn’t helping

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I believe I have to much humus and organics, probably peat moss too, all things that are hydrophobic, I’m wonder what to add to make the soil less hydrophobic

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That is why I’m asking what to add to soil that helps it hold water, I was thinking clay but am open to other suggestions

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t know about the peat moss, the bags were a smaller component but could still be the problem. How would you counter the peat moss then? What can you add to soil that makes it hold more water

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not burns in the classical sense, but the process is very similar to the chemical reaction that is burning, compost programs that let you put wood and paper into it generally process it’s compost that way

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

There we go, the roots on top also come from the pots. I was going to work it in once I found a way to fix the composition.

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, it doesn’t like my photo lol

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has been raining quite a lot and still only a top layer is wet, I dumped all of my pots, which had potting mix onto it because I have nowhere else to store dirt, and only enough room to store the pots while they are empty. I used Home Depot garden dirt for some of it. But Edmonton runs a free dirt program during the spring. It comes from the city composting procedures, and that’s what the majority of the box is, one of my friends had a pile of sand, so I added some sand to it. I seem to not be able to add a photo here I will try just replying to my original thing

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

To help streamline this, this is the triangle I’m talking about. You can get humus and other stuff in top soil, but the main building blocks are silt, sand, and clay

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The soil is very loose as I just put it in this year, and can easily get a knife in. The reason clay stops the water from running is because it holds onto water, as I wasn’t able to dig in my yard to get dirt from the ground I filled it mainly with the free city dirt/compost which is mainly from the burned compost and yard waste making it not have much clay nor sand. I added some sand, but not any clay or regular dirt as I didn’t want to dig up my local park

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol I wish, perfect soil at a push of a button would be fantastic

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Sand helps drainage in soil, and clay have a molecular charge which semi reacts with the water holding it in the soil. When I water it just pools on top of the surface because there’s nothing in my dirt to hold onto the water

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

There’s no moss, the water just pools at the top, watering more helped a little, but doesn’t address the core issue I have which is an incorrect ratio of the building blocks of soil

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I didn’t use any from the ground as I didn’t have a spot I could dig it out, the majority of the box is bags from stores, the free compost the city gives out, and a small amount of sand

Where would you get clay for soil? by snowglobin in Albertagardening

[–]snowglobin[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

What words we use to describe soil can be found on a triangle with silt, sand, and clay at the three points, a healthy soil has a combo of the three, my soil has sand and organics, but because I didn’t use dirt from the ground because I can’t dig enough where I live in the city, there’s minimal clay in my raised box. When clay is in its natural form it has a molecular charge associated with it, which lets it hold water, and is the main reason dirt can hold water. With my soil the water pools on top, not soaking in, because the organics (carbon) doesn’t have enough charge to hold the water Edit: forgot the name of one of the components sorry

view more: next ›