Growing your soil - for all the beginners

[DoomsDave]

Please, everyone, keep the posts coming.

There are so many maestros out there who aren't saying anything.

Please say.

 

 

[Missi]

Bump 

[Stethoscope]

Fairchild tropical botanical gardens has an amazing variety of palms from around the world. How does a place of that size cope with their south Florida soil? Especially with the broad soil requirements of each and every palm? 

[Monòver]

43 minutes ago, Stethoscope said:

Fairchild tropical botanical gardens has an amazing variety of palms from around the world. How does a place of that size cope with their south Florida soil? Especially with the broad soil requirements of each and every palm? 

Good question!!!

[Missi]

56 minutes ago, Stethoscope said:

Fairchild tropical botanical gardens has an amazing variety of palms from around the world. How does a place of that size cope with their south Florida soil? Especially with the broad soil requirements of each and every palm? 

I believe they dug out pits and filled with soil amendments. I can't remember if I read that here or in the IPS Facebook group. Also, they use a bunch of mulch and fertilizer.

[PalmWarbler]

Interesting to read what everyone deals with and how they've overcome the obstacles to grow healthy palms.

5 years ago my wife and I purchased an older home on a double lot with absolutely no landscaping and we thought it would be a 6 month project lol. When I say "absolutely none", I mean N. O. N. E., no trees, no grass, nothing. My wife thought I was crazy but all I saw was a blank canvas. Anyways, I soon found out why there were no plants. The house sits on a sand ridge, close to the coast. The soil had ZERO organics in it. If you watered, it wouldn't get past the surface, it would just run off. The good news is my septic drains like a champ, so I should be good there.

5 years down the road, tons of trial and error, learning (thank you forum members), truckload after truckload of topsoil and pine bark mulch, lots of Mycorrhizae, worms, and a healthy irrigation system and I've actually changed the local ecosystem. You can't dig without finding worms, a web of Mycorrhizae, and countless other critters. At this point, I feel safe to plant anything here that will survive our climate as I know the soil is up to the task.

I've learned, cussed, laughed, and spent many sore/sleepless nights but the rewards are so worth it and will last a lifetime.

[GottmitAlex]

Still too early to tell. But my case was the other way around: I replaced the native soil for pure sand in five (3'x3'x3') spots in the garden. Last year I had two coconut seedlings die due to root rot. I did add mycorrhizae to the roots of the then-newly planted coconut seedlings. Here again, it's probably too early to tell. But I already have four coconut seedlings/juvenile which went through last years complete and very wet (record rainfall I believe)winter season. 

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by GottmitAlex

[DoomsDave]

1 hour ago, PalmWarbler said:

Interesting to read what everyone deals with and how they've overcome the obstacles to grow healthy palms.

5 years ago my wife and I purchased an older home on a double lot with absolutely no landscaping and we thought it would be a 6 month project lol. When I say "absolutely none", I mean N. O. N. E., no trees, no grass, nothing. My wife thought I was crazy but all I saw was a blank canvas. Anyways, I soon found out why there were no plants. The house sits on a sand ridge, close to the coast. The soil had ZERO organics in it. If you watered, it wouldn't get past the surface, it would just run off. The good news is my septic drains like a champ, so I should be good there.

5 years down the road, tons of trial and error, learning (thank you forum members), truckload after truckload of topsoil and pine bark mulch, lots of Mycorrhizae, worms, and a healthy irrigation system and I've actually changed the local ecosystem. You can't dig without finding worms, a web of Mycorrhizae, and countless other critters. At this point, I feel safe to plant anything here that will survive our climate as I know the soil is up to the task.

I've learned, cussed, laughed, and spent many sore/sleepless nights but the rewards are so worth it and will last a lifetime.

Keep adding organics. Anything you can find, old political fliers on paper, dead dogs, etc.

[Brett in Mission Viejo]

20 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Keep adding organics. Anything you can find, old political fliers on paper, dead dogs, etc.

Right on the money, DD. Road kill will add a lot of good stuff! Another thought, when I remove palms, some times I have them cut them off at soil level and let the roots rot and create, over time, a nice organic bio-mass in the area, and more earth worms, which just adds to my clay-loaminess soil. The breakdown may take a a few to several years and might suck up some nitrogen, but I have done this with three post-flowering Carlota Urens  and a single queen palm in my yard. Also saves on the cost of stump grinding or digging out the trunk!

 

[PalmWarbler]

9 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Keep adding organics. Anything you can find, old political fliers on paper, dead dogs, etc.

Unruly neighbors.... ;-)

[Missi]

20 hours ago, PalmWarbler said:

Interesting to read what everyone deals with and how they've overcome the obstacles to grow healthy palms.

5 years ago my wife and I purchased an older home on a double lot with absolutely no landscaping and we thought it would be a 6 month project lol. When I say "absolutely none", I mean N. O. N. E., no trees, no grass, nothing. My wife thought I was crazy but all I saw was a blank canvas. Anyways, I soon found out why there were no plants. The house sits on a sand ridge, close to the coast. The soil had ZERO organics in it. If you watered, it wouldn't get past the surface, it would just run off. The good news is my septic drains like a champ, so I should be good there.

5 years down the road, tons of trial and error, learning (thank you forum members), truckload after truckload of topsoil and pine bark mulch, lots of Mycorrhizae, worms, and a healthy irrigation system and I've actually changed the local ecosystem. You can't dig without finding worms, a web of Mycorrhizae, and countless other critters. At this point, I feel safe to plant anything here that will survive our climate as I know the soil is up to the task.

I've learned, cussed, laughed, and spent many sore/sleepless nights but the rewards are so worth it and will last a lifetime.

That's incredible! You're not worried it might eventually all leach away?

[Missi]

My deceased chickens go in the compost pit  Back to the earth with you!

My dogs, however, will be cremated 

[PalmWarbler]

6 hours ago, Missi said:

That's incredible! You're not worried it might eventually all leach away?

So far, no. I'm not an expert but I believe the more organics you add, you wind up changing the soil composition over time. And with lots of time, it should trickle it's way down slowly into the deeper reaches. We mixed the imported topsoil with the native sand, rather than just dumping it on top so we've got organic matter down into the native sand for a good bit now. As the mulch continues to decompose, and we keep adding the compost my wife makes to just about every plant hole, I hope we will just keep getting better and deeper.

As of right now, I can't dig anywhere in my yard without finding worms. A worm could not survive in the yard when we moved here, so that's a good sign we're on the right track.

The best thing is I haven't found a sandspur in my yard in years. Anyone who lives in FL knows what those are!

You know what the best thing I've found about doing this to your yard? Your neighbors catch the bug when they see what can be done and they can't help but improve their yards too. So we've all got lots of new palms and shrubs. It's a win-win.

[Missi]

On 10/20/2017, 10:20:49, PalmWarbler said:

So far, no. I'm not an expert but I believe the more organics you add, you wind up changing the soil composition over time. And with lots of time, it should trickle it's way down slowly into the deeper reaches. We mixed the imported topsoil with the native sand, rather than just dumping it on top so we've got organic matter down into the native sand for a good bit now. As the mulch continues to decompose, and we keep adding the compost my wife makes to just about every plant hole, I hope we will just keep getting better and deeper.

As of right now, I can't dig anywhere in my yard without finding worms. A worm could not survive in the yard when we moved here, so that's a good sign we're on the right track.

The best thing is I haven't found a sandspur in my yard in years. Anyone who lives in FL knows what those are!

You know what the best thing I've found about doing this to your yard? Your neighbors catch the bug when they see what can be done and they can't help but improve their yards too. So we've all got lots of new palms and shrubs. It's a win-win.

 sandspurs!!

[Monòver]

Last week i was working in the backyard.

The area was filled last year with top soil,but not with organics, only in the plant holes.

But after read this and safe money i think this is a good time to work a litle bit.

This is the back yard

The organics, compost and cow manure. Smells like...

And of course,the tools. And yes, the beer is the most important tool.

The area after fill it with the organics. 5 cm or 2 inches of compost.

One hour and 3 beers after, i have the topsoil mixed with the organics.

And the last thing is the mulch.In this case, the cheapest option, Acacia leaves from a big tree near my garden.

Next year this spot will be ready to fill with lots of nice Dypsis.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Monòver

[BS Man about Palms]

Great work Antonio! Be sure to dampen the area too (Unless you have some rainfall to do that) This jump starts the bacterial process and also prevents wind blowing away your mulch!

[Monòver]

30 minutes ago, BS Man about Palms said:

Great work Antonio! Be sure to dampen the area too (Unless you have some rainfall to do that) This jump starts the bacterial process and also prevents wind blowing away your mulch!

Yes, i know. I am waiting the rain. September, October and November are the rainy months here, but this year, the Summer drought is too long.

Forecast says Tuesday will be rainy, if not, i will light i big fire and i will be dancing naked around the fire.

[Patrick Palms]

So if you have Red Volanic Soil, sand should not be added.   Best to add bone meal in bottom of hole, then back fill with mixture of good soil and perlite?   They say thst  Gypsum is good to add, to break up the clay. 

[Patrick Palms]

Yet others say that red volcanic soil , even though , clay like, is good for plant's???

[NativeFlorida]

I live in pinellas county florida and have had to bring in alot of fill dirt in my backyard to level it off. I was not palm minded when I did this and could have done things differently but who is going to dig up and throw away 30 yards of dirt and refill? Hint...not me. I have since been turned on to tropical, exotic, and rare palms. Any plant or tree that I grow or purchase gets alot of research first because I so not like to just throw money away. What I do to amend my soil is organics but here are the details....I mix my own soil using coco coir, peat moss, perlite, pine bark mini nuggets, and cow manure. I experiment with the amounts and usually come out ahead. Any planting in my yard is amended with my mix and the results have been pleasing to this amateur, dont get me wrong though, I have killed my fair share of trees and plants. Bottom line though..... water, organics, ferts, and time.

[NativeFlorida]

[DoomsDave]

thanks to all!

 

come on you maestros!

 

[NativeFlorida]

[DoomsDave]

12 hours ago, Monòver said:

Last week i was working in the backyard.

The area was filled last year with top soil,but not with organics, only in the plant holes.

But after read this and safe money i think this is a good time to work a litle bit.

This is the back yard

The organics, compost and cow manure. Smells like...

And of course,the tools. And yes, the beer is the most important tool.

The area after fill it with the organics. 5 cm or 2 inches of compost.

One hour and 3 beers after, i have the topsoil mixed with the organics.

And the last thing is the mulch.In this case, the cheapest option, Acacia leaves from a big tree near my garden.

Next year this spot will be ready to fill with lots of nice Dypsis.

si si si

cervesa is the best tool of all

OLE!

(urk!)