How to garden in sandy soil.

February 18, 2011

Planting a Garden in Sandy Soil

Two medical professionals asked the same question recently: what do I do to have a successful vegetable garden in sandy soil?

Sandy soils hold much less water than loam or clay type of soils.  Therefore, they need irrigated more frequently than gardens in loam soil.  Sandy soils commonly have very low organic matter.  Sandy soils hold fewer nutrients than clay or loam soils, so they usually need more added fertilizers.  Clay and organic matter in soils are the parts that hold the soil water and nutrients.  Clay and loam soils have approximately 5 times more water and nutrient holding capacity than sandy soils. 

So what can you do to have a successful garden?  Below is a list of items you may try.  You may choose to do one or a combination of the following.

1. Bring in a truckload of good loam soil and spread it over your garden area. 
1. The cost of soil is probably less than most people would expect and it is hard work to spread soil over a garden.  Once done it is there and will provide a good base for future success.  It does cost money unless you have your own source and can move it yourself.

b.      A downside is that you may bring in undesirable weed species

requiring the use of herbicides or a lot of hand weeding, the hoe hoe hoe method of weed control.

2. Add organic matter in the form of peat moss, manures, coir (a coconut husk fiber), or compost.  There are plusses and minuses of each choice.
1. This can be expensive and you need to buy quite a lot.  Spaghnum peat moss is common.  A company is now marketing compressed bricks of coir that are very uniform and will do very well.  Look on the website, Dirt Works.  Also look for Cocopeat.  Coir holds water very well.
2. There are natural nutrients that come with organic matter
3. Certain types of compost may have excessive amounts of certain nutrients.
3. Set up a method to water frequently and add supplemental fertilizers through the growing season.
1. There are good water soluble fertilizers available for a reasonable price.  Hoses and tubing can be costly and take effort to set up. 
2. The cost of water can be expensive if water comes from a city water source.
3. Over time, you may need to watch for low levels of micronutrients then add as appropriate.

The three keys to success for gardening are a soil with good fertility, adequate water and a good sunny location.  A 25 x 25 sq foot garden should only need 5 to 10 lbs of a good balanced fertilizer per year.  Fertilizers you may want are All Purpose 20-20-20 early in the season, then switch to Super Bloom just before plants bloom.  Both are available from Green Light or ask for them at your local nursery or garden center.

A sunny location would have at least 12 hours of complete sun from sunrise to sunset.  15 hours is preferable.  Water should be maintained at 50-100% field capacity during the growing season.  Field capacity is the amount of water a soil holds after all extra water has drained away.

One last item is plant quality seeds of good varieties or choose good plants from a nursery.

The Garden Doc

POTATOES - BAKED, BOILED, MASHED, OR FRIED

February 8, 2011

Potatoes make up one of the main diet components of many cultures.  Here are some fun and sober facts.

1. Potatoes were taken to England by Sir Walter Raleigh, and to Europe about 1533 to 1536.
2. Potatoes were credited with solving the famine issues throughout Europe during the little ice age of 1650 to 1850.
3. The disease Late Blight, Phytopthora infestans, was the cause of the Irish potato famine, which caused the death of over 1 million people and caused more than one million more to immigrate to other countries, many to the US.
4. Which countries produce the most potatoes?  Russia and China both produce 73 million tons of potatoes.
5. How many million tons of potatoes does the USA produce?  19 million tons.
6. People from what country eat the most potatoes per capita?  Belarus at 743 lb per person per year.

Are potatoes healthy?  Very healthy until we eat too many fried or add too much gravy, butter or sour cream.  Below is a list of vitamins found in potatoes.

Nutritional value of 100 grams (3.5 oz) of raw potato with the peel.

•        Energy                          80 kcal   320 kJ

•        Carbohydrates              19 g

•        Starch                          15 g

•        Dietary fiber                 2.2 g  

•        Fat                               0.1 g

•        Protein                         2 g

•        Water                           75 g

•        Thiamin (Vit. B1)          0.08 mg 6%

•        Riboflavin (Vit. B2)       0.03 mg 2%

•        Niacin (Vit. B3)            1.1 mg 7%

•        Vitamin B6                   0.25 mg 19%

•        Vitamin C                     20 mg 33%

•        Calcium                        12 mg 1%

•        Iron                              1.8 mg 14%

•        Magnesium                   23 mg 6%

•        Phosphorus                  57 mg 8%

•        Potassium                     421 mg 9%

•        Sodium                         6 mg 0%

Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.

It was reported a few years ago that ¼ of all vegetables eaten by children in the USA were eaten in the form of french fries. 

Potatoes are very easy to grow and make a great addition to home gardens.  Potatoes are also highly productive, producing more produce in a small area than most other plants.

In future posts we will discuss ways to grow potatoes and potato varieties.

Happy Gardening,

The Garden Doc

Professional vs Homeowner products for Lawn & Garden

February 4, 2011

At my home there is about 15 to 20 inches of snow outside.  This is being written from sunny 70 degree Phoenix.  Several vendors at this show are demonstrating plants that commonly grow in warm desert climates.  I am here teaching store employees how to recommend products to keep plants insect free, to kill weeds and keep landscapes weed free. 

Homeowners often feel that they can’t purchase the same products that are available to regular agriculture. This isn’t true.  Homeowners can buy many of the same chemicals used in regular agriculture.  There are some products that are dangerous and shouldn’t be used around homes for safety reasons. 

A year ago the Green Light Company, owned by Valent USA Corporation made available two products, Tree & Shrub Insect Control with Safari and Grub Control with Arena which are professional products put directly into smaller packages for consumer use.  These products were hailed by “The Bug Doc” from The Ohio State University as good news for the lawn and garden industry.  Bayer Advanced is a consumer product company wholly owned by Bayer, the conglomerate company from Germany.  Bayer has several products they have made available directly to consumers that they also sell to the professional lawn and garden industry.

Why would homeowner products be more dilute than professional products?  Sometimes they are the same but usually it just makes sense to sell dilute products or smaller packages.  A commercial product often is worth hundreds of dollarsper container, even though it may be in a quart container or smaller.  These containers may be sufficient to spray 50 or more home lawns or 5 to 20 acres.  The average home lawn is only about 5000 sq ft or 1/8 of an acre.  It makes much more sense for a consumer package to come in a package for less than $20 and only enough to cover one yard.

Happy gardening,

The Garden Doc