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Angus, United Kingdom

hi everybody looking for help had to give up garden for health reasons built 2 raised beds, ordered earth which is going crusty and white on surface did a soil test and ph is almost off the scale and no show on sulphates etc can anybody advise how to slacken of soil and the best way to increase soil fertility, thanks




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Hi, I would get in touch with your supplier, and get them to take it away for you, and supply the top soil that you no doubt asked for, I can't imagine what they've sent you, but top soil shouldn't do that, Derek.

31 Jul, 2017

 

Bags of well aged chicken manure is the ticket. It is high in ntitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. If you can't turn the amendments into the soil and you specifically ordered good growing soil and was delivered crap(not the manure type of course), call the person who delivered it to you to kindly exchange what they gave you for what you ordered or to do the task of mixing in the additives needed to grow something and all will be forgiven. Otherwise that is what small claims courts are for.

31 Jul, 2017

 

Just out of curiosity, though, pH off the scale in which direction?

31 Jul, 2017

 

Good question Tug. If it is off the scale to the right it would be extremely alkaline which would mean adding a large amount of acidic peat to it. This member is running head long into a heck of a lot of work to try to get his bed into balance either way if there is no resolution with who sold him the soil and placed him into this situation. This member has a 12x6ft bed as per a previous post and I have surmised that this an area was divided into two raised beds and was looking for an electric tiller about a year ago because of health conditions.

1 Aug, 2017

 

Well, part of what I was thinking of was that extreme alkalinity coupled with a white crust could mean a high sodium content, as in, "Psst, buddy, want some good topsoil? It's rich marsh soil, from...ummm...the Thames delta! Yeah, that's the ticket!!"
Sad to say that similar rocky fill dirt or salt-contaminated leveling residue from mis-irrigated fields are too often sold as "topsoil", here in the desert.

1 Aug, 2017

How do I say thanks?

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