Hi pendipidy, When I put wood chippings into the subsoil, it does not really matter the size or the origin of the chippings. I bury lots of different kinds of organic matter into the subsoil from cardboard to cotton. It will all decompose and contribute to the soil organic matter.
If I am mulching with wood chippings then I would rather use broad leaved chippings than conifer, however beggars can't be choosers so I use whatever I can get hold off.
I do not add chippings to topsoil unless it has been composted for at least a year and even then I add a high nitrogen manure such as chicken or pigeon to make sure there is no nitrogen depletion.
I made an interesting discovery this week while digging (harvesting) my sweet potatoes. Those sweet potato beds that I had 'triple dug' with plenty of organic matter 2 years ago are now pure sand + a healthy grub population. I pulled out one grub chewed sweet after another...grrr. Looking at this soil now-I can't imagine anything growing in there. :( I hand collected hundreds of grubs for the chickens but that bed is useless as it is-any advice?
Hi Barbee sorry to hear about your sweet potatoes. When I go on about triple digging and double digging it is as a temperate, maritime climate gardener. There is not very many weeks during the year that there is no rain and the soil remains moist most of the year. It is fairly cool and getting a compost heap to produce even the smallest amount of heat is an effort. In the subtropics like Texas, I would think that the ground is dry for most of the year and when there is rain, the organic matter in the soil is rapidly decomposed. I have to regularly add lots of organic matter to my garden so I'd expect yours to need considerably more. Everything happens much quicker in hotter climates. What I think has happened is that the organic matter in your sweet potato beds has been depleted and there is less for the grubs to feed on so they have decided to use the next best thing as food - your sweet potatoes. If I were you I would never dig again, add lots of organic mulches, like https://vimeo.com/28055108. If you have chickens then I would put them onto the sweet potato beds and let them take all the grubs out, eat all the crop waste, fertilize the soil and turn it over a little.
Those sweets won't go to waste. While not a 'marketable' crop-we can just 'eat around' the damage for home use. And your thoughts about the rapid decomposition and the need to constantly keep adding make total sense. Maybe I didn't add enough because this all happened in one growing season (April-Oct). What I think I'll do is an intense addition of organic + minerals and leave it fallow. My research suggests that these grubs have a 1-2 year life cycle and next spring or summer they will be mature and fly away. (A quick dig will be able to confirm that they are gone). And while double/triple digging may not always be the answer, it has it's place in certain circumstances (like my sweets). The digging goes a long way to loosen the soil very deeply making harvesting of larger and better formed roots a LOT easier. Where the grubs came from? Who knows. Maybe I inadvertently added them myself w/ my spring soil amendments. No magic bullet or secret weapons for grubs. P.S. That idea about the chickens? Looks good on paper but mine are not very well trained or disciplined so...the problem is they will prefer to eat those lovely red fruits and berries. Right. Over. There. PECK!PECK! LOL Thanks for your input, always a pleasure. -Have a great day.
what kind of wood chippings do you use or recommend please?
ReplyDeleteHi pendipidy,
DeleteWhen I put wood chippings into the subsoil, it does not really matter the size or the origin of the chippings. I bury lots of different kinds of organic matter into the subsoil from cardboard to cotton. It will all decompose and contribute to the soil organic matter.
If I am mulching with wood chippings then I would rather use broad leaved chippings than conifer, however beggars can't be choosers so I use whatever I can get hold off.
I do not add chippings to topsoil unless it has been composted for at least a year and even then I add a high nitrogen manure such as chicken or pigeon to make sure there is no nitrogen depletion.
I made an interesting discovery this week while digging (harvesting) my sweet potatoes. Those sweet potato beds that I had 'triple dug' with plenty of organic matter 2 years ago are now pure sand + a healthy grub population. I pulled out one grub chewed sweet after another...grrr. Looking at this soil now-I can't imagine anything growing in there. :(
ReplyDeleteI hand collected hundreds of grubs for the chickens but that bed is useless as it is-any advice?
Hi Barbee sorry to hear about your sweet potatoes. When I go on about triple digging and double digging it is as a temperate, maritime climate gardener. There is not very many weeks during the year that there is no rain and the soil remains moist most of the year. It is fairly cool and getting a compost heap to produce even the smallest amount of heat is an effort. In the subtropics like Texas, I would think that the ground is dry for most of the year and when there is rain, the organic matter in the soil is rapidly decomposed. I have to regularly add lots of organic matter to my garden so I'd expect yours to need considerably more. Everything happens much quicker in hotter climates. What I think has happened is that the organic matter in your sweet potato beds has been depleted and there is less for the grubs to feed on so they have decided to use the next best thing as food - your sweet potatoes.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you I would never dig again, add lots of organic mulches, like https://vimeo.com/28055108. If you have chickens then I would put them onto the sweet potato beds and let them take all the grubs out, eat all the crop waste, fertilize the soil and turn it over a little.
Those sweets won't go to waste. While not a 'marketable' crop-we can just 'eat around' the damage for home use.
ReplyDeleteAnd your thoughts about the rapid decomposition and the need to constantly keep adding make total sense. Maybe I didn't add enough because this all happened in one growing season (April-Oct). What I think I'll do is an intense addition of organic + minerals and leave it fallow. My research suggests that these grubs have a 1-2 year life cycle and next spring or summer they will be mature and fly away. (A quick dig will be able to confirm that they are gone).
And while double/triple digging may not always be the answer, it has it's place in certain circumstances (like my sweets). The digging goes a long way to loosen the soil very deeply making harvesting of larger and better formed roots a LOT easier. Where the grubs came from? Who knows. Maybe I inadvertently added them myself w/ my spring soil amendments. No magic bullet or secret weapons for grubs.
P.S. That idea about the chickens? Looks good on paper but mine are not very well trained or disciplined so...the problem is they will prefer to eat those lovely red fruits and berries. Right. Over. There. PECK!PECK! LOL
Thanks for your input, always a pleasure. -Have a great day.
Thank you for helping people get the information they need. Great stuff as usual. Keep up the great work!!! postele z masivu s úložným prostorem
ReplyDelete