While I have made huge advances in changing the condition of the soil, my biggest advance is how much I have learned in the last four years. This will be the fifth year I have been gardening.
Like I've said before, the biggest thing I had to learn was patience. Though I'm still not great at that most of the time, I force myself.
Another thing is that I have learned to not listen to some advice.
A lot of gardening writers live in areas far removed from here and their advice does not apply at all in the desert.
One bit of advice I've learned to not listen to is to not water too much. This advice just doesn't work for a place that has a humidity level of 4%. Took a while but I learned to judge how much to water by soil feel and weight. For containers, of course. In the yard and garden frequent drip irrigation is mandatory.
Another bit of advice to avoid is using lime. Lime is alkaline and so is desert soil. Combine the two and there is too little acid in the soil for anything at all to grow. Calcium is necessary but may already be present, in the wrong form. If adding calcium, it should be gypsum. Increasing soil acidity is, again, mandatory if you're going to grow anything at all.
Whether desert soil is clay or sand, adding organic material (compost and mulch) is necessary. In my case, it helps break up clay, along with the gypsum.
I've written many times about the sodium problem. The gypsum, acid and soaking the soil help with that. As the sodium decreases, acidity increases, which helps break down clay and releases nutrients for plant use. Using sulfuric acid seemed really extreme when I first tried it. Now I've gotten used to it (but still cautious) and have found it to be one of the best things I've tried.
I know I still have a lot to learn but seem to be getting there. Happy with how far I've come up to now!
Like I've said before, the biggest thing I had to learn was patience. Though I'm still not great at that most of the time, I force myself.
Another thing is that I have learned to not listen to some advice.
A lot of gardening writers live in areas far removed from here and their advice does not apply at all in the desert.
One bit of advice I've learned to not listen to is to not water too much. This advice just doesn't work for a place that has a humidity level of 4%. Took a while but I learned to judge how much to water by soil feel and weight. For containers, of course. In the yard and garden frequent drip irrigation is mandatory.
Another bit of advice to avoid is using lime. Lime is alkaline and so is desert soil. Combine the two and there is too little acid in the soil for anything at all to grow. Calcium is necessary but may already be present, in the wrong form. If adding calcium, it should be gypsum. Increasing soil acidity is, again, mandatory if you're going to grow anything at all.
Whether desert soil is clay or sand, adding organic material (compost and mulch) is necessary. In my case, it helps break up clay, along with the gypsum.
I've written many times about the sodium problem. The gypsum, acid and soaking the soil help with that. As the sodium decreases, acidity increases, which helps break down clay and releases nutrients for plant use. Using sulfuric acid seemed really extreme when I first tried it. Now I've gotten used to it (but still cautious) and have found it to be one of the best things I've tried.
I know I still have a lot to learn but seem to be getting there. Happy with how far I've come up to now!
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