permit ’s face it . horticulture as a whole was epic failure this class .
I blame the excessive showery conditions . In the month of June , we received over one foot of rainwater total in our neck of the woods . Yes , rain makes corn but too much rain injure productivity in my potatoes , squash , pumpkin , tomato plant , and sweet spud .
[ Tweet “ So , permit ’s spill the beans about my sweet potato craw failure . ” ] One discussion get by pelting severely injure my odoriferous potato payoff . Compaction .
What is compaction and how can you soften soil compaction?
First of all , compaction is the process by which soil bodily structure is destruct . This results in very dense pore place with short atmosphere to move air or water ( or roots ) through . In my case , the hard rainfall we had in June caused the dirt to become dim preventing air from go through .
Water could not move through either and was forced to sit on top of the dirt . The weight of the H2O caused the filth to be romance together and as it dry , it became very hard and rugged .
Compacted soil is very toilsome to dig through . Imagine roots taste to boom and grow through the tough earth underneath .
Iplanted sizable plantsand they looked good all year , despite the rainfall we had . But , when I tried to labor my sweet white potato I stuck my shovel into the ground at the first plant . My shovel scantily go into the ground .
My sweet white potato yield interesting shapes as well . Several of them had grown together into one great , uncanny look potato .
consider of trying to push through a strong sticky surface . If you had several the great unwashed trying to push through that hard sticky open , what would pass off ?
That ’s veracious . You ’d all develop together as one .
Bottom Line: All root crops need room to expand and grow underneath the soil. They need to be able to push through soft soil.
How to soften soil compaction:
The principal reasons for concretion in my sweet potato row were # 1 and # 5 . I laid black plastic down as weed control . In doing so , the plastic held moisture . As much rain as we got , there was no where for it to drain .
My plan for next year:
I am polish off the blackened charge plate and adding organic matter to the top of the area .
The sphere receive no plowland before I planted my sweet-scented white potato vine . If the ground does dry out out enough , I will till it . Otherwise , I will move my sweet potato spot further inland and try again next year .
“ taste again next year ” has became common order around here .
~ Much Love ~
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