Thread: Sandy Soil
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Old December 13, 2016   #19
Zone9b
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 620
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Originally Posted by Gardeneer View Post
I think that I have done reasonable work to improve my native soil.
--- added fall leaves.
--- added pine straw
--- added wood ash
Come spring I will add some top soil that I have gathered from the wooded area and till the garden and get a soil test.
From what I have heard from fellow gardeners being in the same situation, tomatoes do fine in sandy loam. They grow much deeper roots aand thus they can get the mositure and the nutrients that do down.
At the plant out, I will further amend the planting holes with peat moss and manure and once planted out I will do heavy mulching with pine starw which I have plenty of it.
Though it is kind of an uncharted territory ( soil and weather wise ) I think I can can grow some good plants and harvest decent crop. Per Bill's and other southerners recommendations I will have several varieties that do fairly well in the heat of south :
--- Prudent Purple
--- Indian Stripe PL
--- Creole
Out of the remaining 30 or so varieties I might be able to find some that will do ok.
I'm curious if you have questioned if there are significant issues with nematodes in your area. It is possible that many of the commercial crops you see growing around you are nematode resistant varieties. Open pollinating varieties are often not resistant. I also have Pruden's Purple on my spring grow list. I read 1 comment that is was nematode resistant but I have my doubts.
When I pull my plants at the end of the season I investigate for evidence of nematode damage to the roots. When I have a variety that has not performed well in a Raised Bed I often find serious nematode damage to the roots.
To avoid problems with non-resistant varieties I normally grown them in containers without native soil. This year I will also be attempting to graft a few on nematode resistant root stock - RST-04-106-T, which if successful would allow me to grow them without nematode risk in a Raised Bed.
I will be interested to see how your season goes and how you soil amendments are working.
The Best,
Larry
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