Healthy Soil ≈ Healthy Plants ≈ Healthy People

Soils for wicking boxes and tubs

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by

Kai Wright
in

Many soils along the Queensland coast are sandy with low fertility. Often sold as garden soil, they are not good enough to producing healthy and high nutrition crops. These need a diverse soil biology and a complete range of major, minor, and micro minerals. Many of these minerals are supplied by a healthy soil biology in forms that plants can take up. It also creates the necessary soil structure for the movement water and air and is needed for wicking. See The what, why and where of wicking.

Watch Out!

Put only soil in wicking beds; do not use rocks or a plastic liner above the pipes to ‘stop soil being washed into the pipe’. That does not happen as the water moves out from the pipe, not into it. Excess rain seeps in, it does not flow in. Stones waste space that should be filled by soil and soil biology. Soil biology is what makes plants, and thus us, healthy. To learn more see No plastic liners, bark or stones in wicking beds, tubs and boxes.

“Good” soil

Good soil has structure that holds water and nutrients, wicks and is home to a diverse soil biology. It needs a balance of:

  • clay, very small particles,
  • silt, bigger particles with some minerals,
  • sand, less that 2mm in diameter,
  • carbon, in many complex forms created by the soil-biology, especially fungi
  • soil biology, the very diverse living world of micro-organisms,
  • the full range of major, minor, and micro-minerals,
  • water
  • and air.

Soil for Wicking Beds

Soil for wicking beds is free from stones, wood chips, bark chips or large amounts of coarse plant material. These occupy space where soil biology should be active. In addition, bark chips suppress biological activity, which is useful in nurseries but not in wicking beds where we want an active soil biology. Good soil is hard to find but it can be mixed and managed — and then fed regularly.

Starting

If you are already growing your own vegetables, use that and build up your soil by adding worm-cast, dolomite, Searle Trace Elements and Katec Super Growth.

If you are on sandy soil or want to buy sandy soil from garden suppliers:

  • If you can, find some clay soils and mix in 4 – 6 buckets per 1m3.
  • Mix in 50+ litres worm-cast per 1m3 (about six standard buckets), to provide organic matter and extra soil biology.
  • Apply dolomite (Calcium and Magnesium) at 250g or two cups per m2.
  • Apply Searle Trace Elements at 20g per m2.
  • Add Katec Super Growth at 300g per m2.

Growing

  • Regularly feed your soil biology and plants — use seaweed, fish, compost, and organic matter.
  • Apply sea minerals annually for the micro-minerals needed by the soil biology, about 4ml in a 9 L watering can on two m2. It sounds very low but it works.

Harvesting

Harvesting you own healthy produce is a joy that does not fade. That prospect makes it well worth starting with the best soil you can provide. Happy growing!

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