Best ammendments for feild growing plot?

[Deleted member 49943]

I'm going to put half my black pine in ground just looking for soil ammendment suggestions. So far mychorize, pine bark multch sandy topsoil. Anything else?

 

[roberthu]

I grew a few JBP in the ground for a few years and just used the top soil plus manure from home depot. Got about an inch a year or so thickening. The key though is to go back and cut back and shape every year or the trunk is going to be super straight

 

[Orion_metalhead]

My grow bed is a raised bed with pure greenwaste compost. I intend to top off annually with new compost. Seeming to get good growth so far.

 

[Shibui]

Your pines should already have mycorrhiza on the roots so no need to add more. What is already there will grow and spread as quick as the roots.
I'd be a bit wary of digging pine bark inro the soil. It is high carbon, low N so will tie up some available nitrogen while it decomposes. Plants can starve in soil with too much woody material decomposing unless you add extra N fertilizer.

What to add really depends on the current soil type.
Healthy loam soils should not require any amendments. Maybe add some composted material or manures to add nutrients.
Clay soils may be better with some compost or sand/gravel worked in to break up the clay. Gypsum is often added to clay soils to help break up and clump the clay particles. Sandy topsoil is probably a mix of sand and composted materials so would be good for clay soils.
Sandy and rocky soils need organic matter so compost or composted manures are good. Clay is a good additive for very sandy or rocky soils.

 

[Deleted member 49943]

I'm going to be filling 30 gallon fabric pots planed 40% in the ground.

 

[Dav4]

If I'm planting trees to add to the landscape, I generally wouldn't add any amendments... just dig an appropriately sized hole and loosen the surrounding soil, put the tree's root ball into the hole and back fill with the native soil, then apply a 2-4 inch layer of hardwood or bark mulch a few feet around the trunk.
If I were attempting to grow out future bonsai material and I wanted to go all in, then I'd build a raised bed and fill it with a bonsai soil-like mix aggregates like pumice and calcined clay, but I'd also add a fair amount of good compost.

 

[Shibui]

I'm going to be filling 30 gallon fabric pots planed 40% in the ground.

Again, you really need to know about the surrounding soil.
Planting a bag filled with good well draining soil into heavy clay will form a sump where all the water in that soil will flow. The in ground part of the bag may end up as a pool of saturated soil.
Having the bags half above the ground is good insurance for when the soil is wet.
Including some of the local soil mixed into your potting medium also helps reduce water pooling in the bags.

30 gallon size is big. Way to big to handle manually. Way too big to produce well ramified roots close to the trunk too IMHO.
Why have you chosen that size?

 

[Deleted member 49943]

Again, you really need to know about the surrounding soil.
Planting a bag filled with good well draining soil into heavy clay will form a sump where all the water in that soil will flow. The in ground part of the bag may end up as a pool of saturated soil.
Having the bags half above the ground is good insurance for when the soil is wet.
Including some of the local soil mixed into your potting medium also helps reduce water pooling in the bags.

30 gallon size is big. Way to big to handle manually. Way too big to produce well ramified roots close to the trunk too IMHO.
Why have you chosen that size?

I already own like 5 bags that size

 

[sorce]

I already own like 5 bags that size

Cut em in half vertically and use the 10 pieces!

Sorce

 

[cmeg1]

A roto-till will do amazing justice……….compost…peat….50/50

 

[Deleted member 49943]

Cut em in half vertically and use the 10 pieces!

Sorce

I was just gonna fold them into themselves. I like to reuse often.

 

[Glaucus]

Doesn't it completely depend on what the soil is like right now? Probably, you want to add organic matter?

 

[Deleted member 49943]

The bed will be buried 4 inches. Above ground 8 inches so no really.

 

[Eckhoffw]

IMHO, @cmeg1 and @Shibui are spot on.
You don’t want to mess with changing up the soil composition too much. Tilling up the planting site will loosen up or prime the soil for planting, and help roots flourish.

If you feel you need to add nutrients, then using some compost would be good.
EZ PeeZy.

 

[Deleted member 49943]

Sounds great thanks yall.