Hi everyone.
I have a question on how to use seasand in organic gardening?
I heard that it can be used as a soil mix after being washed.
enyone can tell us how to get them most out of this sand.
thank you in advance.
-
thanrose
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 716
- Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
- Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A
Not such a good amendment most of the time. Too much salt in it, and too much water to rinse the salt out, then that washes the other nutrients out, too.
Some plants can grow in higher salinity environments, and some actually require the salt.
That being said, if you had a bucket half full of sea sand and muck, let it fill with rainwater, siphoned off the now salty water from the top and repeated that a few more times, you might have a sandy soil mix with enough organics in it for growing some stuff.
It seems like it would be way too wasteful of water, and way too labor intensive to be worthwhile. Plus you'd have the problem of what to do with the salty water you siphoned off.
Now seaweed can be a good soil amendment. Is that what you were thinking?
Some plants can grow in higher salinity environments, and some actually require the salt.
That being said, if you had a bucket half full of sea sand and muck, let it fill with rainwater, siphoned off the now salty water from the top and repeated that a few more times, you might have a sandy soil mix with enough organics in it for growing some stuff.
It seems like it would be way too wasteful of water, and way too labor intensive to be worthwhile. Plus you'd have the problem of what to do with the salty water you siphoned off.
Now seaweed can be a good soil amendment. Is that what you were thinking?
-
Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7414
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Every time we go to the beach in Florida for vacation I take about 10 empty 1 gallon milk jugs. I fell them with sand on the beach then I bump the sand on the garden when I get home. Melons love sand when I lived in Illinois they use to grow melons about 30 miles from my house the sand was just like beach sand. I dig a hole and mix the beach sand with 50% garden soil. Fill the holes and plant the seeds. The roots shoot out through that sand like crazy. The sand turns into a large root ball in no time at all. It really makes a big difference in how well the melons do. I have not tried this on anything other than melons. I have been thinking it might work good on other things like squash. I never washed or rinse the beach sand to remove salt I use it just like it is. I don't get sand near the water I alway get sand as close to the road or motel as possible mostly because it is not too far to carry it to the vehicle. I never once though about salt being a problem I quess there isn't enough salt to be a problem.
-
thanrose
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 716
- Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
- Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A
I've always gardened where there is a lot of sand. Didn't recall that about the melons but sure seems reasonable.
Salt tolerance is pretty variable across genus and species. Living along the Atlantic seaboard, I've always been aware of what does better a few miles inland vs on the barrier islands.
I don't know what the soil is like in Libya. Of course I picture desert sand, but there could be many soil types. Even where I am, front yard is marl/clay and back is sand. I'm on an old marl pit, so the back is probably fill. I know there is a marl swale about seven feet down in the deep back yard that holds water for the area's most massive sycamore, looming over my house. Nothing freakish, but noticeable on aerial photos. What I'm getting at is there are variables everywhere. Do sycamores do fantastic in sand, or do they do fantastic with a deep swale of marl under sand with runoff water filling it?
So would Libyan sandy soil with little humus do well with the addition of saltwater beach sand? Would it do well with brackish water sand and sediment?
If the soil needs to be looser, sand could be a good additive, and sand with organic sediment would be even better. Sand with salt might be okay with adequate irrigation, but could burn roots and foliage of most plants that do not grow normally on beach sand.
I guess a lot more needs to be discussed or learned about the use of the sand, what soil type, and what is expected to be grown.
Salt tolerance is pretty variable across genus and species. Living along the Atlantic seaboard, I've always been aware of what does better a few miles inland vs on the barrier islands.
I don't know what the soil is like in Libya. Of course I picture desert sand, but there could be many soil types. Even where I am, front yard is marl/clay and back is sand. I'm on an old marl pit, so the back is probably fill. I know there is a marl swale about seven feet down in the deep back yard that holds water for the area's most massive sycamore, looming over my house. Nothing freakish, but noticeable on aerial photos. What I'm getting at is there are variables everywhere. Do sycamores do fantastic in sand, or do they do fantastic with a deep swale of marl under sand with runoff water filling it?
So would Libyan sandy soil with little humus do well with the addition of saltwater beach sand? Would it do well with brackish water sand and sediment?
If the soil needs to be looser, sand could be a good additive, and sand with organic sediment would be even better. Sand with salt might be okay with adequate irrigation, but could burn roots and foliage of most plants that do not grow normally on beach sand.
I guess a lot more needs to be discussed or learned about the use of the sand, what soil type, and what is expected to be grown.
-
The Helpful Gardener
- Mod
- Posts: 7491
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
- Location: Colchester, CT
We are actually finding sea salts to be beneficial in small quantity; part of the measuring of fertility (in the chemical world, anyway) is measuring EC, electrical conductivity, which is of course a measure of salts! (Don't forget chemical fertilizer IS a kind of salt).
Sea salt is actually a combination of many trace minerals; there's a reason we think it tastes good. Our bodies like what is good for us in reasonable quantity; our brains just need to tell us when enough is enough.
In other words, all things in moderation.
HG
Sea salt is actually a combination of many trace minerals; there's a reason we think it tastes good. Our bodies like what is good for us in reasonable quantity; our brains just need to tell us when enough is enough.
In other words, all things in moderation.
HG