Any advice on getting a soil analysis done?

stalk_of_fennel · 2012-05-27T19:52:52.915212+00:00

Oh I have a question you can probably answer. The Texas Plant and Soil Lab uses something called a CO2 extraction method that's meant to mimic the way plants take up nutrients. What do you think about this vs other labs?

http://texasplantandsoillab.com/faq.asp#2

stalk_of_fennel · 2012-05-27T19:21:32.640996+00:00

I see Texas A&M has a soil lab. I'm going to see if there are any others and compare tests/prices. I'll let you know what I do. Thanks.

Jungle2266 · 2012-05-27T16:39:14.010391+00:00

I know surfecants like soap are deadly to fish but I think I can clear them up with a big enough reed bed.

Reed bed will be separate from the pond.. 20' long and 4' wide. I was planning on 2.5' deep with some baffles along the bottom to make the water go a long way before exiting. The entire bed would be filled with lava rock top to bottom. The bed would be mostly reeds, but yes some other wetland plants as well. The bed should hold close to 1500 gallons.. so maybe 500 because of the lava rock and it's not going to be filled to the tip top... I think 6" under the top layer of rock will keep evaporation down and a barrier from greywater. With 500 gallons we could put 100 gallons of shower water through there a day and it would sit in there for 5 days before it got 'dumped' into the pond.

The reed bed will be in a spot that gets a good amount of sun ever day. Part of the purpose of the reed bed will be to shade the house from the summer sun. For the 'heavy lifting' I was planning on using a variety that grows around here that gets to 15'. Reeds handle being submerged in water because they send oxygen down to their root zone. We also use plant friendly soaps so they're pretty much plant nutrients.

I think that should do it for a filter, I just don't know how to build the actual pond.

For the pond I was going to have a completely different filtration system. I was going to make raised beds, also filled with lava rock, that are going to get water from the pond and return it back to the pond. Basically a series of eb-and-flow hydroponic beds.

What do you mean by "Reed bed has an "excess water release" river-type thing." Do you mean I need a way to send excess water into the sewer system instead of the pond in case of a large rain. I wouldn't want fresh greywater going into the pond and killing the fish.

stalk_of_fennel · 2012-05-27T15:49:23.235900+00:00

Well roots rot because of bacteria that thrive in an anaerobic environment, not because they're standing in water... Plant roots thrive being submersed 100% of the time as long as their is enough dissolved oxygen in the water (ala hydroponics) so maybe? I've also read of people using h202 to provide oxygen to fish in emergencies... interesting. I'm mostly concerned with it's effect on soil life.

design only gets you so far with 8 two-year old mail order bare root apple trees being espaliered into a belgien fence in central texas. i take what steps i can to mitigate problems... they're planted in a raised bed because we have plenty of clay in our soil. sure i could plant only perfectly adapted plants, but that's boring. i don't mind nursing along a marginally adapted plant for a bit till it gets established. good times for me :)

Jungle2266 · 2012-05-27T15:30:24.668555+00:00

I'm interested in building a pond as well. I intend for it to be the endpoint of a greywater system that uses shower water as the source, sends it through a reed bed and then ends up in a pond. since I'm into aquaponics I was going to build a grow bed to use as the pond filter. I'm in central Texas and while we get freezes every now and it's nothing that would freeze a pond .... especially with running water. I'll most likely put catfish and bluegill in the pond instead of koi though. any building advice?

stalk_of_fennel · 2012-05-27T07:58:04.824639+00:00

We've got a good bit of clay in our soil. It's usually not a problem unless we have a LOT of rain. I've read of plenty of hydro setups using h202. just curios if anyone here has had any luck.

ginger27 · 2012-05-26T23:45:13.090635+00:00

it could be that something else did the damage and the sow bugs are just cleaning up the decomposing matter.... I just don't trust 'em.

ginger27 · 1 day

This is what I've always thought but I swear I've seen them munching my plants as well. I've read that they'll eat living tissue if they run out of other stuff to eat.. which was not the case in my garden. I think if there are a bunch of them they will take some bites out of your plants.

Sow... they're crustaceans that live on land and breath through gills. If they don't have high humidity they can't survive. That should be one good angle on controlling them

xnard · 1 day

As far as I know.... no, not really with the varieties people plant. They didn't use green beans or sweet corn. They didn't harvest it till it was dried.

dogfish182 · 1 day

hot... go on...

stalk_of_fennel · 1 day

That's the section I was watching when I thought I had to put this on /r/gardening

stalk_of_fennel · 2 days

Late blight risk map! WOW! http://uspest.org/risk/tom_pot_map

Kamanu · 2 days

"If you wish to make a food forest from scratch first you must invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

dogfish182 · 2 days

Keep them coming if it makes you feel better. I can take it... for you.

GuyintheArmy · 2 days

sure they can. nitrogen def. leaves will turn green again after being yellow.

dogfish182 · 2 days

hey sure stranger, I'm here to be your punching bag, go ahead!

dogfish182 · 3 days

Whatever you have to think to keep yourself happy is ok with me!

dogfish182 · 3 days

And there's the difference between you and your cat ;)

dogfish182 · 3 days

cat-chattel.

dogfish182 · 3 days

This is how I got my cat. He just kept showing up until I gave in. Now he lives here.

ubuwalker31 · 3 days

Is anyone really going to use those tiny shovels? Looks like a waste of resources. I'm REALLY down on cheap tools and have vowed to never again by a cheap piece of crap, even if it's half the price of a the decent tool. It saves money in the long run and you have a quality item to use the entire time instead of having to return some broke piece of crap over and over. buy quality tools.

peetss · 3 days

the sky is blue because air is blue.. just like a brown river is brown because it's brown....

stalk_of_fennel

TROPHY CASE

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