Hi Gary, love your videos and it has totally changed my views on soil mediums. So far so good on planting seeds, seedlings, and plants in a combination of sand, peat, and pumice. I would buy your Top Pot mix if I were in your area (you are a long drive from San Diego). You spend some time talking about tree roots and how they grow sideways near the surface rather than deep into the soil. I have a large tree in the back yard that has surface roots growing everywhere. Would you ever consider talking about the topic of how you can control or eliminate surface roots so it doesn't affect all of the other plants in the yard? It is a topic I have had no luck in finding good solutions.
Gary, it would really help if you could fix your volume level. Very hard to hear you and if we turn the volume up, when a commercial kicks in it is very loud.
What about when there's a cake of organic matter on the soil surface and the rain water never reaches the soil and the roots have to grow in the organic matter to get water and oxygen? Would they not prefer that? In the UK a no dig farmer Charles Dowding told me the thicker the layer of compost the better the plant growth and the less watering, the compost is the fertilizer and holds the most water, you can still over water papaya in soil with no organic matter in my experience, I'd prefer to water the least as possible cause I'm over it I have too many plants and they get thirsty 2 often, I'm thinking of playing that risky game with compost as soil just cause I don't have the time to water so much and I'm losing plants to underwatering, I've also argued your point to no till cannabis growers using large beds of compost and reusing it for a decade and they say the compost worms oxygenate and clean the soil, it seems to me that organic matter is the ideal growing medium as long as there is life in it maintaining oxygen, i see your point with plants falling over in pots but if the bottom layer was soil they would be able to anchor themselves into it like what happens in nature
I think it depends on the set up and the plant. Last season I grew a Bonny's best Tomato plant. Store bought, wasn't great. Had 2 weeks transplant shock and then 2 weeks of 95+ degree weather. I started late in the season and had about a month of delays cause of that. I grow the tomato in a 5 gallon, maybe 7 (not sure) with pumice, Vermiculite, and sand 1:1:1. I then had organic compost on top of the soil with mulch few inches thick. So when with my delays, my tomato plant produced A LOT. I estimated roughly 25-30lbs I got from the plant that didn't grow as well as I would have liked. My point is, in a pot the set up has different needs then in the soil or in raised beds. In a pot, even with holes at the bottom we have something called a perched water table. So the bottom inch or two will not really drain well if at all. So the fact is if that is compost. Your roots are going to easily drown unless it IS a tomato plant. Well the trouble is also that compost holds on to A LOT of water naturally. So the issue is if you are growing something else like a Strawberry, the plant won't grow very well. Now in the ground, the set up is entirely different. There is not perched water table unless you have a super hard clay layer making the water puddle up. If that isn't the case, the water will eventually drain and the plant roots aren't stuck sitting in water, even if there is a lot of organic matter. In addition, the organic matter in nature usually comes naturally from decaying stuff on top of the soil, where the oxygen is pretty good. And with all the biology in the soil, drainage improves, absorption improves, ecosystems improves. But the fact is in a raised bed and in-ground, you don't have as much of a problem with oxygen in such a set up assuming it's not 12 inches of pure compost just out in. My tomato plant was very productive with fair low organic matter and I believe I can make it better. The key I think is that you need the water to penetrate because water doesn't flow between two different substances well. So if you have like clay balls and then soil, the drainage will suck because the water won't want to move past the soil into the clay balls. But if you have like a sandy mix and the surface is maybe a mix of compost and sand and then some mulch, there really shouldn't be a problem. ESPECIALLY for tomatoes. Marijuana needs A LOT of nutrients and oxygen supply I think would give the roots a very healthy environment to thrive and take up nutrients.
I have learned so much from your tutorials. Please keep them coming.
So glad you guys are back!
Gary San, thank you for resuming the lectures.
Wow, so glad to see you back!
Fantastic to see your videos again! Thanks!
Fantastic that you’ve started up again! Maybe a little higher volume on the microphone would help. Thank you.
Hi Gary, love your videos and it has totally changed my views on soil mediums. So far so good on planting seeds, seedlings, and plants in a combination of sand, peat, and pumice. I would buy your Top Pot mix if I were in your area (you are a long drive from San Diego). You spend some time talking about tree roots and how they grow sideways near the surface rather than deep into the soil. I have a large tree in the back yard that has surface roots growing everywhere. Would you ever consider talking about the topic of how you can control or eliminate surface roots so it doesn't affect all of the other plants in the yard? It is a topic I have had no luck in finding good solutions.
That's a problem we're facing here in Barbados too we lose alot of big mature trees in hurricane season because of the shallow root system.
I think we need to have more faith in a diverse ecosystem and soil life taking care of all our problems
So glad to see you back Gary! Thank you for posting this.
Glad to have your videos back Gary!
Surprise to see your video update. Very happy.
Gary would you ask a UA-cam community to help you adjust audio so we can hear what you saying?
Do you ever watch your own videos?
Welcome back. I can now get my weekly refresher course in gardening again. 😂
Glad to see you back Gary! Definitely need some sound quality help. It's clear, but not enough gain.
Gary, it would really help if you could fix your volume level. Very hard to hear you and if we turn the volume up, when a commercial kicks in it is very loud.
Hey love the content I live in Mendocino but the information is has basically a similar value thanks
What about when there's a cake of organic matter on the soil surface and the rain water never reaches the soil and the roots have to grow in the organic matter to get water and oxygen? Would they not prefer that? In the UK a no dig farmer Charles Dowding told me the thicker the layer of compost the better the plant growth and the less watering, the compost is the fertilizer and holds the most water, you can still over water papaya in soil with no organic matter in my experience, I'd prefer to water the least as possible cause I'm over it I have too many plants and they get thirsty 2 often, I'm thinking of playing that risky game with compost as soil just cause I don't have the time to water so much and I'm losing plants to underwatering, I've also argued your point to no till cannabis growers using large beds of compost and reusing it for a decade and they say the compost worms oxygenate and clean the soil, it seems to me that organic matter is the ideal growing medium as long as there is life in it maintaining oxygen, i see your point with plants falling over in pots but if the bottom layer was soil they would be able to anchor themselves into it like what happens in nature
I think it depends on the set up and the plant. Last season I grew a Bonny's best Tomato plant. Store bought, wasn't great. Had 2 weeks transplant shock and then 2 weeks of 95+ degree weather. I started late in the season and had about a month of delays cause of that.
I grow the tomato in a 5 gallon, maybe 7 (not sure) with pumice, Vermiculite, and sand 1:1:1. I then had organic compost on top of the soil with mulch few inches thick. So when with my delays, my tomato plant produced A LOT. I estimated roughly 25-30lbs I got from the plant that didn't grow as well as I would have liked.
My point is, in a pot the set up has different needs then in the soil or in raised beds. In a pot, even with holes at the bottom we have something called a perched water table. So the bottom inch or two will not really drain well if at all. So the fact is if that is compost. Your roots are going to easily drown unless it IS a tomato plant. Well the trouble is also that compost holds on to A LOT of water naturally. So the issue is if you are growing something else like a Strawberry, the plant won't grow very well.
Now in the ground, the set up is entirely different. There is not perched water table unless you have a super hard clay layer making the water puddle up. If that isn't the case, the water will eventually drain and the plant roots aren't stuck sitting in water, even if there is a lot of organic matter. In addition, the organic matter in nature usually comes naturally from decaying stuff on top of the soil, where the oxygen is pretty good. And with all the biology in the soil, drainage improves, absorption improves, ecosystems improves. But the fact is in a raised bed and in-ground, you don't have as much of a problem with oxygen in such a set up assuming it's not 12 inches of pure compost just out in.
My tomato plant was very productive with fair low organic matter and I believe I can make it better.
The key I think is that you need the water to penetrate because water doesn't flow between two different substances well. So if you have like clay balls and then soil, the drainage will suck because the water won't want to move past the soil into the clay balls. But if you have like a sandy mix and the surface is maybe a mix of compost and sand and then some mulch, there really shouldn't be a problem. ESPECIALLY for tomatoes. Marijuana needs A LOT of nutrients and oxygen supply I think would give the roots a very healthy environment to thrive and take up nutrients.
Welcome back
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