I have an amazing variety of different soil types in my small space.

I had a group of trees that have always underperformed. I realized this spring that the soil consisted of far more clay than the surrounding area (which has sandy spots, cobble, chalk, and other parts that are literally as hard as concrete). What seemed like enough water turns out to have been very insufficient. I have doubled the amount of water, and doubled the frequency (now every day). It has taken a month of this new regimen to push enough water deep enough to truly keep the root zone moist. New growth and fruit development has accelerated nicely.

Looking back on it, the orchards at USDA/UC Davis and the surrounding walnut groves are on drip-irrigation style sprinklers that run more or less every other day up to all the time. They have a similar issue. Their soil is so heavy that applying water any faster only produces run-off, so they apply it in small quantities over long periods of time, to keep the ground wet long enough for the moisture to seep into the heavy soils. They are applying it at a rate and quantity that matches the absorption rate of the soil.

I am discovering that this one patch in my orchard has a similar profile.

Hi Jon:
This may be more info than you need. It will address the clay problem in your soil.
Adding green sand will also help.

Al
Burlington county Nj
Z6



http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/AgriculturalFGDNetwork/workshop

http://fgdproducts.org/BenefitsOfUsingGypsumAgriculture.htm

We have rocky, sandy soil here, so clay is not a problem, but when I lived in Orange County, CA, I dug a hole to plant a rose bush, and it was true red clay!  Looked like bricks!  Hard to dig in, and I felt the poor rose bush was in a pot with no way out!  But that bush pushed through the clay, around the rocks and climbed the house.  It was a climber, and a beauty at that!

I wish you could fix my sad little Panachee in it's pot.  4th year, and it only has 5 leaves.  Got mad, pinched the hard growth tip, hoping it would push more, but nope!!

I tried water daily, no water, but the thing just doesn't want to grow!  Should I air layer what is there, hope for new roots and go from there?

Suzi

I live in the foothills and the native soil here is crumbly clay.It reminds me of old-fashioned kitty litter, but the particles are softer. For clay it both drains well, and retains water. Not so good for house stability, but there are flourishing avocado and lemon orchards around us so I think this soil type should work well for the figs too. I'm planning to plant the in-ground figs as heavily pruned hedges on soaker hoses.

Suzi,

Try over-fertilizing. Make sure the plant is well watered (water and let stand an hour or two) and then rewater with Miracle Gro ar 1/2 strength. You could do this every week. It might no9t make a lot of difference this year, but see if it doesn't zooooom next season. You still have to maintain your regular watering schedule, but once a week try this.

I did this several years ago with an in-ground Black Madeira that grew about 1" per year. Since it was in-ground I used 15-15-15 which was what I was putting on the bananas every week. That season I got about 2" growth, and the following season about 5', and has grown wildly ever since. I was at the point that I didn't care if it lived or died because I wasn't getting anything, anyway.

Good point Jon, I have 2 Votatas in small self watering pots.  I gave them the best potting soil.  One was further south on my wall.  The other one was in most shade on the north end of the wall.  Both were watered every 3 to 4days depending on outside temps.  One day, the one on the south wall started getting yellow leaves.  i watered it but did not check ti see how dry it was.  The other one was fine.  The next day,  80% of it leaves were yellow.  I grabbed the pot wow, it was very light.  I dipped it in water and placed it in the shade to 2 days.  Today it is fine but I almost lost it!  We've had record breaking temps in Charlotte (104) and since then, I've been watering twice a day.  Looks like my favorite soil mix needs more perilite or sand because the water was not getting to the roots.  Lesson learned here, switching to self watering pots with irrigation.

Thanks Jon!

Heading over to Home Depot, so I'll pick up some fertilizer.  Fingers crossed that it works!

Suzi

So, Dennis, you essentially had two identical plants, but have them in different micro-climates. And it appears that you potting soil works OK for one climate, and not the other. Kind of the reverse of mine. I had same climate and different soils.

On a side note, I am amazed that you can get away with watering every 3-4 days. Here, above 80F I am watering my pots every other day, or 3 days max. At 100F it would be every day. You have a higher humidity, but still...

I bet you have a bit more wind there Jon. Also Dennis said "self watering pot."

I have been watering most containers daily here. I do it in the hottest part of the day usually to try and cool them off for a bit.

lol Jon so you consider 1/2 strength Mg after good watering of the containers each week over fertilizing ?

Container plants are not as adaptable is in-ground plants, so you can push, but you can't use a bulldozer.

When I did my in-ground Black Madeira, we are talking 1# of 15-15-15 every week for nearly 6 months.

The important thing was that the results did not show up till the following season.

If the 1/2 MG doesn't get it done then next season, and f you are willing to risk the plant, be more aggressive. I tried this out because I did not care if I lived or died. Either outcome was acceptable because its original performance wasn't worth keeping.

Brent, Thanx for clarifying the self-watering issue. But even they don't hold an unlimited supply, and DJ is 20+ degrees hotter than I. We were 63F and cloudy last night, and will be maybe 82F this afternoon

Very interesting Jon, You're right about Clay soil.
The type of soil not only affects the moisture level, but also how well fertilizer is taken up by the soil. Which explains the Black Madeira.

Jon, was your Black Madeira growing in the area with more clay that you mentioned at the start of this thread?

In my clay soil, even though it drains well in rains, I have to water slowly or it will run-off. When watering at too high a rate on the hill, little rivers will form and carry the water away. Very slow applications work well however. The adjacent orchards are on drip.

Got lots of clay soil here too.   Adding sharp sand really helPs improve the drainage and keeps roots from drowning.  Adding compost and mulch layer is also really helping to increase the soil health.

When I prepared for the garden - red clay, I amended with some lava sand and a lot of expanded shale.  The shale helps to wick the water away from the roots so they are not sitting in the water soaked clay, then as the area dries, the shale expels the water back into the clay (soil).  I also added 50/50 mix of topsoil/bedding soil.

I was fairly happy with the way everything was growing for a while.  In early May, I expanded the garden since there was a pile of the 50/50 mix still not used and unwanted growth was happening.  I bought a bag of Miracle Grow Organic bedding Mix and a bag of composted cotton burrs.  Through May everything just wasn't thriving the way I thought it should be.  One of the managers at the nursery kept warning me about over-watering, so I was being careful to water every 2-3 days.

The first week of June we had lots of rain - low and behold EVERYTHING started growing and thriving!!  Imagine that!  Living things liked water!.  After that, I started watering everyday.  I water an area to wet it real well, move on to another area then go back to the first.  I have about 400 sq ft and take about an hour or so to water back and forth between areas.  I finally put some mulch down about 2 weeks ago and that helped also.

I have to say the miracle grow side of the garden looks so much healthier than the other side.  I was trying to save money and was concerned the expense was getting out of hand. 

Lesson learned, PREPARATION IS KEY TO SUCCESS!!!
The first 2 Pictures are from the end of May and first week of June
The second 2 are fromJune 27th!