Clay soil problem - first grow

I live in a residential quarter, i dont have a car and a license yet, i don't have the money in this moment to buy some good soil and i'm using the only soil i can get, my backyard dirt.. there's very very much clay in it but my plants all all alive and well (except for the ones that died from my own mistakes) can this dirt be troublesome for the roots in a long term? can i grow in this soil until i buy some decent soil or my plants will grow very slowly until that moment? will they die? please forgive any mistake in my english skillz... thanks in advance here's a pic

PS: this will be an outdoor grow

That's some red clay soil, looks like stuff I used to see in the state of Georgia. Clay is actually full of nutrients, problem is they are locked up, and not very usable without amending it. Properly amending clay also takes a bit of time, but there are a few shortcuts.

Can you obtain either perlite or peat?...better yet both.

Sunbiz1 said:

That's some red clay soil, looks like stuff I used to see in the state of Georgia. Clay is actually full of nutrients, problem is they are locked up, and not very usable without amending it. Properly amending clay also takes a bit of time, but there are a few shortcuts.

Can you obtain either perlite or peat?...better yet both.

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Yes I can, i'm sure i've seen some perlite around here, i'll search for peat too

Thanks guys i hope the best

Don't waste you mg on clay. Pure sunbaked cow manure will work far better than clay. When I stopped using dirt I was mixing dried cow paddies and peat moss 50/50 and mixing that mix 50/50 with #2 grade soil.

SanCasanova said:

Thanks guys i hope the best

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Try 50% garden soil to
25% Peat to
25% Perlite.

Also, if you can get your hands on some compost use it in the garden soil outdoors. That's the proper way to amend clay, but it takes several months. The above is just meant as a quick fix.

Good luck!

set plant in a tub or something that will hold water then get some cleann socks, rope, or anything long an thin made of cotton cut hole in the botton of the flower pot an push the sock in until it meets the plants roots. then fill the tub with a few inches water and let the othe end of the sock soak. this is a passive hydro setup and shoul help you with your problem

yungdrop said:

set plant in a tub or something that will hold water then get some cleann socks, rope, or anything long an thin made of cotton cut hole in the botton of the flower pot an push the sock in until it meets the plants roots. then fill the tub with a few inches water and let the othe end of the sock soak. this is a passive hydro setup and shoul help you with your problem

Click to expand...

Sunbiz1 said:

Try 50% garden soil to
25% Peat to
25% Perlite.

Also, if you can get your hands on some compost use it in the garden soil outdoors. That's the proper way to amend clay, but it takes several months. The above is just meant as a quick fix.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank a lot guys very very helpful!! Rep + ! I wish you were local to thank you with a nice smokin session

Best of luck..I'm concerned about your age.

Take a bag get on a bus and go to the city hall, they always spend a bunch on money on landscape shit go sit on the wall and fill the bag with dirt, trust me the city has good dirt. If they catch you tell them you going to grow some cucumbers they wont give a shit.


CLAY SUCKS PERIOD DONT CARE WHAT YOU ARE GROWING. CLAY IS NO GOOD AT ALL.