Growing in sand

If you plant in sand plan on watering a lot, sand doesn't hold water well at all and it also lacks nutrients. You would almost defiantly have to amend the soil before you planted and bring fertilizer from time to time.

Pharmaecopia said:

If you plant in sand plan on watering a lot, sand doesn't hold water well at all and it also lacks nutrients. You would almost defiantly have to amend the soil before you planted and bring fertilizer from time to time.

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I think that if you were to use sand, it would be like an in ground hydroponic system with very frequent waterings, each with a nute solution.

True. Without freedom to choose makes it harder to make good choices.

Johnyquest: "qmmckenna, Im not going to call you a name or anything and turn this into a fight but I dont like you."

Fair enough.

I am a victim of my own vanity. I want to save the world. Truth is no one can save the world.

The world can only be saved by information and knowledge and the freedom for individuals to act on their own behalf.

johnnyquest said:

qmmckenna, Im not going to call you a name or anything and turn this into a fight but I dont like you. Fresh grown vegetables are great but so is marijuana and just as growing vegetables is legal so should growing weed. Just because people grow weed doesnt mean their whole world is growing weed and smoking weed. The problem with weed being illegal is that it puts it on a pedestal for a lot of people.

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I don't understand why this was even posted. It sounds like something you think in your head and then move on. Another great reason for non growers to check this site is that since we love your plants, we take AMAZING care of them and are always striving to make them better. So...there is an absolute shit load of expert knowledge on here about growing plants. What works for grass will probably work for tomatoes and bok choy. Let the dude ask his questions and keep your thoughts in your head.

DesertSativa said:

I think that if you were to use sand, it would be like an in ground hydroponic system with very frequent waterings, each with a nute solution.

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Growing vegetables in sand has been a lot like hydroponics. But I use a magnetic pulse valve SpritzWiz™ Intermittent Sprinkler Irrigation that provides frequent waterings and uses very little water. The intermittent pulse valve runs directly from the water tap and doesn't require any electricity or pumps. I just spread Osmocote® slow release fertilizer over the top of the sand to provide all the mineral nutrients so I didn't need any liquid nutrient system either. The Osmocote® lasted for about one month without adding any more. So it's a simple one way system running off the water tap. No need to worry about toxins building up or maintaining nutrient balance. I built it outdoors so I don't need to provide any lighting either.

Here's a detailed description:


First: I built a 10 ft. X 10 ft square redwood sand box and filled it with about 85 cubic ft of washed river sand (It's washed before you buy it). I prefer river sand because it doesn't have any biological matter and is made of inert rock material. The medium to coarse grain sizes provide excellent aeration.

Second: I ran four 180 deg. micro-sprinklers from my magnetic pulse valve. I put a sprinkler at each side of the box. The magnetic pulse valve produces intermittent pulses of water to the sprinklers. It delivers water at whatever rate you set it at. No pumps are needed because the the water comes directly from your faucet, and is already under pressure.

Third: I sowed the seeds into the sand and then sprinkled some Osmocote® slow release fertilizer beads on top to cover the 100 sq. ft area. The fertilizer container indicates the dispersal concentration of fertilizer beads that is needed.

Fourth: I turned on the water faucet. I set the magnetic pulse valve to deliver water at a rate of just 1 Gallon/Hour ( about 1 second pulses every 60 seconds). I left the water on full time for the first 6 days for all the seeds to germinate. Thereafter I then cut the watering back to just 10 hours a day and kept the same flow rate of 1 Gallon/Hour. I turned the water faucet off each night and on again manually in the morning. Later I obtained a Dig® Model 9001DB "low flow" Water Timer to do it for me. I programmed it to go on every day with 4 watering times of 2-1/2 hours each during the daylight hours and turn off again each night. The low evaporation rate during the night allowed the sand to hold enough moisture for the plants to keep them healthy, until it turned on again in the morning.

Final Notes: The water consumption for the 100 sq. ft. plot was only 10 Gallons/Day, and I only needed to sprinkle on more fertilizer two more times.

I am thinking about using screened baskets to hold slow release nutrients, or maybe using slow release large tablets, instead of directly sprinkled pellets over the sand like I am doing now. That way I can have more control over the kind of nutrients I am using at any given time.

i know for a fact pool filter sand is inert, its just silica sand. I have been using it in my fish tanks for years and its safe for fish, it must be safe for plants. a 50lbs bag of pool filter sand from my local store runs me $5.99 pretty cheap around here. so just another option for all you thinking of going sand, pool filter sand is cheap, pretty clean out of the bag ( i still wash it a couple times), and comes in different grades depending on what you need.

Peace!

That sounds really cool. I have thought of doing something like this but I prefer to use liquid ferts so I would need to have like a 50 gallon drum of nute solution and a pump to water the garden.

DesertSativa said:

That sounds really cool. I have thought of doing something like this but I prefer to use liquid ferts so I would need to have like a 50 gallon drum of nute solution and a pump to water the garden.

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It would last on my vegetable garden only for about five days. Are liquid ferts expensive? The Osmocote® is fairly cheap and is very easy to apply.

Also, what effects might liquid ferts have when they are directly sprinkled onto plant leaves?

Yeah, liquid ferts are expensive, or at least the ones I use are. You bring up a good point on the leaves...you would need to have a drip system or soaker hose, as the nutes on the leaves wouldn't be good on a daily basis.

DesertSativa said:

Yeah, liquid ferts are expensive, or at least the ones I use are. You bring up a good point on the leaves...you would need to have a drip system or soaker hose, as the nutes on the leaves wouldn't be good on a daily basis.

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I have used drippers too. I ran 50 drippers off my magnetic pulse valve. The output of each dripper was only about 1/50 of a gallon per hour. I used it to grow chili plants and it worked pretty well.

I prefer sprinklers though because they provide better dispersal and coverage and are easier to use.