How should I prepare my soil for 2012?

So I went out looking for a spot a few days ago and I found a great one. It's on a flood plane and its got excellent sand/dirt ratio. All I want to know is how do I prepare this dirt for next year?

Should I start adding the nutrients for growing season? I'm gonna build raised beds because the dirt about 6" down stays wet at all times so I thought if I build Atleast 1' mounds then that should be perfect for the specialized air roots to get enough oxygen. Then the lower root system can just feed the plant when it needs it.

I was planning on adding chicken manure and bat Guana to the dirt here in a few days or should I wait till
I plant them. Maybe both times??

Well the nitrogen in your nutes will be used to break down decaying material. So if you use it now it will be lower come 2012. Just something to consider.

i think best bang for you buck right now get leftover bananna peels and shit like that and maybe spend 4$ on some molasses and 20$ on some mycorrhizae and put some fish in your soil and in a couple months when you have some compost built up mix the compost fish and mycorrhizae and mollasses into the soil and add water whenever it gets dry ~ also buy the bat guano now but only throw in a few scoops and save the rest for when your growing ..maybe throw in some work poop

I've got a 5 gallon bucket full of compost matter and I'll prolly throw that on there along with molasses. Im gonna hold off on the manure for now, I'll just wait till I plant the girls.

When I do plant them should I add the bat guana to the bottom layer of the mounds or should I just mix it all evenly along with the chicken manure?

wow no one said to piss or shit in it for 3 months

Piss in it...I will not be pissing or shitting on anything that I consume!

what im doing for next yr. im in the same kid of spot. im going to put the hole grow on here next fall after its done and i get all the info win or lose.. im making raised but. i dug down a foot and put alpha bail in the hole on its side sticks out of the hole like 4 inch above the gound i then cover it with nitrogen pure urea. and bury it. with the groound i took out. in 4 months it will be ready and the ground warms faster and you can grow sooner in spring.

3waygreatness said:

Piss in it...I will not be pissing or shitting on anything that I consume!

Click to expand...

lol ya sure about that? my plants love horse shit and piss, lil sheep piss and shit and cow shit and piss... along with some bull shit from this site lol

I thought you meant your piss and crap. No doubt, I put chicken manure and bat Guana in mine and it is wonderful!

Were I preparing that area I would definitely be throwing in some green manure. Some clover seeds inoculated with some bacteria to fixate some nitrogen in the soil. Alfalfa could also help if the ground is a bit hard, the roots of alfalfa are pretty strong and will break through basically anything...they go deep as well and will bring up nutrients for our shallower rooted friends. Rye would also work out nicely for you if there are lots of weeds in the area that you want to grow. The rye kills the weeds and blocks out the light for the lower growing weeds. Come spring time you can cut the rye down and use it as straw to aid in water retention for your 2012 crop.

To plant these seeds (if you are going for 1 type or 2+) mix all the seeds in equal quantities of clay and sand and add just enough water so you can make balls out of the seed/clay/sand mix. If you think there isn't enough nutrients in the soil then you can add some compost to the mix or some seaweed extract solution (remember less is more, you don't want to burn the babies). Roll this mixture out into balls and let them dry. Once dried you can spread them out on the area you want to grow and when it rains, they will start to germinate without the seeds being eaten by birds.

All going well, the green manure crop should have done all it's work for you come spring 2012.

Hope that helps you some.

Cheers