Super good black soil with bad drainage. Possible ideas?

I have had problems with getting the proper drainage from the soil, So I came up with a possible solution for the type of soil that I want to use. It's super good black dirt but it always stays wet/moist no matter how much rain we get.

If I can dig like a 10' by 10' square bout 1' down lay about 6" of gravel down then lay down the dirt that I have to use right there. Create some kind of space for the water to go to without it getting stopped up. The reason why I want to use this soil is it's free, don't have to transport anymore material than I have to. Also, this soil is some of the best soil in the nation and i might as well take advantage of it.

Does anyone think this will work? If anyone has any other ideas please enlighten me Bc I really don't want to do all this work for no reason.

I lost my first harvest due to that, the next harvest I tried raised beds and they still got drowned out. So maybe 3 times the charm!

Let the ideas flow!!!

you can go to a nursery and get a big bag of perlite to mix in with the soil to help with the drainage. I am not sure if the gravel with give the drainage you want.

Your idea is good, you just need to think a lot bigger. Your gravel used as a drainage resivoir will work if it is deep enough and the soil above is drainable. You can add sand to your soil to help with drainage.

If your down hill or in a valley you will have permanent problems. If you are on a slop then the water runs down hill and won't collect. It sounds more like a collection problem that would need to be irrigated - like under the gravel lay a 3 -4 inch plastic pipe more tan 10 feet long based on your patch size with holes drilled into it along the top and sides to port the water away this will then drain the area and pipe out the collected water giving it a well drained area. this is only needed to be done once and the patch is permanently self draining to test the area once done pour 5 gallons of water over the area of the pipe an see what comes out the end - water

Black soil is usually where it is because of poor drainage. That muck region is useless unless drained artificially, once drained it's very fertile land.

I'd say, it's probably not worth growing in.

perlite, done

Agreed^^ all you need is a big bag of perlite.

Sounds like your in a swampy type area. your gonna have a hard time fighting mother nature by trying to make this soil drain better. Maybe find a spot close by that has no drainage issuse and take some of this good black dirt and move it to your new spot. You might wanna have the black dirt checked to really see how good it really is.

Mayb I should just buy a lot of dirt dig some holes and just fill it in with the new dirt. I just want to keep it in the ground to get those massive plants. I've always kept them in 5 gallon bucks and the root system has to stop somewhere, I want to see how big hey can get. Would that work if I just put the new dirt in the holes or will it still get backed up?

Another thing is if this works I will never have to go and water them because once the roots hit the old soil they can just get water from that. I'll be set if I can figure this out!!

I don't live in the swamp either. I live in the fertile Midwest grasslands.

two words "raised bed"

Could you give me some dimensions for how big I need to build the raised bed for 5 plants?

3waygreatness said:

Could you give me some dimensions for how big I need to build the raised bed for 5 plants?

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4' X 8' would be decent size,
Here's a copy & paste of how to do a double dug raised bed:

You dig out all your good topsoil and pile it off to the side of your hole or bed (onto a tarp or sheet of plastic)
Now you have your hardpan exposed. You get your hands on what's called a spading fork, (looks like a extra heavy duty small pitchfork) You drive that fork to the hilt into the hard pan, if you hit a rock move over a bit till you can sink it as deep as the fork will allow. You rock the fork a bit to loosen up that spot then move over a few inches and repeat until the entire bottom has been worked. You do not have to turn it over just loosen it. Sprinkle crushed gyproc over the top, about a handful to a square foot.
You then return your topsoil and amendments (a great time to blend them together) ontop of the subsoil.
This is reported to increase yield in a garden by up to 7 fold (I've never seen that kind of results)

What in the world is GYPROC..and where can I find it?

3waygreatness said:

What in the world is GYPROC..and where can I find it?

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LOL, are you serious
DRYWALL, the stuff that they make the walls in where ever you live. Gypsum Lime AKA Calcium Sulphate.

raised beds would work perfect for you. good luck in your grow.

Yea I found a spot on a flood plane but has about 40% sand and the rest black moist dirt. I'm going to add horse manure and bat Guana to the dirt. Should I just mix it all together or should I put it down in layers? I've heard bat Guana could burn young plants?

I decided what I'm going to do for sure. I'm gonna dig about 1 foot down fill in the holes with straw and organic matter and put horse manure in with it. Then im gonna build a mound of good draining soil about 8 inches on top of that. When I come back to plant them I will add new chicken manure and bat guana directly to the soil! Yeeeeeeeeeeeee!