sthrn_smkr

I have found a new, wonderful, jungle type of environment for my plants but two problems pose. One, nearer to the bottom of this slope where I wanna plant, the dirt is VERY moist, nearly muddy ('muddy' a little sarcastic) and was wondering if it would be too wet. Two, further up from this spot, where the dirt is dry, it has a lot of sand in the dirt. Would either of these conditions jeopardize any plants if I were to put a couple down there.

thanks ahead of time
mad love

golfnstoned

Slopes are good to plant on if you can water your plants often. I would try to plant both of them on the slope where water doesn't accumulate. Dig your holes deeper than you need and add perlite and potting soil so the roots will have a happy start. Good Luck --golfnstoned--

EverReady

To fix the sandy soil problem you should add a compost (which can be bought at the local nursery or lowes) and conversly, to fix the muddy soil, add perlite or vermiculite for better drainage...but for the best control, get a 5 gallon pot, fill it with your own soil mix (potting soil, compost, vermiculite/perlite, fertilizer), and then put the pot in the ground where you want it. You won't have to worry about drainage, the soil being too muddy (if you don't overwater), or the soil being too dry because you had total control over what went into the soil.

And with pots, you can move the plant without stressing it if need be...good luck

sthrn_smkr

So the sand in the dirt won't hurt though right?

EverReady

Yeah, sand (or any other grainy planting material) is good for plants because it promotes root growth and allows better drainage for excess water. But, soil that's too sandy can be bad for a plant because the nutes become too sparce (sand doesn't really have what plants need), so the roots have to search and stretch for them...so it's kind of like a balancing act.

Look on the plant food board on this site and go through some of the posts, you'll find good ideas for soil recipies and the benifits.