Re: [nafex] Re: good stuff perhaps

[Lucky Pittman <Lucky.Pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 10:05 AM 01/09/2001 -0600, Joe wrote:
>To support what Lon wrote, Michael Dirr (an ornamental plant guy at U.
>Georgia) wrote in his book that U Georgia grows azaleas, rhododendrons
>(sp?) in red Georgia clay by planting half the root ball in the ground
>and then covering the top half the root ball with shredded tree bark.

Having grown up down there in the land of red clay and Southern 
pines(east-central AL), I can tell you that azaleas, rhodies, and 
blueberries(though we grew rabbiteye &/or Southern highbush almost 
exclusively) do quite well in red clay.  Soil alkalinity is usually not a 
problem down there, anyway.
We usually mixed peat 50/50 with the native soil when planting, and mulched 
heavily(and yearly) with pine needles.
Watering was a necessity in the heat/drought conditions of late July/Aug, 
when the azaleas were setting their flower buds for the next year.


>I assume that the mulch must be about 6" (150mm)in most cases.  You
>might want to see if there are any sawmills in the neighborhood.  You
>will need truck loads of bark if you plant many blueberries.
>
> > HOWEVER, I have been finding that the thing that makes the MOST
>difference
> > in most cases, is having a lot of organic matter in the soil.  Not
> > necessarily peat or other acid stuff, just plenty of compost, etc.
>to feed
> > the soil microflora.  That seems to help the blueberries adapt
>better than
> > anything else.  The correct mycorrhizal fungi (and other flora) have
>been
> > found to create acidity in the soil that is part of their activity
>in
> > breaking down minerals and improving water holding capacity.
>
>
>Joe
>
>

Lucky Pittman
USDA Zone 6
Hopkinsville, KY