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| I Just planted 3 trees, one mango, banana, and a tangelo. The tangelo seems like the only one with drainage problems. The first night after being planted i ran the hose on each of the 3 for a bit to let some water soak in the hole but the water in the tangelo would just pool up.
now when I run my drip systems I have 2x 2gph emitters on each tree (2 emitters per tree) and I have been watering for 2 hours every 2 days. Since my backyard is desert rock gravel I can see where the water ends up after the watering cycle is done, and the amount of wet rocks around the tangelo is way more then the other 2. (probably due to it pooling up so much) Any way to improve drainage in loamy clay soil? I've already used a broom stick to try and punch some holes around the outer perimeter of the hole but that didn't seem to work. Maybe I should switch the emitters to 1gph on that one tree to try and compensate for the poor drainage? Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by motown_gardener (My Page) on Mon, Mar 16, 09 at 12:26
| good idea with the emitters for now. use gypsum, it wont really have an immediate effect but it with braek down the salts that hold the clay so tight and help drain better in the future. if this is a new planting i would dig that 1 tree back up and mix gypsum with the dirt in the hole under the tree. home depot sells a soil called Kelloggs Amend- this has compost, chicken-poo, gypsum and other stuff already in it and thats what they told me to use when i bought my shade tree. gypsum is in season now and might be hard to find. i tried 2 home depots and a lowes and all were out! But my tree is doing well with the Amend. |
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| I used Kellog's N'Rich as a planting medium, ill have to see if it has gypsum in it. maybe I should pull the tree and punch some more holes beneath where the tree sits. |
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- Posted by softmentor z9/sunset13 CA deser (My Page) on Fri, Mar 27, 09 at 8:05
| I'd say it's time for some sweat on the brow. dig around the tree for a couple feet out and a couple feet down. That will break up the layers that are making the ground act like a pot, keeping the water in. Also, cut back how much water it is getting so it doesn't get water logged. Last, move the drip away from the tree a few inches so that the water wets around the tree, and doesn't soak it quite so directly. |
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