Choosing a way to plow heavy earth with clay
Need some advice! We recently bought a plot with a small summer cottage. But when trying to plow the beds with a light motor-cultivator, it turned out that this is almost unrealistic. The soil is clayey, the cultivator barely moves. But then what about a large area for potatoes and other plantings? Advise, the better to plow the soil, heavy with clay, and how to solve this problem in general?
Perhaps it is the clay soil that gives the owners the most problems. It is difficult to plow, and even harder to grow a rich harvest on it. The earth heats up slowly and retains moisture for a long time, which is why plants often begin to rot.
Let’s start plowing
It is almost impossible to plow such land with a light cultivator or horses (which is still practiced today in small areas). The soil is too hard, hard and sticky. Therefore, there is only one answer to the question, the better to plow the soil, heavy with clay – a powerful cultivator or a tractor. Of course, it is not necessary to use massive, heavy tractors such as are used in the fields. Today, small, light tractors with a fairly high power are imported to our country from China and Belarus. They are quite capable of plowing the desired area with high quality, although it will take a lot of time.
But at the same time, you need to try to solve the problem of clay soil..
Improving clay soil
Of course, you can simply replace the soil on the site with a better one – it is enough to remove the top layer of clay soil and bring 5-10 trucks of black soil. This will fix the problem right away. But this is difficult and extremely expensive. Therefore, we solve the problem differently..
In the fall, when the crop is harvested, the site needs to be plowed again. Moreover, it should first be sprinkled with fine sawdust or chopped straw..
You need to plow not too deep – 15-20 centimeters is enough. In addition, to this depth, the soil is most densely populated with microorganisms that will process any organic matter before the next planting. Thus, two goals are achieved – the land is fertilized and becomes lighter..
You can also add sand and peat to the straw – with such an admixture, the clay soil will be better saturated with oxygen, which contributes to the best growth of any plants.
It will not be possible to completely change the soil in one year, but in 5-7 years the changes will be noticeable to the naked eye.
