Clay Soil and bean germination help?

17 years ago

I planted the rest of my peas (cowpeas) and beans (pole limas and pole romas) last weekend and many have germinated. We've had heavy rains like most folks on the east coast, followed by hot sunshiny days.

But some of the beans are struggling to break through the clay soil, which develops a crust as it dries in the sunlight. So I've found that I'm having to water those rows to help the seedlings get above the soil, despite all the rain we've had. The soil is nice and moist just under the surface, but not on the top inch or so. No more rain is predicted for several more days, and I was afraid those that haven't broken through wouldn't because of that crust.

I'm wondering if I should sow the seeds next year by laying them on top of the soil and covering them with soil-less mix instead of native soil so they can more easily push their way up into the world? Watering them is a pain -- I had to lay out the soaker hoses, and depending on the summer weather, they may or may not be needed. We tend to get afternoon showers when it's hot, so I don't usually have to water much.

If you have soil that's tough on seed germination, do you do anything to help the seeds?

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Comments (5)

jimster
17 years ago
If you still have space, how about planting a short row as an experiment? Cover half with soilless mix only, the other half the regular way.

A third option would be to plant the regular way, then add a thin layer of soilless mix as a mulch to prevent drying of the top inch of soil.

Jim
iam3killerbs
17 years ago
A layer of compost as much would help with the soil crusting problem.

A light scattering of straw, dried grass clippings, or well-shredded leaves might help too.
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dirtdauberz5mo
17 years ago
I do this every year, and it works just fine...after you make your row, sow compost all down the length of it, and then just work the compost down into the first couple of inches. Plant your beans, and they come up nice and easy, without having to half break their backs (or stems) trying to get through the hard clay crust. It seems like no matter how much compost and other amendments I add to the garden, as soon as I go to plant, the clay has risen to the top. Sometimes I'll add a little peat moss, if the seed is very fine and the compost still a bit 'chunky'. If they are still struggling to get through now, (been a day or so since you first posted) you could even pull that top layer of crust off now and cover with compost. I have, and it works, just have to careful - hope we're not talking a 50' row here!
anney
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions, folks! Jimster, I guess I will have to experiment in years to come to see what works best.

This year seems to be unique with the problem caused by many downpours of rain.

My neighbor's corn is also having trouble breaking through the soil and he asked to borrow some soaker hoses to soften his soil yesterday. He's been growing corn there for years and years, and he told me that if it doesn't rain heavily but just some as the corn it germinating, it comes up fine. When the rain is so heavy that it sits on top of the soil before being absorbed, it binds the clay together in a broad sheet that forms a crust as it begins to dry.

So apparently it's an iffy thing. It happens some years but not others.

dirtdauberz5mo

There are still some lengths of row where the beans haven't come up, and the ones that did are already about four inches tall. Not sure if I can do anything now to help the ones that are still underground. I'll water one more time today in the small hope that a few will sprout to fill out the rows. I guess it won't be the end of the world if there are gaps since the bean vines spread all over the trellis anyway. Just a few less beans.

Everybody complains about clay soil, but I actually love it for its nutrient richness and stability and its water-holding abilities. Deep mulches around most plants keep the soil surface moist and friable and much cooler in hot weather. However, I've never mulched beans planted in this soil and they've done fine in years past.

What I may do is take some "rescue" steps in the future if we have the kind of rains we've had this spring -- some kind of lightweight mulch on the planted rows if the clay makes that big sheet -- but before it dries, enough to keep the clay under it moist. It needs only about a week total of friable surface-soil to enable even the slower seeds to break through. These started popping in three days, though we had a lot of rain during that time.
ruthieg__tx
17 years ago
I have pretty decent soil at this point but seeds still have a hard time getting through it in the hot dry summer so I just go give them a little drink of water. I'm always going out to check on my garden any way so I turn the hose on and sprinkle them. I've never done it the other way but I am sure it would probably work.