Beach sand - aged

[Shmuel]

Hi all,

Well I got the incredible gift of 12 cubic meters of sand. A kindergarten was moving and the contents of the sandbox were being hauled away. I said "just dump it here"... and they did.

Now, what do I do with the stuff??? Do you think since it has been sitting out for a year that the salt issue is washed away? Jerusalem has about as much rain as Los Angeles - winter only.

To make an outdoor bed - I am afraid that mixing some of our clay soil with it will make concrete. Perhaps just a little will help though. What do you think? They sell bags of "compost" which is really aged chicken and cow poop - I could mix some of that in. Do you think that would help "temper" the clay of our soil with the sand?

Do you think I can use the sand straight for propagating?

Thanks for any advice!

Shmuel

[Silenus]

You don't want sea sand as it is very fine.
Paver sand, filler sand, etc. are good choices.

[iann]

Don't add "just a little" to your clay, that really is the way to make "concrete". They clay will still set hard when it dries and the sand will stop any cracks forming so it stays as a completely solid block.

If you want to modify your clay soil you should plan on adding at least as much sand as the existing soil, maybe more. A sandy loam is around 70% sand with just a small amount of clay, although your existing soil probably already has some sand in it. This is major work because it isn't easy to mix it thoroughly. You may want to play with a small quantity to see if you can make a soil which crumbles rather than sticks together. Make sure you also modify the soil to a good depth. Sandy soil drains well into deeper layers of sandy soil, but it won't drain well into a different layer underneath which is one of the reasons it doesn't work so well in pots.

Adding organic material is a good way to modify soil but it probably isn't good for putting in succulents. The standard way to modify soil for succulents is to add coarse inert material like grit because you don't need as much as with sand and you can get much faster drainage.

I don't like sand for propagating, too dense. It goes from being totally waterlogged to being bone dry with very little in between.

[Loph]

mud wrestling at Shmuel's house.

one guy here uses beach sand exclusively with decent results. but the sand is mostly coral/shells and such. i tried it but didnt like it a lot, i ended up using it in leafy plant soils to loosen it up a bit.

[Shmuel]

Thanks for the replies.

Ian, I was thinking more of "just a little" clay soil added to the sand. My intention was also to do it as a raised bed... Maybe though, beach sand is too fine as Silenus said, but that is what I have.

There is a red sandy loam in Israel that I use straight for many of my plants. I have to water a lot, but the cacti etc seem to love it. What I have now is all this beach sand... could be after the mud wrestling we'll have an ersatz beach party...

Shmuel

By the way, Ian, I really am getting a lot out of your old posts such as http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... c&start=15
They may be old but not forgotten.