Soil? Jungle Muck

[mella l]

Just wondering if it is a blessing to have jungle muck to work with when planting.

Does it need amendments or will it be usable as it is to support a few trees and ornamentals? If needing amendment which would be best to use? It smells grand, well except where the wild piglets have been! Very organic in aroma.

Can you seed directly into it, or would starts be wiser?

Any thought and or suggestions?

Aloha,

mella l

[Rob Tucker]

I think it will depend on what you intend to plant.

Muck implies very wet. You might want to mix it with cinder to improve drainage. But I'm no expert.

[leilaniguy]

Aloha mella, it's very rich, will grow just about anything. It's acidic, might want to add lime to plants that need alkali. It also sticks like tar to anything it touches.

[Mitzi M]

Hiya Mella,

Gotta love the muck! I think Rob is right - you'll want to add some cinder for better drainiage, but probably also some compost to improve the texture and allow more air through the particles. If you don't have enough homemade, try to find mac nut husk or even the bagged compost they sell. Adding dolomitic lime would probably be a good idea too.

Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com

[mella l]

Thank y'all for responding with this is sound information, from experience! I was hoping it was rich, it smells so rich. And yes the muck is very sticky like tar and I had to donate a pair of tennies to the land fill after a week of tromping around!

I'll try the lime, mac nut husk and also the black cinder to loosen it up and sweeten it up a bit.

Mahalo plenty!

mella l

[Hotzcatz]

Plant bananas, they adore muck.