Jaybird1980
Grandmaster
You need to get a lot of organic matter mixed in. Compost, leaves, clippings, manure, straw etc.Earlier this spring, I had gotten 6 yards of good soil mix from a local landscaper to put in some of my raised beds. I'd gotten the same soil last year to fill one bed and my peppers grew like gang-busters in it. So I decided to dig the clay out of three of the other beds and get more of that good soil so that my plants might look as nice as the one in the pictures that you guys post.
The soil looked fine when I put it in. and the tomatoes and sweet potatoes seem fine, but very few seeds are sprouting. I can put water on it as long as I want, but then if I scrape off the surface, it's dry as a bone underneath. First I tried Dawn soap in a hose-end sprayer to act as a surfactant, and that seemed to be working, but I didn't want to use too much of that and risk my plants. Tomorrow I'm going to put a thick layer of straw and leaves over the exposed areas and see if that does anything.
Have any of you ever used one of the commercial soil wetting agents? I know they're popular in the south for use on lawns during hot dry spells, but I've never used them.