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Waco, TX

So I am trying to do my homework without asking a ton of questions but have hit a wall. I have solid tan clay...if I dig a hole and put water in there it will take however long for evaporation to get rid of the water. I built raised beds that I use for vegetables that work good and I grew watermelons out of one last year with great results. I figured that if I made some small raised beds for the watermelons to root in that I should be good at 4x4ft. 8 inches high full of cow manure compost with just a little tilling under the beds for each plant. I was just informed of the spread and size of watermelon roots which leads me to my question, would it be better to leave the 4x4 frames or lose the frames and just make mounds out of the compost in hopes that the roots can pass through the untilled clay? I feel that if I till a 200 sq ft area it will only be making a place to hold water after a rain. Any thoughts

2/27/2017 7:20:33 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Had a soil test done ?
Gypsum can help with your clay soil as should your compost.

2/28/2017 11:53:23 AM

Bethlehem CT

I am cheap I would never buy boards for raised beds. The raised beds will work just fine without them . Spend your money on fertilizers or irrigation equipment. Adding compost will improve your drainage over time. It sounds like it may take a lot! In the mean time your idea of raised beds should work. Plants hate wet roots.

2/28/2017 6:10:46 PM

Waco, TX

No soil test...I had the form filled out to send to Texas A&M but someone said why pay to have them tell you to make pots with your yard lol so I didn't send it because that made sense. I have 8 acres and it is all tan clay so I really haven't thought about trying to fix what I have. The boards I used were left over from another project so no added cost and I will be using a drip tape watering. How deep will the roots go down?

2/28/2017 10:25:55 PM