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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] melons

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  • From: Sheridan Shumway <rattler_mt@yahoo.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] melons
  • Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:49:27 -0700 (PDT)


cant see where sand plays a part in helping a melon build cell walls.....most
sand is pretty inert and plants are unable to pick up anything from
it.....last year when my did so well with melons they were in soil with
nearly no sand in it....they were in mostly clay with a little bit of
humus.....if there is some trace mineral in sand that the melons are using it
is likely not in universal amounts in the various types of sand across the US
or the world so it makes little seance to recommend sand in that respect
cause the sand i have access to may not have the trace elements yours
does......when ppl tell me melons like sandy soil i read into that to mean
they like good drainage....so i planted mine on the hill top....and they did
fine in near pure clay....

had a discussion similar to this earlier this week about clay in respect to
growing Nepenthes, tropical pitcher plants, some growers in Singapore were
using a type of fired clay for growing neps...and the discussion was is that
really helpful to the rest of us as there are 30 types of pure clays and
natural clays are made up of any combination of those 30 pure types plus
could contain other minerals such as iron oxide.....so when im discussing
clay im likely talking about a very different soil than someone say in
Georgia or Singapore as far as the makeup of it...my clay might be high in a
mineral such as zinc which is toxic to Nepenthes in much quantity where the
gal in Singapores clay may have none...

Sheridan S.







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