Soil holding too much water

[AntC]

It's the calcium in the lime which helps break clay.
I'm using crushed up plasterboard (which is gypsum, calcium sulphate) instead, partly because I already had a load of plasterboard offcuts lying about, so it was free, and partly because calcium sulphate doesn't affect soil pH, unlike lime (calcium carbonate).

I would be wary of adding gypsum to the soil. This is because when gypsum is disposed of alongside biodegradable wastes it can lead to the production of odorous and toxic hydrogen sulphide gas. There are legal requirements about it's disposal and is not meant to go the landfill. Quite possibly there would be insignificant amounts of biodegradable contents within the soil of your allotment to cause a problem, but I would be careful. Feel free to shoot down my advice if you think it's nonsense - I'm only saying!

[Snadger]

Instead of weeding, I move the beds to get away from it Its heading southwards and there's not much more room to move them now.

However, I actually enjoy pulling up couch roots, when the soil is right, not too wet and sticky or too dry when the roots snap. Its so satisfying when you can track a long length of root and remove it intact. Its the little things that make gardening so enjoyable.

The couch grass I have encountered is confined to the surface of the soil, rarely penetrating below a spade depth. Compared to other pernicious weeds I find it comparatively easy to eradicate.

[bikermike]

Good point VC, but I'm not sure that it's been banned in the UK specifically but in the EU in general because the suppliers refused to test the product on dogs which, seems to me to be entirely sensible. It is able to be used as a compost accelerator and, as I understand it, is broken down to totally non toxic residues. IMHO it's probably safer than Glyphosate and I guess that from February 1 we will be able to use it as a herbicide.

I'm not sure that your belief counts as valid scientific decision-making.
From 1 February we may, or may not, be able to do lots of things. Perhaps we'll have DDT back too... maybe napalm, who knows?

Just because a chemical is acceptable in one context doesn't mean it's acceptable in another

[bikermike]

My plot is on a hill (as too is my house), so there are plenty of places for the water to go. It's not high water table which is the issue (if anything, the deeper I dig, the drier it gets), it's just the soil itself has sponge-like absorbancy (and it rains a lot).

Surely the answer is to leave well alone then. If it's taking a while to percolate through, then it will do in time. Over the drier months of the year, I'd think there's more to be gained from soil that retains water.

[rary]

It's the calcium in the lime which helps break clay.
I'm using crushed up plasterboard (which is gypsum, calcium sulphate) instead, partly because I already had a load of plasterboard offcuts lying about, so it was free, and partly because calcium sulphate doesn't affect soil pH, unlike lime (calcium carbonate).

Having worked in a chemical factory where the manufacturer of plasterboard after tests wanted to use the calsium sulphate that was produced from a process within the factory but the company wouldn't sell it due to the potential contaminates that could be contained in the calcium sulphate but sadly not all producers are as careful

[ameno]

I would be wary of adding gypsum to the soil. This is because when gypsum is disposed of alongside biodegradable wastes it can lead to the production of odorous and toxic hydrogen sulphide gas. There are legal requirements about it's disposal and is not meant to go the landfill. Quite possibly there would be insignificant amounts of biodegradable contents within the soil of your allotment to cause a problem, but I would be careful. Feel free to shoot down my advice if you think it's nonsense - I'm only saying!

Gypsum can be bought in pre-powdered form specifically for soil amelioration, and farmers use both mined gypsum and gypsum from recycled plasterboard all the time.
Dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide are only a consideration when large quantities are buried all in the same place.

[AntC]

Gypsum can be bought in pre-powdered form specifically for soil amelioration, and farmers use both mined gypsum and gypsum from recycled plasterboard all the time.
Dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide are only a consideration when large quantities are buried all in the same place.

Suitably shot down! My comment was because when I wanted to take a trailer load of plasterboard to the tip, they wouldn't take it because of the risk of its toxicity.

[AntC]

I'm not sure that your belief counts as valid scientific decision-making.
From 1 February we may, or may not, be able to do lots of things. Perhaps we'll have DDT back too... maybe napalm, who knows?

Just because a chemical is acceptable in one context doesn't mean it's acceptable in another

Never pretended to be a decision-making scientist.