Gypsum

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Do you have clay or a layer of hard subsoil problems in your garden?

Then gypsum may be the answer to help loosen the soil structure. It is not considered a miracle substance and you will find that it doesn't work right away, but a 3 year program of applications should help improve the poor soil conditions. It is not expensive and is easy to spread where needed.

It also has a job of repairing the soil that has been damaged through compaction from heavy stock, machinery, in the recovery of sub-soils exposed by earth movement and in soils affected by salinity.

A gardener faces one of the biggest problems in a new or established garden if they have a clay or layer of hard subsoil type of soil. This type of soil creates poor drainage, soggy soil and soil compaction.

When you have a new garden you can work organic humus, which should be done anyway, to loosen the poor soil. Manure, compost, peat moss and soil mulches and conditioners are normally used for this purpose.

You might ask, what do you do in an established garden?
A lot of work and time to recondition soil would be required. Gypsum may be just the answer for reconditioning the soil, because it can be spread on the surface of the soil like in the vegetable garden, flowerbeds or on the lawn. What this means is it does not have to be worked into the soil, it can just simply be spread on the surface.

What Does It Do?
It's main purpose is to penetrate the many clay particles in heavy or the layer of hard subsoil type soils and loosen the soil structure. Then this creates air and moisture slots that will loosen and break-up the soil structure.

Be aware that it does not contain any major plant nutrients, so continue a regular fertilizing program even though it contains calcium and sulfur which is needed for plant growth. In addition, continue to put out organic humus as you plant.

Easy to apply!
Just spread it on the lawn, using the granular type, with a lawn spreader at the rate of 40 pounds per thousand square feet. This fertilizer can be spread any time of the year and only one application per year is needed. To get it started working, water immediately after applying. If applied properly it does not affect the pH of the soil, not harmful to humans and your animals and will not burn. And because it is neutral and will not change the soil pH, you can use it in places where plants like Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons and other acid loving plants grow, they need a little calcium too. Of course, it should be applied per directions.

What is it?
Hydrous calcium sulfate
Calcium Sulfate - CaSO4
Another Name: Gypsite

Varieties:
+Selenite - Transparent and colorless/lightly colored. It shows a pearl like luster. The word selenite comes from the greek for Moon and means moon rock.
+Satin Spar - Fiber variety, a look of satin that a play of light up and down the fiberous crystals.
+Alabaster - Fine-grained, massive variety. It is an ornamental stone used in fine carvings for centuries.
+Desert Rose - A rosette shaped variety that has brown sand inclusions
+Flower - A rosette shaped variety with spreading fibers found in caverns
+Rock - A rock composed mostly of the mineral, but also contain impurities such as Calcite, Anhydrite, Rock Salt, Dolomite, Limonite, and clay

Many states contain large deposits that stretch over large regions. Such deposits exist in New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Some of the main uses:

• chalk for blackboards
  
• in Cement
  
• to make Drywall
  
• a construction material Plaster
  
• dental modes
  
• surgical casts in orthopedics
  
• a filler in paint
  
• in Toothpaste
  
• casting metals Molds
  
• agricultural soil additive, amendment, conditioner and fertilizer
  
• making Tofu with curdled soybean milk

Doing a search on this mineral I ran across these questions

--Putting it on lawn in what amounts?
It should be applied at a rate of up to 60 pounds per 1,000 feet of lawn area two times a year. Make sure that is a required additive, otherwise a waste of money plus adding will not benefit anything

--What is the chemical content?
(CaSO4 2H2O)Synthetic variety is most commonly made when using so-called scrubbers of lime in coal fired power plants to remove the smoke from sulfate. The lime and sulfate will mix and create synthetic version that is of high quality and a very pure material. Chemically this is exactly like the natural version.

--How do you get it?
--How do you obtain it?
Gypsum(CaSO4 2H2O) is one of the most ordinary natural minerals and is really a kind of rock. It is accessible in mines in some countries. The leading producers are countries such as Mexico, Spain, Thailand and the US.

While in good supply currently, there is simply a moderate supply accessible worldwide, therefore measures to maintain the natural resources should be carried out. Recycled powder can substitute for natural variety rock up to 25 per cent in the manufacture of plasterboard.

--what are the benefits use?
Gypsum has been around for over 250 years as a soil additive and plant food. Here are benefits from it's utilization on the land.

• Lowers bulk compactness of soil

  Gypsum-treated soil combined with organics can soften the soil and make it easier to till and crops react better.

• Prevents water run-off and eroding

  It is a defense against unnecessary water runoff from particularly big storms which create erosion.

• Betters Soil Composition

  Gypsum affords root growth and air and water movement.

• Converts Salty Soils

  An economical method to resolve salty soils.

• Ties Organic Matter To Clay

  The importance of organic matter is magnified when it is dispensed with this mineral.

• Soil crusting is impossible and then helps seed emersion.

  No crust formation allows more and faster seed emergence and a couple days earlier to harvest and market.

• Betters low dissolved matter Irrigation Water

• Develops water use efficiency

  Gypsum helps the efficiency use of water for the crops. In periods of drought, this is exceedingly important.

• Helps moist soils to be tilled easier

  Less energy is required for the tillage.

• Alters packed soil

  Combining with organic amendments also helps, particularly in stopping the comeback of the compaction.

• Lowers pH of salts in soil

  Gypsum instantly lowers the pH of soils to the extent of conforming to approved standards for the growth of almost all crop plants.

• Helps control dust erosion

  Severe dust problems can be decreased, particularly if mixed with the use of water-soluble naturally occurring or synthetic compound consisting of large molecules made up of a linked series of repeated simple monomers (polymers).

• Decrease bulging clays

  As sodium is changed by calcium on these clays, they swell less and consequently do not easily block the pore spaces which air, water and roots travel.

• Stops water logging of the soil

  Gypsum improves the capability of soil to drain.

• Makes magnesium harmless

• Increases quality Of Organics

  The mix of this mineral and organics increase the quality of each other as a soil amendment by decreasing the break down of soil organic matter when soils are worked.

• Helps soil conditioners perform more efficiently

  Increases the beneficial results of water-soluble conditioners used as amendments to change soil composition.

• Step-ups crop productions

  This mineral can be a farmer's champion by increasing crop yields from 10 to 50 % is very common.

• Corrects undersoil acidity

  Surface crusting can be prevented. It is feasible to have deeper rooting with producing benefits to the crops. Today it is widely used on acid soils. This mineral can improve many acid soils better than lime.

• Heavy metal toxicity is regulated

  The calcium in this mineral works as a controller of the balance of especially the micro nutrients like iron, zinc, manganese and copper in plants.

• Helps the use of low quality irrigation water

  If the effective SAR (sodium absorption ratio) of irrigation water is more than 6 for some crops, it should be applied.

• Assists plants take in nutrients

  Calcium, which is part of this mineral, is essential as most plant nutrients are absorbed by roots.

• Supplies sulfur

  It has sulfate which is a natural form of sulfur that is promptly accessible for soil requirements and plant consumption.

• Improves fruit grade and many diseases are prevented

  Good fruit quality needs an satisfactory amount of calcium found in this mineral.

• Assists in the preparation of soil for a no-till establishment

  An application of this mineral is a good to improve soil collecting and porosity that will last for years and help items more easily penetrate into the soil.

• Can keep clay away from the roots

  It may help prevent clay particles from clinging to the roots of crops like potatoes, carrots and garlic.