Composted wood chip as planting medium?

[shillo]

Would anybody have an idea whether it would be a good idea to plant ericaceous  loving rhodos into very old, well composted wood chip?

[Paul in the woods]

Can you ph test it? I've mixed composted pine and ericaceous compost for azaleas without problems but I knew the mix would be acidic.

[TuscanPhil]

My wife (the gardener amongst us) uses rotted wood chip (1 yr old) as a top dressing (2-3" or so) but I'm not sure she's ever used it as a planting medium...

[nepia]

Not sure the physical anchorage would be sufficient Andrew; you'd need to consider planting deep to try and obtain it but as I'm sure you know Rhodys are shallow rooted. Deep planting of them also inhibits flowering.

I'd try to work a good amount of chip into the topsoil and be done with that; then a shallow mulch.

 

Jon

[shillo]

Ive basically been asked to plant up an area with white, scented rhodos, but after a little exploratory dig the ground is pure shillet, so my plan was simply to cover the area in composted wood chip (at least 5yr old) to a depth of 100mm ish then plant up probably using a bag of ericaceous compost per plant. Any body recommend a ph meter/tester?

[Khriss]

@shillo put some sharp sand in it also so it crumbs up well. Lime will break up clay content. K

[Paul in the woods]

19 minutes ago, Khriss said:

@shillo put some sharp sand in it also so it crumbs up well. Lime will break up clay content. K

You don't want to use lime if you're planting lime hating plants!

 

As for a pH tester, I've tried a cheap prong type and it didn't work for me. The ones with a pH solution seem ok, go for a kit with a bottle of solution if you plan a few tests.

[renewablejohn]

On 26/03/2021 at 21:15, shillo said:

Would anybody have an idea whether it would be a good idea to plant ericaceous  loving rhodos into very old, well composted wood chip?

Not a problem. I normally compost woodchip in tonne bags, Anything over two years I use as a substitute for bagged ericaceous compost for replacement of normal compost I just add wood ash to the basic composted woodchip mix.

[nepia]

So my suggestion that the plants would lack anchorage is wrong?

 

Genuine q, not picking a fight!

 

I've just moved house and the soil here is Weald clay.  The less digging I do the better; I'm aiming at no dig (though won't achieve it) and one issue I foresee is the lack of anchorage my plants will have if I plant into old organic matter without reference to the actual soil.

 

Cheers

Edited March 29, 2021 by nepia

[renewablejohn]

totally wrong.  I use IBC containers chopped in half for deep beds. Filled with 400mm of 2year old composted woodchip with a bucket full of wood ash mixed into the top 50mm of the composted woodchip and you can grow any veg. For spuds miss out the wood ash and lay spuds on the surface and cover with 100mm of hay or straw. I am totally no dig.