I am an outdoor grower and I live in soutern california with mostly clay makeup of the soil. I plan to amend the soil for 6 plants next year as such : - 3 parts native soil. - 1 part miracle grow organic choice ground soil (no fertilizer added). - 1 part organic compost. - 1 part chicken manure. - 2 parts earthworm castings. - 2 parts pumice. I am digging the holes 2 and a half feet deep (to the sandy soil) and at the bottom i am putting an inch thick layer of mexican beach pebbles for drainage and filling in with the amended soil. After putting the soil down I am going to get 200 count earthworms and insert them into the soil, along with predatory type beneficial nematodes. After i have done all this I will allow the soil a month to age in the sun before transplanting the plants into it. Once plants have been planted I will add either shredded redwood or expanded hydroclay mulch. What do you think?
Im no expert on outdoors, but it sounds like you have everything covered. I would increase the amount of pebble drainage though at the bottom. 1" wont be much when you have to water 5 foot plants at the end. Besides that i would just recommend taking a soil sampling after you mix it to be sure that all your nutrients exist where the levels are suppose to be. better safe than sorry.
I was actually kind of worried about that, should i double the rock layer and drop the bottom down a bit, and mmaybe add 3 parts pumice instead of 2 parts, what do you think?