Looking To Buy Land. How To Tell Soil Quality?

[stevehaigh]

hi, i'm looking at buying a couple of rai of land just south of petchaburi. i'm going to build a house and do a bit of self sufficiency market gardening (tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, maybe avocados, etc).

i've looked at a couple of similar looking plots but wonder if there is any way to determine which will have the better growing soil?

i'm also very concerned about water. both have government water supply and the neighbours say the government water runs all year here however this area seems very dry and i worry about water in the future. one property has a government bore hole and a hand crank pump right next to it. there is water in it now so i assume that's a good sign.

any pointers about buying land for gardening?

thx steve

[Maizefarmer]

If its just "self sufficiency" type cultivation, I wouldn;t worry to much about the soil condition as you can always easily improve it.

Water - the deeper the bore hole the better the water generaly is - and go down deep enough anywhere in Thailand and you'll eventually hit water. Problem around urban and factory areas is that you can go down 300 - 500m and still find the water is contaminated! Thats an extreme figure - generally speaking if you have to go more than 30 - 50meters you're having to go quite deep.

[drtreelove]

If its just "self sufficiency" type cultivation, I wouldn;t worry to much about the soil condition as you can always easily improve it.

True as long as there is reasonable drainage. To check drainage, dig a 6 inch deep hole (or several around the property) and fill it with water; it should drain overnight (or sooner), if not you may have a problem.

Excess salinity could also be difficult to correct, depending on good drainage to be able to irrigate and leach the salts out.

Other conditions can be corrected with fertilizers and amendments, but you should consider how much this is going to cost, where you are going to find a source of organic matter (manure, rice hulls, etc) and how you are going to transport the material to your property. The costs can add up, so it is good to know what you are dealing with and does it fit your budget. Are you going to have your own pickup truck or depend on hired transport? Is there an ag university nearby, a farm supply/fertilizer shop, do you speak Thai or have a partner who can help you get the materials, delivery, best prices, etc

I don't know that area at all, but soil analysis is available at some agricultural universities and through the land development department. But getting the results back will take at least 2 weeks (6 weeks for LDD) so may not be practical when hot on a property search.

Look around at neighbor properties, the closer the better to the property you are interested in. What are they growing, what kind of water supply and irrigation methods are they working with; strike up some friendly conversations with the neighboring garderners/farmers, you will find that this is a great way to meet the neighbors, they love to talk about their gardens, it is their pride and livelyhood. You will immediately gain their respect on a certain level if you are interested in the soil and the crops there. Find out what problems they face and even what they know about the land you are interested in and what was grown there in the past. This will be much better information than superficial observations.

Good luck and happy growing. don

[slapout]

The last paragraph of drtreelove is spot on. With 2 rai you can look at what is next to it and get good indication of soil fertility, the visit with potential neighbors will be most helpful near and long term. If you are going to build on it just make sure the scraps, excess cement etc are hauled off and not buried where you may want to plant a tree or a garden. Good luck

[stevehaigh]

thanks for the info

the land is all pineapple right now. there are a lot of pineapple and tomatoes in the area. i will try the drainage test. thanks for the tip.

i've also been looking at some rice paddy land. i would need to fill it to build a house and grow trees and i'm trying to figure out how much that will cost. but, assuming i get it filled, would that make good tree and vegi growing land? i assume the drainage capacity of rice paddy is almost zero but when raised about 1m higher than the neighbours, maybe it would drain ok? what do you think?

thx steve

[drtreelove]

i've also been looking at some rice paddy land. i would need to fill it to build a house and grow trees and i'm trying to figure out how much that will cost. but, assuming i get it filled, would that make good tree and vegi growing land? i assume the drainage capacity of rice paddy is almost zero but when raised about 1m higher than the neighbours, maybe it would drain ok? what do you think?

You're right about this, raising the soil grade with decent topsoil will get you some drainage advantage, of course it will be proportionate to the depth of your lift and quality of the new fill. The lay of the land and position of run-off channels should all be considered. Filling also allows you the option to install extra-ordinary drainage systems if needed (terracing, tiles, french drains).

Most fill dirt that is available is subsoil excavations and not too great for vegie gardening without a lot of work and organic matter additions. Build your house on that kind of fill, but create some raised planting areas for your home landscape with better soil. You can possibly get better topsoil delivered, but it is usually a challenge, unless you can go to the bulk soil source and see and order a specific choice.

I'm not a soil scientist, but knowing something about soil structure will prepare you to make some choices. Soil heavy in sand content (larger particles) is too porous and drains too fast; the smallest soil particles are clay, they pack together tightly and impede drainage. Silt particles are in the middle of the size range. Loam is soil that has a mixed content of particle size and is more preferable for plants and is easier to build soil fertility, sandy loam has more sand content and clay loam has more clay. You can get a rough idea of soil structure by handling and balling up a handful of soil. Sand will not form a ball, clay will form a sticky wad. Hold the soil ball that you have formed out at shoulder level and drop it onto a hard soil surface. If it stays in a ball on the ground it is dominantly clay, if it breaks up, you have more sandy or loamy soil structure.

You should really try to get sandy loam or silt or clay loam for your gardening areas and budget for some loads of organic matter too. If you can afford this it will make life easier, you will be able to get better conditions going sooner than if you start with lumps of clay goo.

I have a friend who has been doing just that, creating a home and small farm on rice land. I don't know how many loads of soil that he brought in but it has been significant. The heavy clay subsoil was the most available, so he only used higher quality loamy soil in growing areas. The quality of the topsoil that he imported was not always dependable and he got some crappy stuff on some loads, until he found a more dependable supplier. He had to shop and inspect and get samples to try and get the best soil.