Agricultural Gypsum

[louse1953]

G'day mates,as i live in Issan the soil i have is clay.I would like to know if gypsum is available here.I have been looking without success.I even bought some from Oz to show locals,but no luck.Does any body know the Thai words for agricultural gypsum.It takes me 5 minutes to explain i don't want gyprock plasterboard.A mate said use lime,but i don't rekon this is right for breaking up clay.

[somo]

It's called boon khow and also known as yipsum

Most larger farm shops stock it around here. I paid 40Baht/10kg bag

Edited June 29, 2015 by somo

[NeverSure]

Gypsum plasterboard works fine and is the same thing. The paper rapidly decomposes if there's moisture. The only reason I mention it is that sometimes it's free as scraps.

You do for sure know that this material is very alkaline and will raise the PH of the soil if you use much of it? Have you tested soil for PH?

This is great stuff for breaking up clay, but I would prefer compost or at least some of each and would work at making that, even from rice straw. Rice straw lacks nitrogen (found in green stuff) for decomposition but I'd add that as a supplement from a fertilizer product and turn the piles and keep them moist.

You can soak plasterboard to soften it and distribute it with a manure spreader.

Good luck.

[NeverSure]

I should have been more clear. I believe that gypsum will raise the PH one point for every ten pounds applied to 100 square feet which a square about 3 meters on a side. I don't know what you're growing but different plants prefer a different PH and grasses such as rice might like neutral, or about 7.0 PH.

Sorry if you know all of this. I run into some guys in Thailand who haven't farmed before.

Cheers

[kickstart]

It's called boon khow and also known as yipsum

Most larger farm shops stock it around here. I paid 40Baht/10kg bag

Boon Khow,as I know it, is lime, as you say gypsum is known as, yipsum,round here not easy to find,all the plastering I have seen is done with sand and cement.

[goldfinger]

It's called boon khow and also known as yipsum

Most larger farm shops stock it around here. I paid 40Baht/10kg bag

better 50 kg bag for 150.- baht. Shops which sell fertilizer have it normally.

[drtreelove]

Don't guess, get a soil test. Sometimes its appropriate to use ag gypsum, sometimes ag lime, or both, depending on deficiencies and balance of minerals indicated and Ca:Mg ratio found through the soil analysis.

www.soilminerals.com

[fredge45]

Took me quite a lot of looking but found that an ag chemical shop right near my place had stacks of it! But that's not in Issan but outside of Chiang Mai. Thailand is a very large exporrter of gypsum so I was surprised at the difficulty of finding a supplier.

[NeverSure]

Gypsum is very heavy compared to soil. Lifting a bag of it might surprise some people. The reason I mention that is because it will disappear over time to the bottom of the depth you till the soil by any means. When that happens there is no improvement in the tilth of the topsoil any more. Compost on the other hand will break completely down and virtually disappear over time but not all that fast. It will stay in suspension. Both treatments need to be renewed but only compost has a nearly neutral PH. Compost also has a broader spectrum of nutrients. Compost is awesome for breaking up clay

I would be careful with the gypsum over time and check PH of the soil because every plant has it's own PH range where it grows best, and most won't grow well if at all in the totally wrong PH.

Cheers.

[AlexO]

Gypsum is very heavy compared to soil. Lifting a bag of it might surprise some people. The reason I mention that is because it will disappear over time to the bottom of the depth you till the soil by any means. When that happens there is no improvement in the tilth of the topsoil any more. Compost on the other hand will break completely down and virtually disappear over time but not all that fast. It will stay in suspension. Both treatments need to be renewed but only compost has a nearly neutral PH. Compost also has a broader spectrum of nutrients. Compost is awesome for breaking up clay

I would be careful with the gypsum over time and check PH of the soil because every plant has it's own PH range where it grows best, and most won't grow well if at all in the totally wrong PH.

Cheers.

Hi

Thanks for an interesting post subject. I am horrified at the heavy clay I have on our land in Udon and need to do something serious about it. It is former rice paddy that was growing Eucaliptus tree,s which we dug up but the rain season has just compacted the soil again and it will be like concrete when dry's out. I want to dig as much organic material in and was wondering if there is a recommended weight per Rai of Gypsum to apply as well as organic.

[farmerjo]

Gypsum is very heavy compared to soil. Lifting a bag of it might surprise some people. The reason I mention that is because it will disappear over time to the bottom of the depth you till the soil by any means. When that happens there is no improvement in the tilth of the topsoil any more. Compost on the other hand will break completely down and virtually disappear over time but not all that fast. It will stay in suspension. Both treatments need to be renewed but only compost has a nearly neutral PH. Compost also has a broader spectrum of nutrients. Compost is awesome for breaking up clay

I would be careful with the gypsum over time and check PH of the soil because every plant has it's own PH range where it grows best, and most won't grow well if at all in the totally wrong PH.

Cheers.

Hi

Thanks for an interesting post subject. I am horrified at the heavy clay I have on our land in Udon and need to do something serious about it. It is former rice paddy that was growing Eucaliptus tree,s which we dug up but the rain season has just compacted the soil again and it will be like concrete when dry's out. I want to dig as much organic material in and was wondering if there is a recommended weight per Rai of Gypsum to apply as well as organic.

Hi Alex,

Without soil ph hard to know.Back in Aus on heavy clay most of the farmers i used to spread for would apply at 400kg/rai.

There's a good post from Watersedge in another gypsum thread about applying 24-0-0-24 fertilizer to do the same,

I've found out there's 9 mines around pichit/nakon sawan province border if required in bulk although still waiting for names and phone numbers.

The other way is bags called green cal from DKT.

I myself with shitty clay have been recommended 1 ton of organic matter and now 500 kgs gypsum per rai.to get things started.

[AlexO]

Gypsum is very heavy compared to soil. Lifting a bag of it might surprise some people. The reason I mention that is because it will disappear over time to the bottom of the depth you till the soil by any means. When that happens there is no improvement in the tilth of the topsoil any more. Compost on the other hand will break completely down and virtually disappear over time but not all that fast. It will stay in suspension. Both treatments need to be renewed but only compost has a nearly neutral PH. Compost also has a broader spectrum of nutrients. Compost is awesome for breaking up clay

I would be careful with the gypsum over time and check PH of the soil because every plant has it's own PH range where it grows best, and most won't grow well if at all in the totally wrong PH.

Cheers.

Hi

Thanks for an interesting post subject. I am horrified at the heavy clay I have on our land in Udon and need to do something serious about it. It is former rice paddy that was growing Eucaliptus tree,s which we dug up but the rain season has just compacted the soil again and it will be like concrete when dry's out. I want to dig as much organic material in and was wondering if there is a recommended weight per Rai of Gypsum to apply as well as organic.

Hi Alex,

Without soil ph hard to know.Back in Aus on heavy clay most of the farmers i used to spread for would apply at 400kg/rai.

There's a good post from Watersedge in another gypsum thread about applying 24-0-0-24 fertilizer to do the same,

I've found out there's 9 mines around pichit/nakon sawan province border if required in bulk although still waiting for names and phone numbers.

The other way is bags called green cal from DKT.

I myself with shitty clay have been recommended 1 ton of organic matter and now 500 kgs gypsum per rai.to get things started.

Thanks FJ

The organics I was thinking about was rice straw and husks with sawdust or wood chippings if I can find them. Not really ideal but plan to have this ploughed in to give some form of air gaps for drainage, maybe some river sand if I can find that as well and then build on top with compost and green mulches to form a growing level. Thanks again for the information.

[farmerjo]

Gypsum is very heavy compared to soil. Lifting a bag of it might surprise some people. The reason I mention that is because it will disappear over time to the bottom of the depth you till the soil by any means. When that happens there is no improvement in the tilth of the topsoil any more. Compost on the other hand will break completely down and virtually disappear over time but not all that fast. It will stay in suspension. Both treatments need to be renewed but only compost has a nearly neutral PH. Compost also has a broader spectrum of nutrients. Compost is awesome for breaking up clay

I would be careful with the gypsum over time and check PH of the soil because every plant has it's own PH range where it grows best, and most won't grow well if at all in the totally wrong PH.

Cheers.

Hi

Thanks for an interesting post subject. I am horrified at the heavy clay I have on our land in Udon and need to do something serious about it. It is former rice paddy that was growing Eucaliptus tree,s which we dug up but the rain season has just compacted the soil again and it will be like concrete when dry's out. I want to dig as much organic material in and was wondering if there is a recommended weight per Rai of Gypsum to apply as well as organic.

Hi Alex,

Without soil ph hard to know.Back in Aus on heavy clay most of the farmers i used to spread for would apply at 400kg/rai.

There's a good post from Watersedge in another gypsum thread about applying 24-0-0-24 fertilizer to do the same,

I've found out there's 9 mines around pichit/nakon sawan province border if required in bulk although still waiting for names and phone numbers.

The other way is bags called green cal from DKT.

I myself with shitty clay have been recommended 1 ton of organic matter and now 500 kgs gypsum per rai.to get things started.

Thanks FJ

The organics I was thinking about was rice straw and husks with sawdust or wood chippings if I can find them. Not really ideal but plan to have this ploughed in to give some form of air gaps for drainage, maybe some river sand if I can find that as well and then build on top with compost and green mulches to form a growing level. Thanks again for the information.

No worries,happy to help.

I made a post about gypsum in the maize thread,its not cheap in thailand,called into Global house in KhonKaen this afternoon and my wife went and talked to a staff member and he said for 25kg it was 220 baht but it could of been chinese whispers by the time it got back to me.

There's quite a few people on here who have excellent knowledge on the subject who may help.

I'm still a relative newbie at it myself.Spreading it was the easy part.

Edited September 24, 2015 by farmerjo

[farmerjo]

My gypsum arrived and unloaded today.

worked out just over 130 baht a 50kilo bag thats including freight and unloading.

[fruitman]

It's called boon khow and also known as yipsum

Most larger farm shops stock it around here. I paid 40Baht/10kg bag

I paid 25 baht for 1 kg or even 500 gram, brandname Thunder Cal.

[JungleBiker]

C360_2015-10-02-16-26-14-327.jpg

My gypsum arrived and unloaded today.

worked out just over 130 baht a 50kilo bag thats including freight and unloading.

Hi Farmjo, So can you tell us where you got your gypsum? Obviously not from Global House.

Thanks, JB.

[farmerjo]

C360_2015-10-02-16-26-14-327.jpg

My gypsum arrived and unloaded today.

worked out just over 130 baht a 50kilo bag thats including freight and unloading.

Hi Farmjo, So can you tell us where you got your gypsum? Obviously not from Global House.

Thanks, JB.

Hi JB,

Checkout tkkfer.com in saraburi.

[JungleBiker]

Thanks Farmerjo! I see they also mention rock phosphate which I just asked about in another thread.