Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicolas Naranja
The calcium in the gypsum makes the soil clay particles clump together so that it makes the soil behave as if it were made of large sized particles. It can do wonders for drainage and workability. Another option would be to use large quantities of organic matter and work it into the soil. Your goal is to get a crumb structure in your garden soil.
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Here in the west, our clay soils often already have a lot of calcium in them so that more calcium is not necessarily a good answer. Our water supply tends to be alkaline as well. A long term plan to keep the soil pH in the 6 to 6.5 range helps a lot. Carbon is sometimes scarce in these soils, so adding more via plant matter, humic acid, etc. can be very beneficial.