Bhal Debate

[Farhan Ahmed]

i sowed 10 seeds of amranthus on 18-06-13 for experiment...6 in situ and 4 in pot. luckily they all sprouted. recent situation is this that 3 in situ died due to rains and 1 died in pot ..others are growing well..
plants in ground..


in pot..

.
plants in ground are lanky and unhealthy but pot plants are healthy.

I don't like your soil conditions. Its clayee.....should add something to make it drain better. It has a tough crust..seems to be like that since long. Plants need to breathe more.....fungus on top crust, again sign of frequent watering..poor drainage, poor media and lack of hoeing. I agree that in summers we need not to hoe very often but considering your soil conditions i recommend to do that atleast with a interval of a week.

Don't mind if i am being tough(apno kay saath hi tough hota hai insaaan ).....and lastly remove weeds. Beds free of weeds mean less disease and more nutrients available to your plants.

This is the very reason your datura died. Clay and fungus.

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

farhan bhai hath zara hola rakhen.. .hahhahahahah....infact i was not sure that amranthus will sprout so i just sowed them in pot of hycinths bulbs,so you can say it was just experiment...and farhan bhai hoeing in ground is very difficult now a days due to severe humidity.just in 5 minutes admai pani pani ho jata hai...so i am waiting for little bit good season.and my brugmansia was in my backyard nursery which is mostly ignored place.will work on your advises..

[Farhan Ahmed]

You are doing wonders in clay soil. I wonder what heights you can rise if you get better soil such as sandy Loam.

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

farhan bhai it is not clay soil but bhal because there is a small canal near our house so bhal is available .it looks clay due to negligence and as you said just watering and no hoeing.. for future seed sowing i will use home made compost INSHAH ALLAH.

[Farhan Ahmed]

1st and 2nd picture is a nightmare soil at least for me...
BTW canal soil or bhal is infact silty clay.....yours appear to me more towards clay.
How often do you water?

[Farhan Ahmed]

This raises a lot of questions....why at all do we add bhal?
what is bhal?
is adding bhal necessary in all soils?
what changes are we looking at after adding bhal

This bhal word has become something like a magic soil ....which it aint. No soil can be same, Bhal of Karachi, Bhal of Lahore....why do we keep referring bhal, when its near impossible to have a consistency in soil anywhere?????

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

1st and 2nd picture is a nightmare soil at least for me...

yes you are right ...but you are talking about pure silty bhal which is obtained from canal or river it is called in local language kasso(کسو)..it is not bhal. infact bhal is collected from khalas(کھالہ)near by canal.it is mixture of clay and silty bhal so a perfect soil.

[Farhan Ahmed]

Lets assume your soil is clayeee......which it is. Will you like to add more clay and silt in it?

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

This raises a lot of questions....why at all do we add bhal?
what is bhal?
is adding bhal necessary in all soils?
what changes are we looking at after adding bhal

This bhal word has become something like a magic soil ....which it aint. No soil can be same, Bhal of Karachi, Bhal of Lahore....why do we keep referring bhal, when its near impossible to have a consistency in soil anywhere?????

what is bhal.
bhal is a soil which is found near canals may be near rivers but i don't know.it is a fine type of soil because due to high volume of sand and stone it is a porous type clay.if it is watered regularly then it is very soft and if left dry then becomes stone hard.it is so much soft that even to make a gachi is very difficult breaks very easily. bhal is something between clay and sand.
is adding bhal necessary.
i will say no...it is not necessary but useful so it is often used.often it is not better in agriculture because rice(munji) cannot be cultivated in pure bhal it cant keep water for many days which is necessary in monji cultivation.but for pot plants i think it is a major type of soil.it has good aeration so water logging is not possible.it is soft so roots are easily grown,draw back is this that regular watering is necessary.
what changes are we looking at after adding bhal.?
after adding bhal in clay type soil it becomes soft and airy.so useful for pots and if further well rotted manure is added then it is a miracle grower ..
these are just my points not an experts opinion so take it as light side.as you know that i am not a perfect gardener just learner so please...

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

Lets assume your soil is clayeee......which it is. Will you like to add more clay and silt in it?

no ..i will just add old manure in it nothing else..