Baileys Clay & Compost

Baileys have released a breakthrough soil conditioner, specifically formulated for Perth's sandy soils the least fertile soil on Planet Earth. By going back to basics and creating a new formula from the ground up the new conditioner addresses the needs of our unique soils.

How does it work? 

Our natural sandy soils lack carbon, humus, soil life and moisture reserves.  Urban developers when creating new suburbs further degrade soil by removing tree cover and ploughing up the remaining sand so that a new garden is pretty much bereft of life -  a new meaning to 'ground zero'. Existing gardens can also have similar problems if the soil is left bare, as the vital carbon supplies are readily lost into the atmosphere. 

Adding a mere 1% of humus to the soil can increase moisture-holding by as much as 17 litres per square metre, which is a massive result.  Nutrient holding capacity is called Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and it's a term that describes the soils ability to attract and hold electrically charged particles that make up the mineral nutrient elements that plants need in order to photosynthesis. Our sands have a very low CEC meaning that nutrients are rapidly leached through the soil. This makes fertiliser applications ineffective as the bulk of the nutrients, as much as 60% bypasses the root system of the plants we were aiming to fertilise. 

Soil Solver is another major ingredient.  This consists of Kaolin clay and mineral silts.   The benefits of this combination include a permanent boost to Cation Exchange Capacity and moisture-holding capacity of sandy soils.  Mineral silts are fine particles rich in a range of minor and trace elements that plants can easily access.  In other words, a boost to plant nutrition. Our modern Western diet fails to deliver many of the vital minerals we need.  Growing food in soils that are replete with such minerals can deliver better health outcomes for our families and us. 

Rock Minerals are also included in the mix beyond those found in the mineral silts mentioned above. These tend to act as slow breakdown plant foods and trace elements adding more goodies to the bundle.