WATER-RETENTION OF LIGHT EXPANDED CLAY AMENDMENT

Shallow-drained horticultural soils utilized in containers, sporting a reas, and landscape sites tend to retain excess water and thereby be p oorly aerated as a consequence of capillary retention following irriga tion or precipitation. This problem is usually corrected by soil physi cal amendment with coarse-textured particulates to add large pores whi ch drain and provide adequate aeration. A variety of materials are use d for soil physical amendment. This study examined the water retention of one of the newer amendments used for this purpose, light expanded clay amendment (LECA), relative to its use in shallow-drained soils. A lthough LECA is a porous material, its contribution to soil physical p roperties when used as an amendment were found to be similar to non-po rous amendments such as river sand or gravel because the internal wate r is not readily available for plant use.