Sheetrock as a soil amendment?

[Hayseed]

I have a whole pile of sheetrock scraps left over from putting up the interior walls of my new house. I had a brainfart the other day and wondered why I could not lay the scraps around on the ground on the back of my three acre lot and, after a few rains and a little time, till it into the soil as an amendment. After all it is gypsum, which is commonly used as a soil amendment. There is also some sort of paper or cardboard layer which holds it together and I am sure some type of glue. It seems a waste to toss this scrap pile into a dumpster if I could recycle it, especially since my "gumbo" soil needs all the help it can get to improve its texture. I would use the area where the sheetrock would be mixed in as my garden spot in a year or two. Is this a good idea or a bad one?

[GaryM]

I've used gypsum as a soil amendment. Maybe this would work. Do you think the paper backing would break down fast enough that it wouldn't interfear? Maybe pile it up and drive over the pile to make smaller pieces.

[Bird]

Chris, I don't know what the gypsum would do for your soil. I guess it could be bad, but I wouldn't hesitate to do myself. As for paper, you know that'll disintegrate and sure can't hurt anything as far as I know. When I first started raising rabbits, I was using hay for nest material, but then changed to shredded newspaper; just ran our newpapers through my shredder and put in the nests; always had an abundant supply, and then when I emptied the nest boxes, it all went into the garden and was tilled it.

Maybe I shouldn't have replied to this post 'cause I really don't know what your sheetrock will do to a garden spot, but it sounds like a good idea to me. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Hayseed]

Hi Bird,

I'm not so much worried about the sheetrock or the paper... just wondered about the glue or whatever holds it all together. It sounds like a good idea to me, too! I would just hate to do it and find out later that I have made a mistake.

[Hayseed]

Hi Gary,

I kinda wondered how long it would take for the paper to break down, too, but it may be a year or two down the road before I try to make a garden so that would give it a while to decompose. Worst case scenario I guess I might find myself picking up scraps of paper over a period of time.

[TimSullivan]

This spring I had a pile of sheetrock left over too. Used the FEL to brake it up and then dumped it into the pile of extra dirt. Mixed it in a little with the FEL and now it is just about gone paper and all. Sure beats $40 a load at the land fill.

[wichiwichi]

Get a soil sample done first. If you have this wonderful black gumbo junk they call dirt, you will be compounding the problem. Most of the black gumbo is already alkaline. The best way to break it up is lots of organic matter. Do a search on Houston black soil. Lots of information.

[Hayseed]

My neighbors have told me that the soil is alkyline and I definitely don't want to make it worse. I was just thinking about how it would help break up the clods and give my soil a better consistancy.

I do plan on doing some soil testing after I get moved into my new home. Until then I think I will just pile up the sheetrock scraps and let them start to break down. The worst that can happen is that I might have to scrape up the pile w/ my front end loader, dump it in my trailer and haul it to the dump.

[Stoneheartfarm]

We had a bunch of small (and some not so small) scrap pieces left over after building the house. I threw them on top of the ground in the fall and by spring, the paper on the top sides had started to come off and blow around. If I had covered the whole mess with some dirt right away, I wouldn't have had the problem.

It doesn't seem to have hurt the soil, and the local rabbits have been tunneling through it and nesting there.

Steve

[theboman]

I think putting the sheetrock on the ground and running over it a few times in all directions with a tractor should break it up well enough and this fall have it all tilled into your garden.
I think the glue would breakdown.