OK, there are a few commercial soil conditioners out there, Aerify is one. Not that we need to know exactly what is in it, but others in the forum posts have given some information. There also are various thoughts on how to make it.

Could someone who knows about such things put down in a list what to purchase and mix up in order to somewhat replicate a microbial soil conditioner? I've seen some conflicting (at least to me, the unknowing) posts regarding shampoo, spit, beer, molasses, bear dung and I think I saw something about bee's wings? Just kidding.

I'm sure there is a basic formula that would be good for regenerating my clay soil, and just be good overall to just keep spraying every other month or so during the year, rather than purchasing the Aerify-type commercial products at around $70 a gallon plus $20 shipping.

Thanks.

mj

Morph will have his own solution involving buying mass quantities of stuff on eBay. It is useful if you have a couple golf courses to do. My yard is 4,000 square feet under turf so I prefer to stick with stuff I can find at the grocery store. Here's the recipe

4 ounces of generic baby shampoo
20 ounces of water
1 eye of newt
1 toad liver

Mix the shampoo in the water in your hose end sprayer. Spray it all out on 1,000 square feet of soil. Then water your weekly watering after you sprayed the soap. The watering afterward will drench the soil and carry the soap in. That watering will water deeper than ever before. Repeat every week for a month and then go to monthly. Then dip the eye of newt and the toad's liver in some Ranch Dressing and have a tasty appetizer.

Hey, most of us just store the stuff and use it over the course of the year or years. My chemical aerator subs as my standard surfactant for iron applications, as well, so I go through about a gallon a year on 7,000 square feet (18 ounces per thousand per year).

Mix:

80 ounces sodium laureth sulfate (Click here for more information)
8 ounces yucca extract (Click here for more information)
40 ounces water

...in a one-gallon container, let the froth settle (takes about 20 minutes). Use 2-4 ounces of that concentrate with any amount of water dilution per thousand square feet.

Yucca can also function as a non-ionic surfactant any time that's called for, like with most herbicides.