And what kind of soil do you have on the site?

Before planting certain plants, you need to know exactly what type and composition of the soil and its acidity in your areas. After all, plants can grow on one type of soil, and cannot grow on another.

It will be a shame if you buy seedlings, plant them, start caring, and the plant will die. How can you determine what type of soil you have without consulting a professional?

First of all, let's take a look at what types of soil there are in general. Their pros and cons. Then it will be easier for us to determine the composition of the soil.

Sandy. The color is light brown. Loose, lightweight. Water and air permeable. Warm up quickly, but cool down quickly. Low in nutrients, infertile. The applied fertilizers are washed out by rain or watering, so they need to be applied often.
To increase fertility, organic fertilizers are introduced into the soil, green manure is sown.

Sandy loam... The color is dark brown. grey. This soil contains sand and clay. Lightweight, loose. Does not stick during processing. It warms up quickly, cools down more slowly than the sand type. Good air and water permeability. Dries slowly, retains water for a while. After watering, it does not form a crust, therefore, it does not need to be loosened often. Contains nutrients and organic matter. When fertilizing, fertilizers are not washed out as quickly as in sandy soils.

Clay. The color is reddish brown. Heavy soil, difficult to cultivate. Sticks to hands, tools. Forms a crust after rains or watering, it must be loosened frequently. Poorly permeable to air and water. Heats up slowly. Rich in nutrients. To improve the properties, sand and mulch are added. Drainage is carried out.

Loamy. The color is yellow-red. Considered the best soil for growing vegetables. Warms up quickly and retains heat. Air and water permeable. Water is retained and evenly distributed, does not stagnate in the soil. Easy to handle. Contains nutrients.

Peat. The color is almost black. Difficult to handle. Poor air permeability. It absorbs water quickly. Not fertile, contains few nutrients. Poorly warm. They have a high level of acidity.
To increase fertility and reduce acidity, sand, lime, nutrients are added.

Podzolic. The color is whitish. Poor handling. Infertile. They are highly acidic. Water passes and detains. Water stagnation forms and the risk of rotting increases.
To increase fertility, organic and mineral substances, lime are introduced.

Chernozem... The color is dark. Very fertile. Contains a balanced complex of organic and mineral substances. Easy to handle. Warms up well and retains heat. Air and water permeable. Water retains and helps plants survive drought.

How to determine the composition of soils.

Roll a ball out of the ground after wetting it.
Sandy soil will not roll up. It will crumble in your hands.
In a sandy loam, the ball rolls, but almost immediately crumbles.
A clay ball rolls easily and will hold. Crumbles under pressure.
In a loamy ball, it also rolls easily, it will hold, but as it dries, it will begin to crack.

In swampy, the ball turns out to be very dense, does not disintegrate when dried and pressure.
In podzolic, the ball rolls down, when it dries it will become very hard. in black soil, when the ball rolls down, black spots remain on the hands.

Dissolve earth in a glass of water... There will be sand at the bottom of the glass, and clay above it. The type of soil is determined by the ratio of sand and clay.
Sandy soils will have 90-95% sand
Sandy loam has 70-90% sand.
Clay 75-85% clay.
Loam has 60-70% clay

Another way to determine the composition of soils, take a close look at those plants that grow on your site... Open the directory and read on what soil they prefer. For example, on clay you will find burdock, celandine.

In addition to the composition, you need to know the acidity of the soil. Soil acidity is indicated by pH symbols.
pH 1-4 - strongly acidic
pH 4-5 acidic
pH5-6 slightly acidic
pH pH 8-9 mildly alkaline
pH 8-9 alkaline
pH 9-14 strongly alkaline
Most plants prefer either neutral or slightly alkaline soils.

How to determine the acidity of soils.

The easiest is to use a special acidity indicator, the so-called litmus test. They take earth, stir it in water, let it settle and lower the indicator and look at the color. Red is acidic, pink-orange is slightly acidic, green is neutral, all shades of blue are alkaline.

Applying baking soda and vinegar.

Take a handful of earth and sprinkle with soda. If you hear hiss, then the soil is sour.
Vinegar drips, if hissing is heard, the soil is neutral.

Use of plant indicators.

On acidic soils, often found: plantain, sorrel, woodlice, mosses, cinquefoil, horsetail and others
On neutral: mother and stepmother; chamomile; clover, wheatgrass, nettle and others.
On alkaline: mustard, larkspur, purse and others.

Another popular method using chalk. Pour soil and chalk into the bottle, fill with water. Close the bottle with a balloon. If the balloon begins to inflate, then carbon dioxide is released, therefore, a chemical reaction has taken place between acid and alkali (chalk) with the release of gas.

I hope my information will help you, and you can easily determine the composition and acidity of the soil on your site, and plant the right plants.