Dealing with our soil type and improving fertility
Soil types
The main soil types are sandy, calcareous and clayey. Sandy soils are easy to manage but do not retain nutrients and moisture. Clay soils are easily waterlogged. They are difficult to dig. Drying, they harden like stone.
Loam is considered the ideal soil for a garden.
It balances clay with sand.
This soil has a rich brown color. It is slightly moist, crumbly. It retains air and water well and gradually releases nutrients, making them available to plant roots.
To grow healthy plants, you need to give their roots access to nutrients. If there is too much sand in the soil, you can improve the texture by adding compost and manure. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) can be added to reduce density and improve aeration.
Soil acidity
To determine the acidity of the soil, there is a special set of pH. The scale of the pH meter has a division from 0 to 14. A value of 7 corresponds to neutral soils, values above 7 - to alkaline soils and less than 7 to acidic soils. Values between 5 and 7 are considered adequate acidity. Most plants prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH of around 6.5.
PH normalization
If the pH of the soil is outside the normal range, it may mean that nutrients are not available or, conversely, they are too available for plants.
If the soil in your garden is too acidic, you can lower the pH by adding lime (calcium carbonate).
If the soil is too alkaline, increase the pH value. To do this, you need to add the amount of agricultural sulfur or ferrous sulfate. Then the pH should be checked again. To get correct test results, you need to check at least five soil samples from each layer or each part of the garden.
The use of organic fertilizers will improve the quality of the soil and ensure the rapid growth of healthy plants. To grow healthy plants, add more organic fertilizer to the soil and mulch it.
Soil types, as well as their acidity level, will help you understand what needs to be added or, on the contrary, reduced in order to obtain a rich harvest.