Light or clayey? Acid or rather alkaline? What is missing and what does she dwell? “I found that even experienced gardeners do not know much about the land,” says Roman Pavel in our podcast. And he recommends what you should find out immediately about your own garden.
Podcast not only about the quality of the soil can be found here:
Good or bad? Actually not one. Of course there is something like the ideal land. But only in fairy tales. Each type of soil is suitable for growing other plants, everyone needs to adapt differently and everyone, if necessary, somehow improve or bypass its basic properties. But it is essential to know what ground in the garden you have.
“The type of land directly determines its fertility, or the ability of plants to draw nutrients from it,” describes Roman Pavel, botanist and scientist from the National Agricultural and Food Research Center, as well as the author of many books on nature, gardening or herbs.
Tricky pH
The soil acidity indicator is precisely what determines its fertility. “Ideally should be neutral, ie from 6.5 to 7.5,” explains Roman Pavel. Some plants, such as or blueberries, like more acidic soils, but you will definitely not be wrong with the neutral pH value, because it suits the vast majority of gardens.
You can find it easily. “Prepare the leach out of the soil and the litmus paper that you normally buy in the pharmacy,” says an expert. “Then it’s easy. Soak the paper into the extract and find out what pH your land is on the side of the box.”
Decisive structure
The second important factor is the soil structure. You may guess more about it, because of all the features it is best visible to the naked eye. At the same time, we often say that we have clay or too sandy soil. The clay soil tends to crack after the rains and thus makes it difficult for the roots of the acceptance of nutrients, and there is little air. The sandy, in turn, dries very easily and needs to be watered more often.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, you just need a simple test. “Moisten your palm, take a piece of soil from the flower bed and try to model a roller from it,” says Roman Pavel. “Then just prick it with your finger. When it spills, you have sandy soil. If it remains a dimplate and holds the shape, you have clay.
Organic
Organic substances are something that plants from the soil drains AI to us that we can eat or enjoy them. “However, few people realize that we have to go back, too,” alerts an expert. “The biggest mistake of gardeners is that they give little organic matter.” Why is it so important? In addition to the fact that it gradually releases nutrients, it retains water in the soil and protects it from erosion.
You can send the soil sample to the laboratory and have it to find out how many and what nutrients it contains. “It’s not expensive and you usually get some recommendations on what to do,” explains Roman Pavel. But the truth is that the soil in gardens contains in the vast majority of little organic matter. So you can start to mulch more carefully, incorporate compost or manure in the autumn. And then just look forward to how it will benefit the garden.
