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Understanding Soil - Part 2: Identifying Types of Soil
When we are planning to plant it is good to know which type of soilwe have in order to know which improvements we need to perform. Understanding soil is very important if we want to produce healthy fruits and vegetables.
The techniques shown here is simple and can utilize inexpensive materials.
1) Dig a hole of approximately two feet (soil should be moist)
2) Squeeze the soil, if it holds it shape, and when poked sits stubbornly in your hand, it is clay soil.
3) If you give a light poke and crumbles, even when formerly it holds it shape, it is loam.
4) If it crumbles and fall apart as soon as you open your hand, it is sandy soil.
The properties of each one is as follows: Loam retains nutrients and moisture, generally it is considered ideal, clay is nutrient rich but water become stuck in the soil, and sandy soil quickly releases nutrients and also quickly drains.
In the next article (Part 3) I will be mentioning some techniques used improve soil quality.
When we are planning to plant it is good to know which type of soil we have in order to know which improvements we need to perform. Understanding soil is very important if we want to produce healthy fruits and vegetables.
The techniques shown here is simple and can utilize inexpensive materials.
1) Dig a hole of approximately two feet (soil should be moist)
2) Squeeze the soil, if it holds it shape, and when poked sits stubbornly in your hand, it is clay soil.
3) If you give a light poke and crumbles, even when formerly it holds it shape, it is loam.
4) If it crumbles and fall apart as soon as you open your hand, it is sandy soil.
The properties of each one is as follows: Loam retains nutrients and moisture, generally it is considered ideal, clay is nutrient rich but water become stuck in the soil, and sandy soil quickly releases nutrients and also quickly drains.
In the next article (Part 3) I will be mentioning some techniques used improve soil quality.
