Soil: The Foundation For Healthy Plants
Knowing your soil, and understanding what to do to improve your soil, is the most important thing you can do to guarantee healthy plants. Nutrients must be available to plant roots. Too sandy and porous means that the nutrients are not going to stay in the soil, and will not get to the plants. Too compact and heavy, the soil won’t give up the nutrients and compaction around the roots means that you run a good chance of losing your plants.
Good soil is the foundation for healthy plants:
Soil provides access to nutrients, water, & air
Soil stabilizes a plant’s roots
Soil assists a plant’s natural resistance to pests and diseases
We classify soil in terms of its consistency:
Sandy soil is easy to dig, but it doesn’t hold nutrients or moisture. On its own, sandy soil cannot provide your plants with the necessary ingredients for growth.
Heavy Clay soil is heavy, and the clay tends to bind the soil, not allowing air to penetrate and holding water risking rot of your roots. Additionally, that sticky soil will not release the needed nutrients.
Loamy soil is a perfect balance that provides your plants with moist and crumbly soil that smells rich and ‘earthy’. A significant component of this wonderful blend is compost, decomposed organic matter sometimes referred to as humus.
What a healthy soil consists of:
Loose, well-drained soil. Organic matter is a must! Soil that has a pH around 6.5 and contains a generous amount of compost!
When we talk about nutrients, we are talking about the 3 basic nutrients essential for plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They guarantee plant growth, root development and disease resistance. It’s so easy to test your soil, and if you discover a deficiency, simply adding these nutrients back into your soil is all it takes.
1. Nitrogen: promotes leafy growth; too much inhibits flowering, so make sure you use sparingly. Good sources include manure, fish meal or blood meal.
2. Phosphorus: promotes a strong root system and flowering. Since this nutrient doesn’t ‘move’ easily through the soil, make sure to dig it in. Your best source is Bone Meal.
3. Potassium: assists with withstanding disease and drought as well as helping in fruit and seed production. The best source is potash.
It’s All About the Soil
Folks, ‘you get what you pay for’ when it comes to soil. Why go to all the trouble to plant a garden if your foundation is weak? Soil is one of the most important factors in successful gardening, whether in containers or in the ground.
If you are buying soil for your containers, just go to a reputable source. You get to start fresh, and you can easily build a great soil with just a bit of research. Amending an existing garden will take a bit more time, and in this case, we always recommend having the soil tested through your extension agent. It’s a fairly easy process, but invaluable to successful gardening.
But, whatever you do, put healthy SOIL at the very top of your gardening ‘to do’ list.