Fertile soil is a good, he althy and rich crop. It is obvious. But how do you know what kind of substrate we are dealing with in our garden?How can you tell if a soil is fertile or barren, easy to cultivate or difficult? After all, what to do to improve its quality?
The properties of the soil can be checked by several methods, the easiest way to do this is by scooping up a sample of slightly moist soil, which is tested by kneading and rubbing it between your fingers. If the soil breaks down easily, is not sticky, and does not stain the fingers, it is most likely light soil.
If it stains fingers, can be formed into larger lumps and contains a moderate amount of sand, it is a medium soil.And if the ground is sticky like plasticine, it makes your fingers dirty, it is heavy soil.
The best soil for growing plants is medium soil, which stores water well, warms up quickly and shows good permeability.The main disadvantage of light soil is that it has a low water retention capacity and the nutrients can be washed away from it.
On the other hand, heavy soil can be compacted and impermeable, which causes the root system to suffer from a lack of oxygen and unable to take up nutrients, although they are abundant.
The quality of the substrate can of course be improved - the light soil is improved with compost or peat, additionally we use the crop rotation for green fertilizer.Heavy soils are loosened with coarse sand and large doses of organic matter.
Plants indicating the type of substrate
Indicator plants, as their name suggests, quite precisely define the environmental conditions in a given area.Thanks to them you can recognize, among others type of substrate, its reaction and humidity.Sometimes one plant defines several environments.
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Soil rich in nitrogen:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, common nettle, chervil, dandelion, bundles of wildflowers, clinging hugs, common starworm, spotted lily.
Soil poor in nitrogen:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, violet tricolor, wild carrot, chamomile, trefoil, heather.
Acid soil:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, common daisy, spikelets, field sorrel, field mint, field clover, lingonberry, violet.
Alkaline soil:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, flax, mustard, stella, plantain, field violet.
Moist soil:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, sorrel, thistle, European flowerbed, meadow cress, common daisy, horsetail.
Wet soil:In such a substrate grows, among others, field mint, coltsfoot, marsh marsh, trefoil, marsh purgatory, runner buttercup, valerian root, medical suds, comfrey.
Sandy soil:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, starfish, mullein, thyme, sand goby, yarrow.
Compact soil:In such a substrate grows, inter alia, plantain, creeping buttercup, couch grass, goose cinquefoil, field delphinium, mugwort.
