Window Box Gardening - Important Facts About Soil That You Should Know
by John Yazo
Understanding soil will greatly benefit you in knowing what is needed and how to maintain the soil in your container garden, but the truth is that when container gardening you wont need to know allot about soil because most container gardens don't use soil.
OK, I'll explain now that I got you totally confused. Soil on the earths surface is full of life. It consists of air, water, nutrients. organisms, and microorganisms that support plant life. These living organisms and microorganisms are what work the soil by turning organic matter into fertile soil. They travel through the soil and create air space, mix organic matter into the soil that help retain moisture and nutrients. As a container gardener you simulate the best conditions natural topsoil can offer like adequate air, beneficial microorganisms, organic matter, and nutrients. This is done in a form that won't compact and be too dense. It's not as hard as it sounds. This can also be done all organically by mixing organic materials like peat moss and compost for organic matter to retain moisture along with nutrients. Mix coarse texture inorganic materials for airspace and drainage like, sand, perlite, and vermiculite. Then mix organic nutrients like limestone, blood meal, bone meal and compost for a food source for the plants.
- Bulk Density tells you how heavy the soil is. General you want your soil to be light, but not too light so a plant will topple over.
- Friability has to do with texture. It has be easy for roots to move through the soil. If you can stick your finger into the soil then roots can grow through it easily.
- Water-holding capacity tells you how well your soil will hold onto water. You want your soil to dry out between waterings so the roots will breathe. If your soil holds to much water it will never dry out and your plants could rot.
- Air-filled pore space tells you how much air is in the volume of soil. Ten to Fifteen percent of your soil mix should be air. There are materials on the market like Perlite and shredded bark to help create air space in soil. Adding these products will help let the roots have oxygen, even when the soil is wet.
- Nutrient-holding capacity tells you how well the soil holds onto nutrients and make them available to plants. Not all soils are the same and certain soils or soil mixtures are able to hold onto the nutrients better than others.
- Absorbency is how well the growing medium takes in water. Some materials like peat are quite water repellent and should be moistened before planting along with not allowing it to dry out completely.
- Granule Size has allot to do with air-space in the soil. Fine particles will fill up all those air pores and water pores. Don't use materials with allot of fines, and don't empty that last bit of finely ground material in bagged products into your pots.
- Wetting agents are amendments that can be added to soil mixes. They are not a bad idea if you are in a very windy spot, you don't water as often as you should, or you are using a blend with more than fifty percent Sphagnum peat moss.
There are alot of human factors that affect a soils performance like, what soil blend you are using, how you mix it, the container size, your watering habits and your attitude will all affect how well your soil performs.
Knowing these elements that make up soil will make you a more educated consumer when you are deciding on what soil mix is right for you and your plants.
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