Improving Soil Quality for Farming

A good quality of soil is very much essential in a successful plot allotment. If the soil that you will use is not fertile and packed with nutrients, chances are your effort to sew, weed and tend your garden will just go down the drain. Remember that it is the soil that will give your plants the water, air and food that they need to achieve healthy development and growing, which makes it a must to spend time in improving your soil’s total quality.

Kinds of Soil as Medium for Growing

One tip on how to improve soil quality will be to know the kind of soil that you are planting on. The five kinds of soil include:

• Sandy soil
• Loam
• Silty soil
• Clay
• Chalky soil

Each of these soil types has its unique characteristics which are also open for improvements in various ways. The sandy kind of soil cannot really sustain the nutrients very well, the reason why there is a need to supply it constantly with some organic matter.

Best Soil Types

Both loam and silty soils are regarded to be good for plant growing and they also require much lesser maintenance. However, you will encounter more problems with clay soil since its lacks aeration and you will also need to have a better structure for you to grow your plants. The best solution here will be to add more organic matters that are well rotted especially when autumn comes.

Worst Soil Type

Of all soil types, the chalky one will give you the worst cultivation since it is high in alkaline by nature and mineral deficiencies always happen. Good rectification for this will be to add more organic matter so that the nutrient content as well as water retention in the soil will be possible.

Soil and the pH Level

Majority of the plants will be nice to grow in neutral soil, but there are still some which prefer to grow in slightly alkaline or acidic conditions. Before you even start planting in your garden, determine first the pH level of the soil where you will plant. You can find a lot of testing kits in many garden centers. If the need calls for it, you can also adjust the soil’s pH level slightly in accordance to the kind of vegetables and fruits that you will want to grow.

To make your soil more alkaline, you only have to add some ground lime to the soil. If you want to have a more acidic type of soil, sulphur or aluminium sulphate can be added to it. Always bear in mind that the pH levels of the soil cannot be altered permanently for these measures are only temporary. The best solution will be to work with your soil type you are using, as much as possible.