| In my last post Soil test I looked at what was in my soil in my new allotment, which showed it needed some help, in this post and next I will look more into what makes good soil health, and how you can improve your soil with a liitle work so you can get the best flowers / vegetables, and keep it healthy for years to come.
Although soil type affects how plants grow it can be improved and I will talk on how to do this in part 2, on this post I’m going to look more into what’s best in soil ph. and what nutrients are needed for healthy plants. |
An acid loving plant. |
Soil ph.
The ph of soil can stop you growing plants or make it difficult for them to be healthy, eg. Rhododendrons need a Acid soil or they will die. As said in the last post ph. goes from Acid with a ph. of 6.5 or below Neutral with a ph. of 7.0 to Alkaline with ph. of 7.5 or higher but this can be changed by adding Wood ash, Lime or Sulphate of Ammonia to move it up or down, But always follow the directions carefully!, but rule of thumb you should be looking for soil ph. about 7.0 to 7.5 for the best results from your plants unless they need a certain ph. level.
Soil Nutrients
The main nutrients Nitrogen(N), Phosphorus(P) and Potassium(K) we looked at in brief in the last post but there are over 40 different Nutrients and micro nutrients such as Magnesium(Mg), Calcium(Ca), Sodium(Na), Iron(Fe), Selenium (Se), Manganese(Mn) and Chromium(Cr) just to name a few that are needed for heathy plants which is found in good soil. And in fact we need them too, so having soil high in these nutrients will grow heathy plants for us to eat, and improve our health too.
So in part two I will look into how you can look after your soil and improve it, by telling you what to add, and who to look after for the best soil ever.
And remember good, healthy soil makes great plants!
Take care
Fred
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