What is the Best Soil for the Vegetable Garden?
Tags: Garden, Soil, Vegetables, Plants, Gardening

What is the Best Soil for the Vegetable Garden?

To grow well, your plants need a lot of effort and a good foundation. In fact, vegetable garden soil is the key to having healthy plants, lots of fruit, and crops worthy of the many hours of work. Nevertheless, most people underestimate this aspect, believing that the types of terrain are all the same.

A good growing medium should be rich in nutrients so that plants can absorb them and thrive. It should also be draining, otherwise, you risk standing water causing the roots to rot. At the same time, it must contain enough water to maintain a constant humidity. To these basic conditions, there are others, which vary depending on what you want to cultivate.

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In this article, we will see what aspects to take into account when choosing the land for your urban garden. In most cases, you can get by with universal potting soil. But to get very good results, you have to go further.

Composition

What is the soil in the garden you use made of? The answer to this (seemingly) trivial question is the first criterion to consider. Inside each bag you will find:

• clay, which gives stability and retains water;

• sand, which lightens the assembly and reduces the risk of stagnation;

• peat, obtained from decomposed plant residues. It has a dual function: lightening the soil and retaining moisture;

• compost, the result of the decomposition of organic matter. Most of the nutrients in the soil come from here.

Depending on the ratio of these elements, you will get different types of soil suitable for different types of plants. For example, the soil in tomatoes should be clayey but still draining. For aromatic plants, you need soil that is more sandy and not too rich in nutrients. Otherwise, you risk them overwhelming and losing all their aromas.

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Porosity

The composition affects both the number of nutrients and the porosity of the soil in the garden. You need soil that is soft enough for the roots to develop, but which supports them. Depending on the type of crop, you may need soil that holds a lot of water or is very draining.

To determine the porosity of the soil, you need to assess the macro and micropores. The former determines the mobility of air in the soil, while the latter retain water. If there are too many macropores, the air circulates well but the soil dries up immediately. If there are too many micropores, water stagnation is created and the roots do not breathe.

To increase the porosity, you can add sand or porous materials such as pine bark. The organic substance is perhaps the solution with the best value for money: lightens the soil, enriches it, and is more economical than sand.

pH

The pH level indicates how acidic or basic the soil is. Theoretically, the pH can fluctuate between 0 (extremely acidic) and 14 (extremely alkaline). Indeed, arable land has a pH ranging from 4 to 9: too much above or too much below these values, life becomes impossible.

Depending on the pH of the soil, plants will be able to absorb more or fewer nutrients. Most plants are comfortable in soil with a neutral pH, between 6 and 7. However, there are plants that like a slightly more acidic context, like blackberries, and others that like more soil. alkaline, like cabbage.

To measure the pH of your garden soil, get litmus paper; you can find them in pharmacies or specialty stores. Take a tablespoon of soil to a depth of about 10 centimeters and mix it with a glass of distilled water. Avoid tap water or mineral water, which could affect the results. At this point, submerge the card and wait for it to change color.

To make the soil more basic, add hydrated lime. To make it more acidic, add some blond peat.

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