The selection of garden land is an important step in the cultivation of garden crops and flowers. When purchasing soil, it is necessary to consider several important points. Using the wrong land can lead to disastrous results. Amateur gardeners often complain about poor seed germination or seedling death. The reason is not only the quality of planting material, but also improperly selected plant soil or fertilizers.
Types of garden soil
There are several types of soil for planting:
- Land for seedlings.
- Soil for greenhouses.
- Plant soil for indoor plants.
The purpose of the garden soil may vary, on the packaging you can find the names: for cucumbers, for tomatoes. There are special primers for flowers, as well as universal soil.
You need to understand that, in addition to ready-made soil for plants, peat or humus, which is an additive to create a fertile substrate, may be on sale. It is impossible to grow good seedlings in pure peat. Household flowers in it can simply die. Some mixtures are designed to improve the quality of the soil on the site, they contain a large amount of organic matter and mineral fertilizers. They can carry out the forcing of greens on the windowsill, but not for all types of seedlings they are good.
The composition of the garden land
The composition of the garden land necessarily includes peat or humus, sand, mineral fertilizers. As part of an inexpensive soil, only three to five components may be present; it is replete with organic matter. Such plant soil will contribute to the lush growth of greenery to the detriment of flowers and ovaries.
Not all organics are suitable for creating garden soil. It is better if peat peat, transitional or ventilated peat is in its composition. Sawdust, straw are not suitable for good garden soil. Rotted foliage is only suitable for indoor flowers. All soil components must undergo special treatment, be thoroughly ground.
For better plant growth in the soil, not only phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, but also trace elements such as zinc, boron, copper and others should be balanced.
How to distinguish quality soil?
You can determine the quality of the soil without opening the package. Carefully study the composition of the mixture, check the manufacturer information. A self-respecting manufacturer will not hide its coordinates. Touch in the package should not be lumps and impurities, only a homogeneous plant soil. The weight of the package must match the one indicated on the package. Otherwise, the package may be damaged, which will adversely affect the quality of the goods.
When opening the package, check for putrefactive odor. Having fungus or mold can ruin all your plantings. The color of the earth is of utmost importance. Perfect black or dark brown. Light brown soil consists of a large amount of peat.
Land must be free of impurities. The presence in the soil of branches, sawdust, leaves, seeds, lumps indicates its low quality. Be sure to check the soil for wettability. The soil contains an excess of peat if it does not absorb moisture well. Use a common soil quality test. After wetting the ground, try to roll a sausage out of it, and then bend it. If you did not succeed - there is too much sand in the soil, if the soil sticks together well - an excess of clay is possible.
It is best if you pick up garden soil specifically for your type of plant, but you can also use universal soil. Based on the requirements for planting vegetables and flowers, the prepared soil can be supplemented with fertilizers or diluted with river sand. Do not despair if the quality of the soil seemed inappropriate to you. The soil can be improved with the help of various additives, cleaned of foreign impurities. Soil with sawdust is suitable for some unpretentious indoor plants, and the mixture, too enriched with organic and mineral fertilizers, can be used for growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, greens.
How to order plant soil with delivery?
When buying land in large quantities, take a look at reviews about this brand. Before ordering vegetable soil with delivery in large quantities, buy a small package of land from the same company. If the land in packages does not suit you, you should not purchase such goods in large quantities. The placer soil sold from the machine should preferably be checked with a dosimeter. There are cases when cheap soil had an increased background radiation. Such material cannot be used on the site.
Remember that high-profile advertising slogans promising wonderful plant growth often have no basis. A clearly defined composition and a proven manufacturer are much more important.
The cost of good land cannot be very low. For the minimum cost, you will get peat at best, not vegetable soil. The price of garden soil is the sum of the cost of extracting and processing the material. Saving on garden soil is not safe.
Storage and reuse of garden land
When planning to improve the soil on the site, study its composition in advance. Based on this, choose the right garden mixture that will make the land in your garden perfect. Ready land can be used for one or two seasons, with the yield when reused is reduced, and the risk of disease increases. When reused, the earth should be enriched with fertilizers and compost. Old land is suitable only for adding or mulching, provided that the plants on it were not sick.
Store the remains of plant soil is impractical. Pathogens that can kill seedlings can live in it.