Is Your Soil Ready For Spring?

Is your soil ready for Spring planting?

Now the clocks have jumped ahead and we are getting a taste of spring. The birds are chirping in the morning busy building nests and my peach tree has beautiful pink blossoms. With some of these cold mornings, I welcome the spring weather and so does your garden. Some of you may have already started your seedlings or starting to decide what to plant this Spring. Now is the time to ask yourself one of the most important questions….Is your soil ready to receive and nourish your young plants?

Getting to know your soil….

Dirt, the dirty stuff that gets under your nails, on the bottom of your shoes and all over your dog’s paws. Call it what is is, however, soil is so much more than “dirt”.

Your garden’s foundation is the soil. It is one of the most important elements in gardening. Just like everything in life that grows, we need a healthy and nourishing base to start from. The perfect garden soil should contain 50% solid matter and 50% pore space (the space that allows water to be absorbed). Moisture occupies about half the pore space and soil and air the other half. In our solid matter about 45% should be mineral the other 5% organic matter. Most of the good garden soils you buy will have this math done for you.

Ideally your plants should be able to get all their nutrients from the soil. But if your soil is too acidic or too alkaline, those nutrients won’t be available, no matter how much fertilizer you add.

Acidic or Alkaline? What does pH mean?

A solution’s pH is a numerical rating of its acidity or alkalinity. All pH is measured on a scale from zero (most acidic) to 14 (most alkaline, or basic); 7.0 is considered neutral.

Why test your soil?

I highly recommend a soil test kit to test your pH levels of your soil. You can purchase one online or at a local garden store.

Vegetables generally need 15 nutrients for maximum growth. Three elements – oxygen, carbon and hydrogen come from water and air. The other 12 exist in, you guessed it, your soil. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the major macronutrients needed by vegetables. Below pH 6.0, some nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, are less available. When pH exceeds 7.5, iron, manganese, and phosphorus are less available.So you can see how important maintaining and having the right nutrients in making sure you give your vegetables the best chance to be healthy and abundant.

If your soil is too alkaline, your plants may show yellow leaves, stunted growth, and leaf margins that appear burnt.  Alkaline soils are sometimes too salty, and in extreme cases, heavy brown or white salt deposits are left on the soil surface.  Acid soil is not easy to detect visually and will generally require some sort of pH test.

Vegetables can be a little finicky, Each one has it’s own pH requirement. Obviously, it’s not practical to create different pH soil areas gardeners tend to compromise by creating to a slightly acid to a neutral soil pH level 6.5-7.

Soils turn acid when calcium and magnesium ions are leached out and replaced by hydrogen ions.

My soil is not in the ideal range… Now what?

Don’t worry, regardless of how low or high your pH is, your garden will grow. If you do want to try to make some adjustments, there are some simple things you can do to give your soil some amendments. This will help balance your pH to create a more ideal environment for you plants to flourish.

Soil’s favorite amendment

Compost, compost, compost. This is one of the simplest and easiest ways to give your soil a boost. Hopefully by now you are composting at home and have compost to bring to your garden. Mixing compost with your soil improves soil texture, structure and aeration. It helps maintain a neutral pH and adds needed nutrients for plant growth and allows the soil to hold more water. Compost is made up of microscopic bacteria and fungi, along with earthworms, crickets, and many other life forms, which energizes  and feeds the soil.

Natural soil admendments

Soil amendments should be considered as an investment in your garden soil which will pay off year after year. When these organic materials are added, they not only act in varying degrees as fertilizers, providing a mix of nutrients to plant roots, but also improve the structure of the soil by increasing its organic content. You can choose from a variety of soil amendments, like kelp, bone meal, azomite, fish fertilizer, just to mention a few. Make sure you are using something naturally derived and organic.

What is the difference between compost and fertilizer?

The simplest way to distinguish between compost and fertilizer is to remember this: Compost feeds the soil and fertilizer feeds the plants.

Here is a link that better explains soil amendments. https://www.imperfectlyhappy.com/soil-amendments/

Now time to hit the garden…

Remember the soil pH change can take time to adjust, so don’t expect it to change overnight. If you add some soil amendments, follow the instructions and garden as usual. You can re-test in 40-60 days to see if you are reaching an optimal pH balance.

Here is a link to an article with an in depth approach to changing your soil’s pH. Click the embedded links for raising and lowering your pH.  http://www.grow-it-organically.com/changing-soil-ph.html

When you create the right soil conditions at the start and infuse the soil with nutritional supplements each growing season, you wind up with a soil that will continually grow sound, healthy vegetables with only a minimum of additional effort. Feed your soil, feed your plants.

Happy Gardening!
Mary Church