Hi I'm Tricia an organic gardener I grow organically
for a healthy and safe food supply for a clean and sustainable environment
for an enjoyable and rewarding experience
Organic gardening is all about the soil
it's critical that you have information about your soil's characteristics
in order to have a successful garden When we talk about soil type we usually
mean soil texture
soil texture is determined by the size of particles that make the soil
The three basic particle sizes are called sand
silt and clay Sand is the largest pieces
visible with the magnifying glass Silt is smaller than sand
visible with the microscope clay is the smallest particle size and visible
only with an electron microscope In most parts of the country the United States
Department of Agriculture has surveyed the soil
check out our blog for instructions and a link to the USDA site
If the information for your area is incomplete or you just wanna do your own
soil testing
I'll show you how To figure out your soil texture you'll need a clear quart jar
with a lid
water 3 tablespoons of non sudsing detergent
the kind you'd use for a dishwasher or you can use a water softener
Crush the clods of your soil measure out a cup
add the 3 tablespoons of detergent
fill your quart jar two-thirds full of water
add the cup of soil and shake the jar
vigorously for five to ten minutes to further break up the soil
when you're done shaking the jar let it sit for twenty four hours
The next day when the soil has settled take out a marker
and mark the band's of soil particles The particles in order from bottom to top
are course sand fine sand silt
and then clay the water still might be a bit cloudy
clay particles can take as long as a week to fully settle out using a
triangle like this will help you determine your soil texture
based on the percentage of composition Loam soil
which is considered the most desirable is made up of nearly
equal amounts of each particle Now you know about your soil type
but another important piece of information to know about is how your
soil drains
Drainage is determined by slope soil type
proximity to bedrock and water table levels
if you want to know about your drainage do a percolation test
To do a percolation test start by digging a hole
roughly the size of a five gallon bucket fill the hole with water and let it
drain
once it drains fill the hole again measure how much water is in the whole
come back an hour later and measure again A drainage rate
of one to two inches per hour is considered well-drained
if it takes more than twenty four hours to fully drain
than the site has very poor drainage Knowing your soil type
and information about your drainage will help you make informed decision about
where to place plants how much irrigation and how much fertilizer you use
knowing your soil type is going to help you save water because water behaves
differently in each different type of soil
Course sand soils hold point zero five inches of water per inch
of soil depth so that means if you need to give plants
one-inch of water per week and you do it
all at once most to the water just drains deeper
leaching it with nutrients like nitrogen when working with stand
use closely spaced high-flow emitters for a shorter period of time
more frequently On the opposite end of the spectrum
are clay soils which can hold point one seven inches of water per inch of soil depth
because of the small particle size it takes a longer time for the water to soak
through the soil
so if you water heavily over a short period of time
most if it runs off instead of soaking in
Clay soils are ideally watered with wider emitter spacing
low flow emitters for a longer period of time
and less frequently Loam soils are more like clay soils
they have a water capacity of up to point one eight inches
per inch of soil depth The way these soils behave with water also plays into how
they hold nutrients
sandy soil does not hold nutrients well and clay holds them very well
again loam is somewhere in the middle Your plants will love you
if you know what kind of soil you're asking them to live in
so get to know your soil and grow organic for life