Before buying seeds for your home garden, do your research first to figure out which plants grow best in your region in terms of climate and soil type and quality. Naturally, the right plants will have a better chance of thriving than plants ill-suited to your region, as previously noted. Here Rose Lidell, Food.news, reflects on ways to improve soil fertility:

“Starting your own garden is exciting, but it can be disappointing when soil quality becomes a problem and you can’t grow anything. If you’re having issues with your home garden, check your soil quality and try some of the suggestions below to improve soil fertility.

Understanding soil fertility

Like humans, plants need nutrients to grow healthy. Fertile soil has all of the nutrients plants need to grow, like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Fertile soil also contains other nutrients like calcium, copper and magnesium.

Soil fertility is influenced by organic matter, pH levels, moisture and nutrient retention. Fertile soil also contains beneficial microorganisms, minerals and helpful insects like earthworms that aerate the soil.

The soil on the forest floor is a good example of fertile soil. It is usually dark, brown or black. It is also loose, rich and has an earthy smell.

Infertile soil, on the other hand, is usually hard, dry and difficult to dig. It might be pale, barren and causes water to run off instead of sink in.

Compaction, erosion and pesticide use can affect soil’s natural fertility. Growing the same crop in the same space over time can also reduce fertility and increase the presence of disease.

Soil type can also affect soil fertility. Your garden may have either clay soil, sandy soil, loam soil or silt soil.

If your garden soil does not have a well-balanced texture, you’ll have trouble with soil fertility. To ensure success in your garden, you need to determine what type of soil you have.

If your soil is unfertile, make amendments to its texture to improve soil fertility. The best kind of garden soil contains a mix of clay, silt and sand, which makes up loam. Use this jar test to determine your soil texture.

Factors like density, moisture content, organic matter and pH may affect soil fertility. If your garden soil is too compacted, water and air will not be distributed evenly throughout the soil. This is bad because it will hamper the growth of microbes and restrict the movement of nutrients in the soil.”

Read More … Article Source: https://www.food.news/2021-11-16-gardening-10-ways-improve-soil-fertility.html

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