ScholarshipfarmTo take care of your soil, you must think about soil conditions and always try to improve the condition. Soil care begins on the surface of the earth and ends on the ground to maintain a balanced diversity. The basis of every healthy garden is a healthy soil. Healthy, nutritious dense soil will help your plants thrive. Soil damage occurs from frequent rotation of the soil, the use of pesticides, as well as from monoculture or planting the same crop in one place of each crop.
This practice not only weakens the crop over time, which can lead to increased dependence on pesticides and can cause erosion problems. Choosing methods that support soil health will not only improve yields and help our environment, but will also support the health of the gardener!
How to know when a soil is healthy
Soil health can be defined as the ability of a soil to support a living ecosystem. Healthy soil combines organic matter content, soil biology, soil chemistry, soil structure and water filtration. Runt consists of four components: clay, silt, sand and loam. Together they create the structure of the soil. It is important to have a balance of each of them to ensure healthy drainage and optimal conditions for the prosperity of living organisms. If your soil is out of balance, you can fix it or take care of your soil by replacing it with compost.
Rotation
Under normal soil conditions, rotating the soil is unnecessary. The process of photosynthesis nourishes the plant and also stimulates the chemical secretions that nourish the bacteria. These bacteria, in turn, protect the plant from disease and feed the microbes that provide waste, providing the plant with more nutrition.
Microbes are also eaten by decomposers and arthropods. Decomposers pass the tunnel through the soil, creating air pockets that plants need, and arthropods are predatory insects that will eat insects that can damage the plant. Uncultivated areas have the highest yields as a result of maintaining the ecosystem that lives underground!
The practice of rotation is harmful to the environment because the soil absorbs carbon dioxide and rototilization releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By maintaining the contact of the soil with living organisms that live there, carbon dioxide is extracted into the soil.
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Dealing with Pesticides
Pesticides damage the soil because they not only kill garden pests that eat the crop, but also kill living organisms that are vital to the soil ecosystem. Dependence on synthetic fertilizers leads to high nitrogen input and affects the carbon present in the soil. In essence, it affects the health of microbes in the soil. The high nitrogen content also attracts pests such as aphids and whiteflies. Testing soil chemistry can help you decide what nutrients can be added to the soil to prevent pests.
If you have used pesticides or lawn chemicals in your garden, you may need to check the PH of your garden. Plant varieties can be selected based on soil pH and this will improve soil quality in the long run. Organic substances such as compost can be added to the soil and balanced with organic fertilizers. There are several alternatives to using pesticides, such as companion planting, transplanting and releasing insects that will eat pests from your plants.
The transition to a sustainable pest management practice will not only serve the soil, but will also serve the gardener. According to research by PlanetNatural.com, a link has been found between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease, autism and cancer in children, neuroblastoma, leukemia, chronic infections, bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, infertility, neurological disorders, aggression and depression.
Monoculture
Planting the same plants in one place in your garden does not provide the ecosystem with a balanced diet and eventually depletes the soil of the necessary nutrients needed for its prosperity. Plants and crops should be sown annually to best serve the soil. Ground cover crops will help nourish the ecosystem after harvest and save the soil for the next crop rotation.
Most important steps in soil care.
Soil testing: Soil testing is the primary step in improving soil condition. Runt contains macro- and microelements that need to be planted by plants in case of lack of nutrients, indicating a deficiency syndrome. For example, nitrogen deficiency leads to yellow leaves. It is difficult for a man to measure how much nitrogen is needed to improve the condition of the soil. In this case, soil testing provides the optimal amount of nutrients needed for crop production.
Adding fertilizers: Naturally, soils naturally contain many nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and potassium. All nutrients allow plants to grow well. With a lack or deficiency of nutrients in the soil, plants suffer from a lack of nutrients and stop growing. When nutrient levels are too low, we need to add organic and inorganic fertilizers to get a balanced state.
Maintaining soil pH: Soil pH imbalance can be understood when rice, barley, wheat are poorly grown. In this case, lime material, such as CaCO3, Ca (OH) 2, can be added with the maintenance of proper balance.
Adding humus: Humus is the undecomposed remains of plants and animals. Humus forms organic matter. If any place is overloaded with dead plant and animal remains. You can then remove some of the residue and add another place where needed.
Crop rotation: Crop rotation is a systematic approach to deciding what kind of crop to plant in the garden from year to year. Crop rotation goals are to help manage organic soil fertility, as well as to avoid or reduce problems with various soil-borne diseases and some soil-dwelling insects such as corn worms.
Soil improvement
Tilt refers to the physical condition of the soil – how suitable it is for planting crops. Healthy soil with good sedimentation contains a lot of organic matter. It is well ventilated and well drained, but retains enough moisture to feel like a squeezed sponge.
Creating permanent garden beds and paths
One rule I learned at the beginning of my studies in the garden is never to go to the beds. Stepping on the garden soil, it is compacted, which destroys the slope, as well as beneficial soil organisms and their habitat. Install permanent beds and aisles so that the beds are clearly defined.
Keep them narrow enough so that you can cover all areas without going inside to avoid walking. Beds created in this way can be improved every year, instead of starting each season in a compressed state from last year’s tracks.
In addition to preserving the soil in the beds, permanent beds also save time and money. Instead of applying expensive corrections over a wide area, you only need to apply them to places of permanent beds, skipping paths. Watering is also easier to install because the beds are permanent fixtures. Constant paths of white clover, micro clover or cod attract beneficial insects and fertilize the garden