As ive mentioned before this will only be my second season gardening. I love it and cant wait for the temp start rising. Last year I didnt have a clue what I was doing and planted all kinds of veggies that did pretty well for me being new to it. I added top-soil,black cow, some lime, and planted the seeds/plants.
This year I'm still planting okra, tomatoes, and peppers in the ground but alot of my beans and stuff will be going in some of the 4' by 12' beds I'm planning to make. My question is what makes the perfect soil or just good soil?
I bought a Ph tester the other day and my collard beds were 6.5.
I also had alot of splitting in my tomatoes and bottom rot on my peppers. What do I need to add to prevent these things?
And information is greatly appreciated.
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brandon558
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jal_ut
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Top Soil consists of clay, silt, sand, organic matter, air, water, chemicals, and a host of microscopic organisms. It is a living miracle.
Many things (artificial soils) have been concocted to grow plants in. To be successful a soil needs to provide a medium to anchor the roots, provide nutrients, and hold water.
I garden in the soil left on my lot by nature. It is a good soil however not the best for putting in containers or pots. If amended with a lot of peat or compost it does pretty well in pots.
I think it is good if you have some good top soil containing the things mentioned in my first sentence, then amend it with lots of organic matter. Compost, manure, leaves, grass clippings etc. The manure, leaves and grass clippings are best composted first or put on in the fall so they can decompose over winter.
Many people cuss their clay based soils, but clay really has some good things going for it. It holds water well and is loaded with minerals the plants need. It needs to be lightened up with the addition of sand and organic matter.
If your soil is very sandy, it would benefit from the addition of a little clay or silt. The difference between clay, silt and sand is the size of the particles with clay being the smallest, silt next then sand larger. Of course many natural soils also have stones of various sizes mixed in.
You mentioned adding top soil to your beds. Is that some of the soil you find on your lot or did you haul it in? Many times the natural soil on your lot is a good growing medium and better than concocted "soils". One technique that has been discussed on these forums is to assign paths between beds then dig some of the soil from the path to add to the raised bed to raise its level then dig in your amendments.
Be advised that many plant roots go quite deep, even 4 feet or more and spread wide too. Avoid barriers under your beds and give the roots the advantage of going deep for nutrients and water.
Sounds like you are off to a good start. Enjoy!
Many things (artificial soils) have been concocted to grow plants in. To be successful a soil needs to provide a medium to anchor the roots, provide nutrients, and hold water.
I garden in the soil left on my lot by nature. It is a good soil however not the best for putting in containers or pots. If amended with a lot of peat or compost it does pretty well in pots.
I think it is good if you have some good top soil containing the things mentioned in my first sentence, then amend it with lots of organic matter. Compost, manure, leaves, grass clippings etc. The manure, leaves and grass clippings are best composted first or put on in the fall so they can decompose over winter.
Many people cuss their clay based soils, but clay really has some good things going for it. It holds water well and is loaded with minerals the plants need. It needs to be lightened up with the addition of sand and organic matter.
If your soil is very sandy, it would benefit from the addition of a little clay or silt. The difference between clay, silt and sand is the size of the particles with clay being the smallest, silt next then sand larger. Of course many natural soils also have stones of various sizes mixed in.
You mentioned adding top soil to your beds. Is that some of the soil you find on your lot or did you haul it in? Many times the natural soil on your lot is a good growing medium and better than concocted "soils". One technique that has been discussed on these forums is to assign paths between beds then dig some of the soil from the path to add to the raised bed to raise its level then dig in your amendments.
Be advised that many plant roots go quite deep, even 4 feet or more and spread wide too. Avoid barriers under your beds and give the roots the advantage of going deep for nutrients and water.
Sounds like you are off to a good start. Enjoy!
Last edited by jal_ut on Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Let me just start off by saying that your soil pH looks about right.
Bottom rot (blossom end rot, BER) and splitting is often caused by inconsistent soil moisture. So you see, there can be soil issues that have nothing to do with "dirt." Your soil might not have sufficient calcium which helps the plant retain moisture. That may be a concern with BER but I don't know if splitting would have anything to do with calcium. Calcium is a common mineral in most soils while having consistent water available is sometimes a struggle for us. Having your soil tested and/or talking to your extension office can give you an idea about calcium.
We don't have Black Cow here but it seems that I remember that it is just composted cow manure. That's great but will be needed replenishing each year since most of the nutrients are lost thru the growing season. It will have some residual benefit that will build over time but that will take years.
Like James, I'm a big believer in top soil and it sounds like you may have some good soil to work with from the get-go. Yes, I know that you can grow a happy plant in pure potting soil, straight out of some bag. Once again, it isn't likely to have the necessary nutrients, next season. It is probably necessary to provide liquid fertilizers just to get the plants thru 1 season! All well and good for a container but the soil should probably have what your plants need, perhaps, indefinitely -- as long as you aren't carrying off too much in your harvests and/or you are willing to return nutrients to the soil with compost and cover crops.
Just a little story about working with tragically poor soil and trying to build it into something useful: I once had what must have been a very large hole at the end of one of my gardens. As best as I could determine, it was filled in with all sorts of "fill" - I found rocks, concrete, even carpet that I had to pull out.
This was a fairly small area and one, 4' by 20' bed just about covered it. I didn't worry about the paths on each side and just socked the compost into that soil . . . then, planted beans.
I knew that beans didn't have too many nutrient needs, at least for nitrogen. I didn't expect much and, boy, that bed didn't disappointment me! I got next to nothing to harvest!
With this poor performance, I loaded in the compost and planted beans again the following year . . . still, nothing! Apparently, I was dealing with subsoil at best! Good top soil really makes gardening easier.
Steve
Bottom rot (blossom end rot, BER) and splitting is often caused by inconsistent soil moisture. So you see, there can be soil issues that have nothing to do with "dirt." Your soil might not have sufficient calcium which helps the plant retain moisture. That may be a concern with BER but I don't know if splitting would have anything to do with calcium. Calcium is a common mineral in most soils while having consistent water available is sometimes a struggle for us. Having your soil tested and/or talking to your extension office can give you an idea about calcium.
We don't have Black Cow here but it seems that I remember that it is just composted cow manure. That's great but will be needed replenishing each year since most of the nutrients are lost thru the growing season. It will have some residual benefit that will build over time but that will take years.
Like James, I'm a big believer in top soil and it sounds like you may have some good soil to work with from the get-go. Yes, I know that you can grow a happy plant in pure potting soil, straight out of some bag. Once again, it isn't likely to have the necessary nutrients, next season. It is probably necessary to provide liquid fertilizers just to get the plants thru 1 season! All well and good for a container but the soil should probably have what your plants need, perhaps, indefinitely -- as long as you aren't carrying off too much in your harvests and/or you are willing to return nutrients to the soil with compost and cover crops.
Just a little story about working with tragically poor soil and trying to build it into something useful: I once had what must have been a very large hole at the end of one of my gardens. As best as I could determine, it was filled in with all sorts of "fill" - I found rocks, concrete, even carpet that I had to pull out.
This was a fairly small area and one, 4' by 20' bed just about covered it. I didn't worry about the paths on each side and just socked the compost into that soil . . . then, planted beans.
I knew that beans didn't have too many nutrient needs, at least for nitrogen. I didn't expect much and, boy, that bed didn't disappointment me! I got next to nothing to harvest!
With this poor performance, I loaded in the compost and planted beans again the following year . . . still, nothing! Apparently, I was dealing with subsoil at best! Good top soil really makes gardening easier.
Steve
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jal_ut
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Sorry I didn't comment on BER and cracking tomatoes. I don't have much experience with BER. The cracking tomatoes may be a function of moisture variations. I have found though that it varies a lot with the variety. Look for varieties that are less prone to crack. Celebrity is one that I have found to be good. 4th of July a small early variety didn't crack. Maybe others have some ideas. Use the search function. Lots may have already been written.
just heaping onto the above comments, except for "solid" clay or "solid" sand - most soils will grow things. adding organic matter will help with the "tilth" of a soil - and organic types are pretty big on adding organic matter to the soil every year at every opportunity. organic matter also brings nutrients to the soil - which is a good thing.
one the lime thing: do get a soil test before going overboard on that. most vegetables prefer a slightly acid soil. you'll see farmers spreading lime virtually by the ton - well, often that's because long term use of chemical fertilizers tend to make soil go acid. acid rain is not a good actor either, nor acidic ground water, but those little dinky meters are usually inaccurate and they are no substitute for a proper soil test.
splitting tomatoes is most often caused by a sudden influx water - like a bunch of rain after a fairly dry spell. the fruits absorb so much water so fast they bust.
BER is still not fully understood. generally attributed to lack of calcium; some scientists hold the fruit is doomed from the time the flower is pollinated - by the time you see it - way to late to do anything about it. now, a lack of calcium can also be due to low temperatures - you can put all the egg shells / anti-acids / whatever in when you plant them - but if the soil temperatures are not "right" the plant can not absorb / utilize the calcium regardless of how much is available. BER typically goes away as the season progresses, some strains are more/less prone.
one the lime thing: do get a soil test before going overboard on that. most vegetables prefer a slightly acid soil. you'll see farmers spreading lime virtually by the ton - well, often that's because long term use of chemical fertilizers tend to make soil go acid. acid rain is not a good actor either, nor acidic ground water, but those little dinky meters are usually inaccurate and they are no substitute for a proper soil test.
splitting tomatoes is most often caused by a sudden influx water - like a bunch of rain after a fairly dry spell. the fruits absorb so much water so fast they bust.
BER is still not fully understood. generally attributed to lack of calcium; some scientists hold the fruit is doomed from the time the flower is pollinated - by the time you see it - way to late to do anything about it. now, a lack of calcium can also be due to low temperatures - you can put all the egg shells / anti-acids / whatever in when you plant them - but if the soil temperatures are not "right" the plant can not absorb / utilize the calcium regardless of how much is available. BER typically goes away as the season progresses, some strains are more/less prone.