For getting the desired output from anything, proper care and attention are required. Plants get nutrients & water from the soil, and the soil feeds your plants, so it must be of superior quality. Before growing any plant, you must know the type of soil it needs. A plant flourishes well in its favorable conditions. You should have plenty of plants at your home, especially vegetables, for having organic food but should order plants online or buy from the market only after making the suitable soil available for each type of plant.
Types of soil
There are mainly three types of soil that are sandy soil, silt soil, and clay soil. Sandy soil mainly contains big particles of soil which cannot hold nutrients and water. This warm soil can become hot in sunny areas. There can be two types of sand; river sand and beep sand. However, one should use river sand for mixing in the soil for plants. Clay soil absorbs water and nutrients so quickly, but it sometimes gets so absorbed with water that there is no space left in it. The particles of clay soil are usually so small that they easily clump up. When clay soil becomes dry, it changes into crust. Silty soil is a combination of sand and clay. It can hold water and provide drainage as well, but sometimes this soil can become waterlogged.
Soil is also divided as per its level of acidity. If the soil is more acidic on the scale of one to seven, then it is referred to as acidic soil; otherwise, it is called alkaline if it has less acid content. The soil for most of the plants should be neutral, that is with an equal amount of acid and base.
Test your soil for knowing what is lacking in it
You should have knowledge about the type of soil you have in your pots or garden for giving the nutrition accordingly. Most plants grow in loamy soil, which is an appropriate mixture of sandy, silty, and clay soil. Loamy soil is the soil that holds water and nutrients. This also provides proper drainage and space for air to pass. If one of these things is absent in your soil, then you should treat it as per its requirements.
For testing your soil, you can use many methods, and one of them is to put it in a jar of water and add some shampoo later on. The amount of water should be more than the soil. When you add shampoo into the mixture of soil and water, it will help in the separation of different types of soil. After adding everything, shake the mixture well and leave it for thirty minutes. At the bottom of the jar, there will be sand. Above sand, you will observe silty soil. Clay will be at the top of the soil mix as its particles are small and light. There will be water above all. Now, you will be able to figure out the percentage of each type of soil. If the clay is less and your soil is sandier, then you can add more sand or vice versa. In another method, you will have to make your hands dirty by holding your soil in your hands after adding some water into it. Then, you should make a sausage-like shape by rolling it with your hands. Next, hang this sausage using your one hand. If the sausage breaks, then the soil has more sand. If it does not break, it has more clay.
Plants that are made to grow in sandy soil
Some plants grow in well-drained soil; those who are natives of the areas that generally suffer from drought-like situations and succulents are a kind of these plants. These plants can suffer from the conditions of root rot if their soil will hold water for long or if overwatered. The plants like Cactus, Aloe Vera, Echeveria, Snake plant, and jade plant are succulents that have the ability to hold water in any of their parts, so they do not need excess water. Other than succulents, there are also plants like Basil, Caladium, lavender, etc. which one should plant in well-drained soil. If you are going to do the shopping of jade plants online, you should make sure that you have well-drained soil. If you don’t have this soil, simply make it by adding some river sand. You should not add too much sand but a small quantity of sand.
Plants that can grow in salty soil
Silty soil is considered the most fertile among the three types of soil, and it is mostly found at river banks. Plants like Bald cypress, Red twig dogwood, Japanese iris, Swamp milkweed, and Yellow iris can grow in silty soil.
Plants that grow in clay soil
Clay soil holds more water and can cause root rot in some plants; however, there are some plants which like clay soil. Vegetables like Cabbage, Broccoli, Pumpkin, and lettuce flourish well in clay soil.
You should not let the soil lose its nutrition for which you should give fertilizers to it regularly, and it is much better to give natural fertilizers like manure, vermicomposting, etc. instead of using any chemical fertilizers. Soil can lose its quality after some time, especially if you have it in a pot, so take care of its health.
