It is important to know the nature of the soil in your garden to determine its water and fertilizer needs . Discover this simple method to test the composition of the soil in your garden .
You will need:
– A transparent, clean glass jar
– Soil from your garden
– Clear water (from the tap, well, rainwater, etc.)
How to test the soil in your garden:
Fill the jar halfway with soil from your garden . You can test different areas of your garden, as well as soil samples from different depths to get a general idea of the soil’s composition .
Fill the rest of the jar with water, leaving a small space for shaking.
Close the lid and shake vigorously for a few minutes.
Let it sit for a few hours so that the mixture stagnates and different layers appear.
Result :
The layer at the bottom will be made up of sand and heavy particles like stones . There may be two layers of sand, the bottom one will be made up of the larger grains of sand and stone. The one just above will be made of finer sand.
The next layer will be made of silt .
The next layer will be clay .
The top layer will be composed of water and floating organic matter.
The color of the soil is also important in determining its composition: dark soil contains more organic matter than light-colored soil.
How to interpret the results of your home test:
Check the percentage of each layer. The nature of your soil is determined by the component that exceeds 50% of the composition of the soil in your garden. In this photo for example, the soil is made up of 55% sand (in two layers), 10% silt and 35% clay. It is therefore a sandy soil.
If your soil is sandy , it is made up of large particles, is very draining (so dries out quickly), becomes depleted quickly and warms up quickly (so helps the plants not to suffer too much in frosty weather).
If your soil is loamy , it is made up of medium-sized particles, is relatively draining and heats up quickly. This type of soil is most suitable for vegetable crops .
If your soil is clay , it is made up of fine particles, warms slowly and hardens quickly during the summer. This type of soil is characterized by good water and nutrient retention.
A balanced soil will be composed of 40% silt, 40% sand and 20% clay. It’s up to you to do the test and determine the nature of the soil in your garden .