Plants grow well under favorable soil, climate, sunlight and other conditions. Attempting to grow plants in conditions that do not meet these ideals means that the plants will struggle to grow or will not grow at all. One way to increase your chances of successful growth is to use soil amendments to change soil conditions to move them closer to the ideal. Of course, understanding how soil amendments work is key to choosing the right one for your gardening needs. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Test your soil to understand its amendment needs. Soil amendments are used variously to change soil pH, to augment soil nutrient content, to increase or decrease drainage, to increase or decrease soil porosity or to other ends. You can use a commercially available soil tester or a local university extension office can test the soil for you. Compare your test results with the ideal soil profile needed by the plants you plan to grow to see what you will need out of a soil amendment.
2. Choose a soil amendment that meets the needs of your gardening project. Fertilizers are typically used to adjust the nutritional content of soil, agricultural lime and similar amendments to adjust soil pH and sphagnum peat, mountain peat and other organic materials used to change soil texture and porosity. If you are unsure of which soil amendment to use to achieve good results in your soil, local university extension offices ca provide recommendations based on the specific conditions that occur in your geographic area.
3. Apply the soil amendment exactly according to the manufacturer's directions. Misuse of soil amendments is responsible for many gardening failures. Overfertilization, for example, can leave plants more susceptible to disease and insect pest infestation. These and many other problems can be avoided by simply following the manufacturer's application and dosage instructions exactly.
Tags: soil amendment, change soil, soil amendments, conditions that, increase decrease