Vegetable seeds and seedlings require minimum soil temperatures to germinate and grow. Seeds and seedlings require optimal soil temperatures to thrive. Soil temperature triggers not only seed germination but is an important factor in soil chemistry. Soil chemistry includes the release (dissolution) of mineral nutrients in soil moisture. Mineral nutrients are essential for vegetable plant…
Soil
Cover Crops and Green Manure for the Vegetable Garden
Cover crop, green manure crop, and catch crop are three interchangeable terms to describe crops that feed, build, and protect the soil and attract and feed beneficial insects and soil microorganisms. Cover crops are planted to cover planting beds and enrich the soil. When a cover crop is turned under to decay and to feed…
Soil and Planting Mediums for Containers
Soil delivers nutrients and water to plant roots and anchors plants in place. Because the planting medium in containers is limited its composition is very important to plants growing there. A container planting mix must be nutrient rich and hold moisture for several days. It must be soft and friable and resist compaction so that…
Vegetable Crop Soil pH Tolerances
Vegetables and other plants grow best when the soil pH is optimal for the plants being grown. It is important to match a plant to the soil pH or to adjust the soil pH to a plant’s needs. Soil pH is the measure of the soil’s acidity or alkalinity. Soil acidity and alkalinity is measured…
Adjusting Soil pH
The results of a soil pH test will indicate how acid or alkaline your soil is. Organic soil amendments are the best way to adjust soil pH. Adjusting soil pH is not an exact science and takes time. A pH test number that is more than 0.5 on either side of the optimal pH number…
Understanding Soil pH
Soil pH is the measure of the relative amount of soil acidity or alkalinity. A soil’s acidity or alkalinity can influence the availability of elements or mineral nutrients in the soil that support plant life and growth. Plant roots absorb the molecular forms of soil nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and boron. These…
How to Test Your Soil
A soil test will tell you if the soil in your garden is rich or poor. Plants depend upon soil nutrients and moisture for growth. If the soil in your garden lacks nutrients, plants will grow poorly or die. The relative acidity or alkalinity effects how soil nutrients become available to plants. You can test…
Pre-Warm Cold Soil Before Planting Vegetables
Pre-warm cold soil before sowing or transplanting warm-weather crops into the garden. Black or clear plastic sheeting is a simple and inexpensive way to warm the soil and get a jump on the growing season. You can also dig, loosen, and turn over the soil in planting beds so that solar heat reaches it. Warm-weather…
No-Dig and Light-Dig Garden Preparation
The no-dig or light-dig garden preparation method calls for spreading soil amendments across planting beds and allowing rain, wind, and soil organisms to till or work the amendments and their nutrients into the soil. You do not have to dig or use a rototiller in your garden every year. Lightly turning planting beds with a…
How to Improve Clay Soil
Clay soils are too wet or too dry, slow to drain, slow to warm in the spring, and slow to release nutrients to plant roots. The best way to improve clay soil is to add several inches of organic matter such as aged compost to planting beds regularly—at least twice a year–and work it into…
