Easy Steps To Make Soil Fertile

 

These easy steps to make soil fertile can be beneficial if you find it difficult to reap good yields from your crops after some farming seasons. Usually, good soil contains the necessary nutrients required to cultivate plants, but it can be depleted over time. When this happens, crops planted in the soil are hardly of standard quality. 

 

How To Identify Fertile Soil

 

Fertile soil is merely another way to say, “healthy soil.” When soil is fertile, it is healthy enough to give forth excellent produce. Considering that we earlier mentioned that soil is usually fertile and only becomes bad after some time, you should be able to tell when this fertility is ebbing away. 

You do not want to find out that your soil has become infertile after spending the entire season farming, i.e., during harvest, do you? Besides, how are you sure the problem is with your farmland and not the planted seedlings? 

 

Helpful Indicators Of Identifying Fertile Soil

 

A common way to identify fertile soil is through its texture and appearance. Fertile soil is typically black or dark brown, crumbly and loose to feel and have this pleasing, earthy flavor. Infertile soil, meanwhile, looks pale and is dry and hard when felt. Also, it is difficult to dig.

However, a surer way of identifying fertile soil is by testing. To do this, buy a soil test kit and help yourself. There are manuals to read if you don’t know how to. As an alternative, you can send a sample of the soil to your regional cooperative extension.

 

Shortlisting 5 Most Effective & Easy Ways To Make Soil Fertile

 

The fertility of soil does not entirely depend on the nutrients it contains, such as phosphorus and nitrogen. It is also impacted by the level of microorganisms and helpful insects in the soil. This also stretches to PH level, texture, and many more. Let’s look at the easiest ways to correct these shortcomings in the soil. 

 

Sort Out Soil Texture

 

Sorting out the texture of the soil comes first, as this will help identify the type of soil you’re dealing with. Loam is the ideal soil for planting, and while you may appreciate its crumbly texture, it can be difficult to work on other soil types, such as clay and sand. 

Sandy soil is largely aerated and loose and thus, can’t hold water or nutrients while clay soil is tightly woven and hardly aerated and thereby logs excessive water. On the other hand, silt or loamy soil is moderately aerated and packed. Both feel loose and crumbly to touch, yet retain moisture. 

To enhance clay soil, add organic matter to it regularly to improve drainage and fertility. For sand, you’d need to cultivate a lot of cover crops to protect the loose nature of the soil.

 

Practice A Well-planned Crop Rotation System

 

Crop rotation simply means rotating the crops you plant on a piece of land yearly. That is, if you plant millet this year, you plan to beans next year and another crop the following year. The reasons for this aren’t far-fetched. Repeating the same crop on a particular soil year after year will lead to the rapid depletion of the supporting nutrients. 

Also, pests and diseases of that crop will have a field day getting full every year. For example, if you cultivate beans a year after harvesting rice, the previous pests and diseases will be unable to survive.

 

Manure

 

Manure does not smell very good, but it is a highly effective way of fertilizing soil. Manure is an excellent way to replenish soil nutrients and improve its texture and appearance. The trick is to be mindful of what you apply and how you do it.

Horse dump should be your first go-to, especially if the horse was bedded on straw. If you can’t get this, you can try out cow manure. Other good options are rabbits, goats, and sheep. Although still not usable as a deodorant, these smell considerably better than the first options. You can add them directly to the soil or even use them as top-dressing.

Lastly, you can try out chicken manure as well, although you have to see it is first composted because its high nitrogen level may burn the land. 

 

Compost

 

Nearly everyone has heard of composting. Compost has been the surest way to promote the agility of soil since time immemorial. Compost is very beneficial to the soil. You have to, however, ensure that it contains the appropriate portions of carbon and nitrogen. The ideal ratio should be 30 parts carbon – 1 part nitrogen. 

You can use various ingredients in your compost, ranging from wood shavings and dried leaves to yard clippings and kitchen scraps. Remember to keep the pile wet and add to the soil regularly. Compost can be used at any time of the season. You can add to your holes while planting seeds, before cultivating and at the start of a season.

Here’s a fundamental rule to using compost: leave your pile at least a year before adding to your garden, particularly when you used ingredients that are rich in nitrogen, for example, chicken manure. 

 

Mulch

 

Mulch has remarkable and rare benefits in your garden. When introduced to the soil, mulch eliminates weed, so your crops don’t have to compete for nutrients. Also, mulch helps to keep the soil moisturized even during the driest times. And, if rightly chosen, mulch can also improve soil fertility.

Mulches made from hay or wood chips are the most appropriate for your garden. In the absence of both, straw can be used as well, although you have to be careful not to include weed. 

Do not make mulch from certain trees because they may harm some crops. Such trees include hickory, pecan, and black walnut. 

 

Concluding The Easy Steps To Make Soil Fertile

 

Practicing these easy steps to make soil fertile is an excellent way to get your soil fertile and blooming. When these above strategies are properly done, you’ll have yourself farmland or garden of very standard quality where your vegetables and flowers can grow with a flourish.