Soil Properties

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Soil Properties

• 23.00-Explain the properties of soils and their
  relationship to plant growth.

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Soils and growing media

• Soils and growing media are made up of two types
  of materials
• Organic matter
• Inorganic compounds

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Organic Matter

• Dead plant or animal tissue
• contains carbon
• usually has diseases or insects

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Types of organic matter

• Compost
• bark-particles too large to use in seed
  germination media
• mulch-used to cover soil to help hold moisture
  and prevent weeds
• straw
• peat moss

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Composting
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Types of Organic Matter

• Sphagnum
• Sawdust-high carbon to nitrogen ratio makes
  nitrogen unavailable for plant use
• Wood shavings- high carbon to nitrogen ratio
  makes nitrogen unavailable for plant use

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Inorganic compounds

• Do not contain carbon
• usually sterile

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Types of inorganic compounds

• Soilless media-artificial soil
• Vermiculite-mica mineral matter used to start
  seeds and cuttings, helps hold moisture, has
  neutral pH
• Perlite-natural volcanic material that helps
  aeration and water-holding capacity

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Vermiculite
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Perlite
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pH

• Measurement of acidity or alkalinity from 0 to 14
• Acid-less than 7.0
• Alkaline-more than 7.0
• Most organic matter is acid
• Most artificial media is neutral
• Ideal pH for most ornamental plants and lawn or
  turf grasses is 5.5 to 7.0

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Hydroponics

• The process of growing plants without soil

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Types of hydroponics

• Aggregate culture
• using sand or gravel to support plant roots
• Water culture, solution culture, or nutriculture
• plant roots grow in water containing dissolved
  nutrients

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Types of hydroponics

• Aeroponics
• plant roots hang in air and are misted regularly
  with a nutrient solution
• Continuous-flow system
• nutrient solution flows constantly over plant
  roots
• most commonly used for commercial production

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Hydroponics at Epcot
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Advantages of hydroponics

• No soil and problems associated with soil
• Easy to control nutrient content of plants

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Disadvantages of hydroponics

• Plant support must be provided with strings,
  wires or stakes
• Water quality must be high
• Diseases spread through water
• More moisture or humidity in air to cause
  favorable environment for disease organisms
• More expensive

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What is the physical make up of soil?
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Soil Profile

• Layers of soil are called horizons
• Typical profile
• A Horizon-topsoil
• most fertile
• most organic matter
• top or first layer
• B Horizon-subsoil
• C Horizon-bedrock

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Soil Profile
A Horizon
B Horizon
C Horizon
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Soil Profile
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Soil Structure

• How particles cluster together
• single grain
• granular (best for most plants)
• blocky
• platy
• massive

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Soil Structure
Single Grain
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Soil Structure
Granular
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Soil Structure
Blocky
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Soil Structure
Platy
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Soil Structure
Massive
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Soil structure

• Soil structure is more important to producers who
  grow plants in natural soils
• Producers of container grown plants add
  ingredients to make growing media desirable

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Soil Texture

• Size of particles
• Types of textures
• clayey
• loamy
• sandy

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Clayey Texture

• Small particles
• Has a high water-holding capacity
• most common texture in western NC

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Loamy texture

• About equal parts of sand, clay and silt
• Ideal texture for most non-container outside
  plants

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Sandy texture

• Large particles
• Low moisture-holding capacity
• Most common in eastern NC

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Soil Makeup
Water
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FFA Land Judging CDE