soil fertility

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by pebble, Aug 6, 2010.

  1. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2007
    Messages:
    2,721
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    If you were looking at soil you'd not seen before (eg in someone else's garden, or in the wild) what would be the indicators of fertility that you would look for?
     
  2. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2010
    Messages:
    1,676
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well i"m no expert but i'd look at colour and texture (feel)
     
  3. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2007
    Messages:
    2,721
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    What would you be looking for?

    I was hoping this thread would generate some specific knowledges on how to assess soil fertility.
     
  4. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2009
    Messages:
    2,457
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Occupation:
    Farm manager/ educator
    Location:
    Hunter Valley New South Wales
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    warm temperate - some frost - changing every year
    I guess it would not be helpful to say "use your intuition" but it is important to feel whether you like the soil. Chocolate cake texture often indicates good soil but not all good soils look/feel like chocolate cake. Smell and taste are good indicators - sour soil smells and tastes sour and good soils smell perhaps like a forest floor. Sticky soils needs work but perhaps has potential due to colloids. If the soil is sandy in texture you can be assured of good drainage if that is a requirement for you and access to constant water is not a problem. What plants (weeds) are growing in it?

    By and large if you think it is good soil then it probably is.
     
  5. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2007
    Messages:
    727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    I think the best indicator would be life,worms bugs etc.
     
  6. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2010
    Messages:
    1,676
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    YOu can also look at the surrounding plants such as fruit trees to see if they are healthy or showing signs of mineral lackages (my word). I've got a book out of the library called Tropical Fruit and Nut crops Vol 2 which shows pictures of nutrient disorders. Perhaps there is something similar for your area. For drainage, you can do a test of digging a hole filling it with water and seeing how long it takes to drain.
     
  7. pippimac

    pippimac Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Messages:
    475
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    If there's no natural or introduced mulch, I generally assume the fertility's low.
    While the 'feel' of native soil varies, you should be able to get your hand right into a well-fed, healthy soil. (In NZ anyway, I claim no overseas knowledge!)
     
  8. SueUSA

    SueUSA Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2009
    Messages:
    212
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    A handful of soil could tell you if there is a reasonable mix of ingredients, sand, clay and organic matter. If it's obviously got too much sand or clay, or you can't see much organic matter, you would automatically assume that it's got problems. If you dropped that handful (or two) of soil into a clear glass one-litre jar, filled it 3/4 full of water and shook it, you could watch it settle out and estimate the amount of sand, clay and organic matter. Small pebbles would hit the bottom first, then the sand would settle down. The clay might take a few days to form its layer (really fine stuff might not at all), and organic matter would tend to float at the top. There is a place near me that keeps its 'topsoil' damp so it looks nice and dark. When you've bought it and it starts to dry out, you see that it's just about straight sand.

    Looking at the kinds of plants that grow there can be an indication, but where I live, the weeds seem to thrive in a wide varieties of soil when I look them up individually. The trees and shrubs might be a better indication of pH range and nutrient content of the soil.

    If you see nutrient deficiencies, and have memorized what all the nutrient deficiencies look like, that would give you a better idea. But some deficiencies closely resemble others. And if you're not up on all of the, you could easily get it wrong.

    But really, the best you can do is just get a rough estimate. Without a lab doing some work for you, most of it is just a guess.

    Sue
     
  9. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2009
    Messages:
    2,457
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Occupation:
    Farm manager/ educator
    Location:
    Hunter Valley New South Wales
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    warm temperate - some frost - changing every year
  10. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2009
    Messages:
    5,925
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Stop it you two...
     
  11. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2007
    Messages:
    727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    I once heard that a good indicator of the soils health is to put something dead on it and see how long it lasts.
     
  12. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2009
    Messages:
    2,457
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Occupation:
    Farm manager/ educator
    Location:
    Hunter Valley New South Wales
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    warm temperate - some frost - changing every year
    Lets get a soil scientist and try it.
     
  13. kaviare

    kaviare Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2010
    Messages:
    91
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    PP, you just made me snort my coffee and have a choking fit. Now my workmates are SURE I'm nuts (the blue hair apparently wasn't a tipoff).
     
  14. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2007
    Messages:
    2,721
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    Nice list, thanks people :)
     

Share This Page

-->