文档介绍：EC 1561 • May 2003
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Improving Garden Soils
anic Matter
N. Bell, . Sullivan, . Brewer, and J. Hart
This publication will help you understand the • Tomatoes and peppers get blossom-end rot,
importance of anic matter levels to good even if fertilized with calcium.
plant performance. It also contains suggestions • Water tends to pool on the soil surface and to
for suitable soil amendments. Any soil, no drain slowly, or it runs off the surface.
matter pacted, can be improved by the
addition anic matter. The result will be a nnnn
better environment for almost any kind of plant. What makes a productive soil?
nnnn A productive soil provides physical support,
water, air, and nutrients to plants and soil-
What gardening problems are anisms (see “What is soil?”
caused by poor soil quality? page 2). Like humans, roots and anisms
Many problems with home vegetable gar- breathe and require sufficient air and water to
dens, fruit trees, shrubs, and flower gardens are live. As a result, a good soil is not “solid”;
caused not by pests, diseases, or a lack of rather, between 40 and 60 percent of the soil
nutrients, but by poor soil physical conditions. volume is pores. The pores may be filled with
Symptoms of poor soil quality include the water or air, making both available to plants
following. (see illustration on page 3).
• The soil is dried and cracked in summer. The largest pores control aeration and move-
• Digging holes in the soil is difficult, whether ment of water through the soil and are largely
it is wet or dry. the result of earthworm burrowing or root
• Rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and other growth. The smaller pores store water. In a
shrubs wilt in hot weather, even with added good soil, individual soil particles are
water. aggregated into larger units, and the pore
• Leaves on shrubs turn yellow and have arrangement remains stable over time.
brown, dead sections on them, particularly
on the south side of the plant. Nei