How To Determine The Mechanical Composition Of The Soil In A Summer Cottage

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Sand, loam, clay …

When determining the doses of lime, the timing of fertilization and their amount, the plowing depth of green manure, and also when determining the irrigation rate, it is necessary to take into account the mechanical composition of the soil, in other words, the content of clay particles in it. According to this indicator, soils are subdivided into sands, sandy loams, light, medium and heavy loams, as well as light, medium and heavy clays.

However, some gardeners mistakenly judge this property of the soil by its color. With such an assessment of soils, the mechanical composition is often incorrectly determined, sometimes mistaking sandy loam for loam, and loam for clay. This is due to the fact that the color of the soil and its shades depend not only on the content of clay, but also on its mineralogical composition. The fact is that the color of the soil, in addition to humus, is given by compounds of aluminum, sometimes iron and manganese.

As for the latter, for example, under conditions of waterlogging, a gley horizon with a bluish color is formed, due to the formation of aluminoferrosilicates formed by the interaction of iron with clay minerals. Iron with manganese form acidic compounds (poisonous for plants), which give the soil a rusty-ocher color. Therefore, the mechanical composition of the soil must be determined by the degree of its cohesion.

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For field conditions, there is a method for determining the composition of the soil, which does not require any tools and is available to everyone. According to this method, called "wet", the soil sample is moistened (if the water is far away, then saliva can also be used) and mixed until it is pasty. A ball is rolled out of the prepared soil in the palm of your hand and they try to roll it into a cord (experts sometimes colloquially call it a "sausage") about 3 mm thick or a little more, then roll it into a ring with a diameter of 2-3 cm.

• The sand does not form a ball or cord.
• The sandy loam forms a ball that cannot be rolled into a cord ("sausage"). Only its rudiments are obtained.
• Light loam forms a cord that can be rolled into a ring, but it turns out to be very fragile and easily breaks apart when rolled from the palm of your hand or when you try to pick it up.
• Medium loam forms a solid cord that can be rolled into a ring, but it turns out to be cracked and broken.
• Heavy loam is easily rolled into a cord. The ring is cracked.
• The clay can be rolled into a long thin cord, from which a ring without cracks is obtained.

When determining sandy loam and loam, you must be careful, as they can be silty. These varieties are distinguished by the dry method as follows. Silty sandy loams and light silty loams form fragile lumps, which, when crushed with fingers, easily disintegrate. When rubbed, sandy loam produces a rustling sound and is poured from the hand. When rubbing light loam with your fingers, a clearly distinguishable roughness is felt, clay particles are rubbed into the skin.

Medium silty loams give a powdery sensation, but produce a thin flour sensation with subtle roughness. Lumps of medium loam are crushed with some effort. Heavy silty loams in a dry state are difficult to crush, give a feeling of fine flour when rubbed. Roughness is not felt.

Now that you can tell your soil types by texture, you can relatively accurately determine when and how much to apply. For example, organic fertilizers, primarily manure, for crops that are relatively undemanding to organic matter on relatively light soils should be applied in smaller doses (about 4 kg / m2), but more often, and vice versa, on heavy soils, manure is applied less often, but its amount is increased (up to 8 kg / m²). In addition, the mechanical composition of the soil must be taken into account when sowing seeds, adjusting the depth of their seeding.