Maintaining Healthy Soil For Your Plants
Have you ever wondered if you could maintain healthy plant growth in Singapore’s humid and hot weather conditions? Many gave up planting after their first failure attempt to maintain healthy growing plants. One of the most important elements for healthy plants is having good soil. Understanding your soil and keeping it healthy would lead to good plant growth. We will share some tips on how we can maintain healthy soil for your plants.
Understanding your soil
Good quality soil usually consists of air pockets, micro-organisms, organic matter and a mix of weathered rocks. Air pockets in the soil help the air and water flow for healthy root growth. Micro-organisms are essential in the soil as they break down organic matter and soil minerals into vitamins and nutrients for plant growth. Organic matter binds soil particles into porous granules that allow air and water circulation in the soil. It also retains water which helps the soil to be moist throughout the day. Pokon Organic Potting Mix consists of excellent raw materials that stimulate healthy plant development. This mix also contains enough plant food for approximately 100 days. Apart from organic matter, rice hulls are added into the potting soil for additional nutrients to make your plant grow stronger.
Identifying your soil type
Most soils have small bits of weathered rock that has gradually been broken down by natural processes such as wind and rain. There are 3 predominant types of soil particles present: Sand, Silt or Clay. The proportion of sand, silt and clay particles determines the texture of your soil and affects drainage and nutrient availability in your plant growth.
Example, in sandy soil, the particles are large and irregular. Water and nutrients are easily drained away and the particles don’t stick together. Adding Pokon Universal Plant Food Fertilizer (New product coming soon!) will provide essential nutrients that are lost in such soil, and the ability to retain water moisture too. It is suitable for indoor plants that are often unable to get enough nutrients to grow well.
If you are unsure about the soil type that you have, you can identify it by doing an easy soil test.
Here are the steps for the soil test:
- Fill up one-third of your current potting soil into a transparent container and add water until it is almost full.
- Seal the lid tightly and shake the soil mixture thoroughly, making sure that all the clumps have dissolved.
- Place the container on the table and wait for a moment for the shift of soil particles. The larger particles will begin to sink to the bottom.
- Within a few minutes, the sand portion of the soil will settle at the bottom. Mark the level of sand on the side of the container.
- Leave the container undisturbed for several hours. The finer silt particles will gradually settle onto the sand. You will find that the layers have slightly different colors that indicate various types of particles.
- Leave the container overnight. The next layer above the silt will be clay. Mark each soil layer and identify its thickness. The thicker that layer is, the more of those soil particles which are present.
Based on this soil test, you can see what your soil is lacking from observing the thickness of each layer. Example, if the sand portion is thicker, you can add additional fertilizers/potting mix to them. Pokon Organic Garden Compost (New product coming soon!) is a fertilizer which acts as a soil structure improver. This compost introduces more organic matter into your soil, stimulating better root growth. Adding and mixing a layer of 5 to 10 cm of garden compost with manure into your soil enables you to improve the soil’s fertility and structure for your plants.
Credits to homeanddecor.com.sg, gardeners.com, and Pokon©.
