Deciduous ground. Leaf and turf soil

Sod land.

Turf soil is the main type of substrate for rooting cuttings and growing seedlings. It is prepared from turf taken from meadows, fallow lands and other areas where white and red clover, as well as cereals and soft grasses, grow. The best turf is taken from pastures or summer camps of large cattle and sheep. The top layer of soil here is well saturated with manure, and the grass roots have the most powerful development. You cannot take turf from swampy, podzolic places where the soil is acidic and plants that are indicators of high acidity grow, such as sedge, horsetail, and buttercups. Due to the large amount of plant residues, it is porous, elastic, but without additives it becomes compacted during operation. According to the content of soil particles, turf soil is divided into heavy (clay-based), medium (clay and sand in half), light (with a predominance of sand). Heavy turf soil is more fertile and suitable for long-term cultivation grapes in tub culture, light is used for rooting cuttings, medium for growing seedlings with a closed root system.
It is prepared like this: in the middle of summer, a layer of turf is cut 8-10 cm thick and 20-25 cm wide (the width of a shovel), stacked in stacks about 1 m high, grass to grass. It would be very useful to sprinkle the layers with bone meal (up to 2 kg per 1 cubic meter), cow manure, ash, moistened with water. After 30-35 days, shovel. Having prepared the sod in the spring, in the fall it can be added to the mixture for rooting or growing seedlings. For the winter, you definitely need to collect it in bags and put it under the roof.
It must be taken into account that turf soil can only be used within a year after production. At long-term storage Complete decomposition of organic residues will occur, and nutrients will be washed away by sediment.

Leaf soil.

Consists of rotted leaves. This is loose and light soil, rich in easily accessible nutrients and soil microflora. Easily replaces humus. The best raw materials for this type of substrate are leaves of linden, maple, birch, ash, elm, and chestnut. Oak and willow leaves are worse; they are of little use due to their tannin content. When mixing heavy turf and leaf soils, the results are excellent in physical and chemical composition substrates for rooting and growing seedlings.
Leaves are harvested in parks, gardens, and deciduous forests. It is better to collect them immediately after the leaves fall, since after the first autumn rains, not to mention spring, they will begin to decompose, which leads to the loss of beneficial qualities. The leaves are placed on a designated area in a trapezoid-shaped pile. It is advisable to shed the layers with slurry or urea solution. This technique will speed up processing and enrich the future substrate with nitrogen. You can also add sawdust, shavings, rotten chips, and chopped thin branches here in a thin layer. Just like turf soil, it is advisable to shovel leaf soil. The leaves are easily compressed and do not rot in this form. Such a substrate is ready for use no earlier than after 2 years.

Humus soil.

Humus soil is often called greenhouse soil, since previously a layer of fresh manure was used to heat greenhouses. After the decomposition of such biofuel, a substrate was obtained with a high content of humus and a small admixture of ordinary soil. Immediately after unloading the greenhouse, you cannot use humus soil; you must put it in a pile and let it air out in order to reduce the concentrations of acid and ammonia resulting from the burning of fresh manure. The content of nutrients in greenhouse soil is high; 16 kg of humus soil replaces a kilogram of nitroammophosphate. Therefore, it is used as an additive to increase the fertility of any soil mixtures.

Peat.

Peat is ineffective in its pure form; nutrients there is little in it. But it perfectly retains water, air and mineral fertilizers, loosens dense substrates, thereby reducing their density, increasing uniformity, moisture and air capacity. Peat can be added to any substrate, from heavy to light, it will enrich the former with air and the latter with moisture. Only the top, decomposed peat is harvested for crop production. And before using, keep it in a pile under open air at least 2 years to reduce its acidity. Peat composts are of great value. These mixtures are obtained by co-composting organic waste mixed with peat. Good soil can be obtained by composting manure and peat together with the addition of lime. Combined placement of turf and peat into piles produces slightly acidic soils High Quality, for viticulture, this type of land must be limed by shoveling.

Compost soil.

One of best views garden lands. It is obtained by the joint rotting of any organic residues - from stumps and snags, to kitchen waste and paper. But the physical and nutritional properties will depend entirely on the starting materials and composting conditions. Read more about composting here. The result may be soil similar to turf soil, or maybe leaf humus. But, in any case, this is a good basis for any substrate. Compost soil is used in a mixture with turf and peat soil, significantly increasing their nutritional properties, and in many ways replaces humus soil.

Heather land.

This is a very light, porous and loose soil. It is harvested in places with thickets of heather. Having removed the large above-ground parts of the heather, remove a layer of turf 5-6 cm thick with roots and small above-ground remains of heather, lingonberries, blueberries, etc. The removed turf is piled up and treated in the same way as leaf soil for two years.
Heather soil has limited uses. It is added to mixtures when growing some plants that require slightly acidic soil. Due to the limited use and difficulty of harvesting, heather soil is often replaced with a mixture of two parts leaf soil, three parts peat soil and one part sand.

woody ground.

Wood soil is prepared from wood decomposition products: stumps, roots, dead wood, wood chips. They also use for this purpose rot from the hollows of old trees, etc. Wood soil is light, it is close in composition to leaf soil, but is much poorer in nutrients and can turn sour.

Sphagnum moss.

It is harvested in sphagnum bogs. Dried, chopped and sifted sphagnum moss, when added to soil mixtures, gives them lightness, looseness and increases their moisture capacity. In its pure form, moss is used for germinating cuttings of grapes, currants and other easily rooted crops. It has a slight bactericidal property and does not rot.

Fern roots.

The roots of the fern Polypodium vulgare are sometimes used instead of a drainage layer at the bottom of the cultivation container. Currently, expanded clay or coarse sand is used for this purpose.

Sand.

It is used to prepare all earthen mixtures, usually in a ratio of 1/5 (in heavy earths) to 1/10 (in light earths) of the mixture. In its pure form, sand is used when cutting plants. The best is coarse sand from fresh water. Red quarry sand is unsuitable for making mixtures, especially those intended for cuttings, since it contains ferrous compounds that are harmful to plants. Sand used for preparing substrates is usually consumed without pre-treatment. Sand for cuttings and sowing is thoroughly washed to remove clay and organic particles in tubs with clean water.

Preparation of mixtures.

Earthen mixtures are prepared as needed. Previously, each land is separately selected the right quantity, sift through a coarse sieve to remove large unrotted residues, after which the mixture is prepared. If necessary, crush the soil with a sharp shovel with a straight blade. The composition of mixtures is determined by the requirements for them various plants. Mixtures of soils are divided into three types: heavy, medium and light.
Used for preparing heavy mixtures following lands(by volume): heavy turf 3 parts, leaf or humus 1 part, sand 1 part. For medium mixtures take: heavy turf 2 parts, leaf, humus, peat or heather 2 parts, sand 1 part. To prepare light mixtures, use: heavy turf 1 part, light organic (leaf, etc.) 3 parts, sand 1 part. When using other, lighter turf lands, the ratios of components in the mixtures change towards a decrease in light soils, especially sand.

Plants at different growth periods have different requirements for nutrients and, therefore, for soil mixtures. At the beginning of growth, they need light soil with easily accessible nutrients. As plants age, they need increasingly dense soils. Perennial large plants need heavy soils. For sowing seeds and primary rooting of cuttings, light soil is needed. Seedlings are grown on middle lands. Plants in tub culture at the age of five to seven years require heavy soil.

Storage of garden soils.

Lands are usually harvested annually, and, therefore, their reserves are renewed annually. However, they can be used for several years. For this purpose, storage of substrates must be organized. On outdoors they cannot be stored, as they quickly decompose, lose their structure, become compacted and leached. Therefore, they are stored indoors, where there are bins for each type of soil. Their sizes must correspond to at least the annual need for soil reserves, from a bucket to several cubic meters. It is advisable to use frost-free premises for storage. Sand is stored in the open air, as it does not decompose and does not compact.

For each greenhouse crop or group of crops, mixtures are made from pre-harvested meadow and forest lands.

The mixture must contain a sufficient amount of nutrients in an easily digestible form, have good air and water permeability, and also have a certain reaction - neutral (pH 7), acidic (pH below 7) or alkaline (pH above 7). Most plants grow well in neutral soils.

The main components of the mixtures: turf, humus, leaf and peat soils, as well as coarse sand (in different proportions).

1) Sod land contains a lot of plant residues; it is rich in essential nutrients that are gradually used by plants. It is better to harvest it in June - July on dry meadows or old pastures with cereals and legumes.

To increase the nutritional value and speed up the rotting of the turf, layer it with cow manure (1 cubic meter of manure per 4 cubic meter of turf), and to neutralize the acidity, add lime (1-2 kg per 1 cubic meter). A recess is made on the stack to retain rain and irrigation water.

During the summer and autumn, the stack is mixed 1-2 times, watered with slurry or water. in spring next year it can be used, but the best turf soil is obtained after two seasons. A longer preparation period leads to the loss of the main qualities - porosity and elasticity of the turf soil.

Before use, the earth is passed through a screen with cells with a diameter of 3-4 cm to separate large lumps and foreign impurities. Small, half-rotted parts of the roots constitute the main value of the turf soil; they cannot be removed.

There are heavy turf soil prepared on clay soils, and light - from light sandy soils. Cubic meter heavy earth weighs 1.5 tons, light earth - 1.2 tons.

2) Humus soil obtained from well-decomposed manure, it is a black, homogeneous mass rich in essential nutrients with a predominance of nitrogen. Such soil is often called greenhouse soil, since it is formed in greenhouses from rotted manure. To prepare humus soil, you can also use fresh manure. It is stacked in a shaded place for 1-3 years. During the summer, the stack is moistened and mixed 1-2 times. Before use, the earth is sifted through a screen.

Humus soil is used in cases where the mixture should be more nutritious (for most potted crops and summer seedlings and plants that cannot tolerate fresh manure). A cubic meter of humus soil weighs 0.6-0.8 tons.

Instead of humus soil, you can use compost soil, which is obtained as a result of the decomposition of plant and other residues over 2-3 years.

3) Leaf soil, loose and light. To obtain it in the fall or spring, fallen or half-decomposed leaves that have accumulated in the forest (forest litter) are collected into heaps. It is undesirable to use oak and willow leaves, as they contain a lot of tannic acids. The decomposition of leaves goes faster if they lie loosely (they need to be shoveled); they are systematically moistened, preferably with slurry, along with which many microorganisms are introduced. When shoveling, it is useful to add lime (0.5 kg per 1 cubic meter). After 2-3 years, the leaves turn into a homogeneous, very light mass (1 cubic meter weighs 0.5-0.8 tons), which is sifted through a screen before use. Leaf soil is used to make light mixtures. In its pure form, it is used for sowing small seeds and picking seedlings (begonias, gloxinia, etc.).

Leaf soil mixed with peat and sand (2:4:1) is often replaced with heather, which can only be prepared in places where heather grows.

4) Peat soil light, loose, absorbs and retains moisture well, significantly improves the physical properties of earthen mixtures. It is obtained as a result of the decomposition of high-moor peat, piled for 2-3 years, or the weathering of peat chips collected in heaps and lying in the air for at least a year.

Place peat in a stack or heap 40-60 cm high, sprinkling 3-4 kg of lime and 10-15 kg of phosphate rock per 1 cubic meter. m. During the summer, the peat is mixed 2-3 times and watered with water or slurry. Weight 1 cu. m of peat land 0.8 t.

5) Sod-peat the soil is made from turf taken from peat meadows. In its pure form it is used for growing hydrangeas, azaleas, camellias, etc., in mixtures for many greenhouse plants, sowing seeds, for laying the bottom layer of substrate or cuttings, as well as for mulching the soil and making peat-humus pots. Weight 1 cu. m of peat land 0.6-0.8 t.

6) Vegetable, or garden soil, is an arable layer, removed in the fall from areas cleared by vegetable crops, and lying in piles for one season. This land is well fertilized and used for growing seedlings. Weight 1 cu. m of plant soil 1.2-1.3 t.

Coarse sand(river or lake) is used to give the mixture porosity (10-20%) and for rooting cuttings, and also sprinkles small seeds on it.

Mountain sand is of little use, as it contains ferrous compounds that are harmful to plants, so it must be washed in water before use. Weight 1 cu. m of sand 1.5 t.

Moss, like sand, gives the earth looseness and contributes to more uniform moistening of the earth clod. Dried and crushed peat moss - sphagnum - is used.

Chopped moss is necessary for germinating large seeds tropical plants(bananas, palm trees), for the cultivation of orchids, for wrapping the trunks of plants that form aerial roots, when forcing lilies of the valley, etc.

Coal wood absorbs excess moisture in the ground, and when it dries, returns it. Add in the form of pieces in small quantities to earthen mixtures for plants that do not tolerate waterlogging.

The main reserves of soil are stored in piles under sheds or covered with insulating material (straw, dry tree leaves). In the open air, the land loses its valuable qualities.

Land equal to the annual requirement is stored in special premises. Land used for cultivation flower crops for several years, exhausted, when stacked, mixed with humus or compost and left in the air for 1-2 years, occasionally stirring and watering with slurry.

Mixtures are made as needed. Sift each of the components separately, pour in volume (including sand), then mix well. Mixtures can be heavy, consisting of clay-turf and humus soil with the addition of sand (3:1:1), in which plants with fleshy and thick roots are planted (crinum, clivia, old specimens of palm trees, etc.); medium - from turf, humus, peat or leaf soil with the addition of sand (2: 2: 1: 1) for fast-growing plants with strongly developed roots (levkoy, fuchsia, pelargonium, etc.); light, composed of peat, or leaf, or heather, humus soil and sand (3:1:1) with the addition of charcoal, which are used for sowing seeds and plants with very poorly developed and thin roots.

Nutritious pots(earth cups and peat cubes) are used for growing seedlings.

The material is an earthen mixture, composed taking into account the needs of plants.

To increase the nutritional value of cubes and pots by 1 cubic meter. m of earthen mixture add 1.5 kg of ammonium nitrate, 3 kg of superphosphate, 0.5 kg of potassium salt.

Chopped turf

Sod land. Used in gardening, potting and tub culture ornamental plants, as one of the elements of the earthen mixture.

In various earth mixtures, turf soil is included in quantities from 1/8 to 3/4 of the total composition of the mixture. It differs from other garden soils in its low content of organic matter and lower amounts of humus, nitrogen and absorbed bases. It is characterized by high water-lifting capacity and low moisture capacity and moisture permeability. In terms of acidity and the presence of basic nutrients, turf soil is similar to compost soil.

Depending on the mechanical composition of the soil in the area from which the sods were taken, a distinction is made between light sod (the sum of clay and dust particles is about 29%) and heavy sod (the sum of clay and dust particles is more than 61%) soil.

Sod land is harvested in spring or late summer. It is prepared from turf, cut from meadows and fields (the most valuable are areas from clover and other perennials). forage plants). The turf is cut in layers 6-12 cm thick, 20-25 cm wide and 25-35 cm long. The turf is stacked in the floor shady place.

The turf is laid in rows so that the grass-covered upper surfaces (lower and upper rows) are adjacent to one another. If possible, to speed up the decomposition process and improve nutritional qualities, when laying the sod, layer it with cow or horse manure with a layer of 10-15 cm every 50 cm of folded sod. If the soil is too acidic at the site where the sod is harvested, when laying the sod, sprinkle it with lime, at the rate of 50 g per 1 m² of sod folded in two rows.

The dimensions of the stack vary within the following limits: height 1-1.2 m, width 1.5-2.5 and length 2-20 m. With higher stacking, aeration worsens and decomposition slows down. The stack is shoveled at least once a summer. In dry weather, watering is carried out. The turf soil is ready for use in 1-2 years.

Sometimes turf soil is used in an undecomposed form. In this case, the turf is thoroughly crushed. A small amount of turf soil can be obtained by shaking out pieces of meadow turf.

Some plants, in particular cyclamen, require more fibrous turf soil. In this case, the turf is cut and shredded into small pieces and in this crushed form is used for planting.

In floriculture, specially prepared garden soils are used. They are obtained from the decomposition of turf, leaves, manure, heather, peat and others. organic matter containing humus. The initial substrate affects the physical and Chemical properties garden lands. Flower growers are preparing the following types garden lands: turf, leaf, humus, peat, compost, etc.

Sod land

Turf soil is rich in essential nutrients that last for many years. Turf soil is obtained from meadows and pastures, fallow lands, with grass-clover grass. There are turf soils: heavy (with a large amount of clay), medium (with equal proportions of clay and sand), light (with a predominance of sand).

The turf soil is harvested in the summer (at the time of maximum grass development), so that by winter the turf has time to partially decompose.

Using disks or a shovel, the turf is cut into layers 20-30 cm wide and 8-10 cm thick, depending on the thickness of the turf layer. It is placed in stacks 1.2 m wide, 1.5 m high and of arbitrary length. When forming stacks, the grass cover of the first and second layers of turf is turned towards each other. To accelerate the decomposition of the turf and enrich it with nitrogen, the layers are moistened with a solution of mullein or slurry (at the rate of 0.2-0.5 m 3 per 1 m 3 of turf). To reduce acidity, add lime - 2-3 kg/m3. The top of the stack is periodically moistened with slurry. The next summer it is shoveled two or three times.

Only after two seasons do they get turf soil good quality. In the second year (autumn), the soil is passed through a screen and removed indoors. Sod soil left in the open air loses nutritional value, porosity, elasticity and other qualities.

Leaf ground

Leaf soil is light and loose, but contains fewer nutrients than turf soil. For heavy turf lands it serves as a good ripper. Leaf soil mixed with peat and sand is used as a substitute for heather soil.

Leaf soil is harvested in the fall during the period of mass leaf fall in parks, gardens, squares and forests. The most suitable leaves for this purpose are linden, maple, fruit trees and etc.

Leaf soil is often obtained from the forest floor by removing upper layer by 2-5 cm. Collected dry leaves or forest litter with grass remains are formed into stacks 1.2 m wide, 1.5 m high and of arbitrary length. When laying, the leaves are moistened with slurry or mullein solution and compacted. Over the next summer, the leaf mass is moistened two or three times with slurry, lime is added and shoveled. Composted leaves rot and turn into leaf soil only in the fall of the second year. Before use, the leaf soil is passed through a screen to separate undecomposed residues. Coniferous soil is prepared in the same way.

Humus soil

Humus soil is a loose, fatty, soft, homogeneous mass, rich in nutrients. It contains a large amount of nitrogen in a form that is easily digestible for plants. This soil is used for most potted crops and growing seedlings, as well as organic fertilizer in open ground.

Humus soil is formed from rotted manure mixed with old greenhouse soil. Manure placed in greenhouses as biofuel turns into humus by autumn. When cleaning greenhouses, humus is placed in piles (as for turf and leaf soil), moistened and shoveled once or twice over the next summer. The humus soil is kept in the open air for a year, then passed through a screen and stored indoors.

Peat land

Peat soil is a very moisture-intensive, soft and loose mass consisting of slowly decomposing residues. But in its pure form, peat soil has little nutritional value. It is used for various soil mixtures as a ripper for improvement physical properties turf land. Peat soil is also used in a mixture with light sand soil, which improves their moisture capacity, as well as for mulching the soil.

This land is harvested from lowland peat bogs. Peat chips and briquettes are also used to prepare it. Decomposed peat is formed into piles up to 0.8 m high. When laying, layers of peat every 20 cm are moistened with slurry and sprinkled with lime - 10-15 kg/m3. If high-moor peat is used, the dose of lime is increased.

At the end of the first year of harvesting and in the middle of the second, the mixture is shoveled and used in the third year (at this time the acidity of the peat decreases and its biological activity increases). When harvesting turf from peat meadows, sod-peat soil is prepared, which is used for peat humus pots, mulching the soil and planting some plants.

compost soil

The quality of compost soil depends on the type of waste and the nature of the composted material. In terms of the content of nutrients, compost soil occupies an intermediate position between turf soil and humus soil.

This soil is prepared by composting in piles, heaps, pits of various plant and animal residues, garbage, weeds, greenhouse waste and household. As the residue accumulates, it is sprinkled with lime, moistened with slurry and covered with peat or peat chips on top. In the second and third years, the compost mass is shoveled two or three times. Compost soil is usually not ready until the end of the third year. Before use, it is passed through a medium screen.

heather land

The heather land has practically lost its significance. It is successfully replaced with a mixture consisting of leaf soil - two parts, peat soil - three or four and sand - one part. The preparation technology is the same as for sheet soil.

Vegetable and garden lands

Vegetable and garden soil is a nutrient layer of soil enriched with humus, which is prepared and placed in piles in the fall, adding lime, peat and potassium. In summer, the pile is shoveled twice. These lands with an admixture of large quantity sand is successfully used for flower crops.

woody ground

Wood soil is prepared from roots, stumps, branches, chips and other wood waste. As a result of the decomposition of woody residues, light soil is formed, similar in composition to leaf soil, but poor in nutritional elements. It is used in growing orchids, ferns and bromeliads.

Composted bark

Composted bark is prepared as follows. The bark is crushed and composted in piles up to 3 m high with the addition of slag (from the settling tanks of pulp mills) and other organic materials, which ensures the decomposition of the bark by microorganisms. Microbiological and biochemical processes during composting are more active in a substrate with a particle size of 1-7 mm and the addition of urea (4.3 kg/m3) during the first few weeks. With constant shoveling, the duration of composting in summer is 4-4.5 weeks, in winter – 16-18 weeks.

The temperature in the stacks rises to 65-70 °C. Compost contains (g/m3): potassium -300; phosphorus – 60; magnesium – 30; iron – 30; manganese – 20, as well as copper and other trace elements.

Moss

Moss is harvested from moss swamps. After drying, grinding and sifting, it is used in earthen mixtures to impart lightness, friability, and hygroscopicity. In its pure form, moss is used when forcing lilies of the valley, to cover the earthen ball of orchids and other plants. Used for stratification and germination of large seeds.

Charcoal

Charcoal in the form of small pieces is added to earthen mixtures for plants that do not respond well to waterlogging. Charcoal has the ability to adsorb excess water, but when there is a lack of it, it releases it. In powder form, coal is used as antiseptic for covering cuts on dahlia tubers, gladioli corms, canna rhizomes, etc. In addition, it adsorbs herbicides and other chemicals from the soil.

Sand

The most commonly used is coarse-grained river sand. It is added to earthen mixtures without pre-treatment (1/5-1/10 of the total volume) to impart looseness. When cutting, the sand is thoroughly washed with clean water to remove silt and clay particles. For plants that are difficult to root, use quartz sand.

Storing and mixing soil

For floriculture and horticultural purposes, two to three-year reserves of garden soil are created. They are stored in closed, frost-free places. For each type of land, special bunks are made or separate rooms are allocated.

Flower growers and gardeners need all of the above lands. They are protected from infection by pests and diseases. When preparing earthen mixtures, take into account biological features plants, their age, cultural conditions, as well as the reaction of the soil solution (pH) at which this plant can grow.

Gardeners, especially beginners, are interested in how to use forest soil more effectively: what to do with the top layer of forest soil brought to the site - mix with garden soil or use in its pure form.

Fertile forest soil can be good addition to garden soil (about 1/3), but it is not advisable to use it in its pure form.

In some cases, it is included in seedling mixtures. You should definitely figure out which forest, from which places it is supposed to be taken.

Deciduous soil includes leaf litter and top layer (about 10 cm) of soil. The best land It has dark color, contains many organic substances, has a slightly acidic or neutral reaction. They take such land in mixed or deciduous forests, where linden, maple, aspen, and birch grow. You can also take clean litter without soil, add it to compost, and mulch the trunks of trees and shrubs with it.

Soil and litter from coniferous forests are suitable for mulching or adding to the soil for crops that prefer an acidic environment (rhododendrons, heathers, hydrangea, blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries). It is believed that pine litter is more acidic, while spruce litter has moderate acidity. The soil under spruce trees is quite fertile, so it can be added to ordinary trees and shrubs. Decay coniferous plants suppresses weed growth well and increases soil looseness.

At the edge of the forest you can take turf - top part soil densely intertwined with grass roots. After rotting in compost heap it is used both to prepare mixtures for growing seedlings and as a substrate for various perennial crops.

Do not dig soil from a depth of more than 15-20 cm, in middle lane the soil is not too fertile, there will be no benefit for the garden. At great depths you will find only dense rock, often gels, which do not contain nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. If there is a need to improve the soil structure, add peat, sand (on clay soils) or clay and compost (on sandy soils).

It is very important to take care of the forest. Do not remove large pieces of turf; they will take several years to recover. Do not expose tree roots. Do not make pit traps in the forest - this is dangerous for people.

Earth from under an oak tree. Soil for seedlings is collected under oak trees

Cherkasy resident 63-year-old Valentina MOROZ has been preparing soil for seedlings and flowerpots since the fall. While picking mushrooms, he collects forest soil from under the oak trees into bags. Until February, when he plants seedlings of tomatoes and peppers, he stores the soil in the cellar.

-Not for seedlings better soil than the forest,” he says. - It’s best if you can find a molehill in the forest, near the oak trees. There are no worms or insects there, because moles eat them up. In a coniferous forest, the soil is not as nutritious. I store it in the cellar in several two-bucket bags. I also transplant flowerpots into forest soil in the fall. I add a handful of humus to the pot. Before transplanting or sowing seeds, I pour a 3-5 cm layer of soil into a bowl. I pour boiling water heavily on it.

Agronomist 61-year-old Vladimir Tarasenko from Cherkasy collects forest land in the lowlands.

-“During the rains, most of the humus is carried there,” he says. - I remove the top layer, 15 centimeters thick, with a shovel. But it doesn't need to be over-moistened. To remove insects and worms, in winter I take a bag of soil out into the cold. Below minus 10 degrees, pests will die, and beneficial organisms will remain.

He says dousing the soil with boiling water or frying it is harmful.

-The temperature kills beneficial nodule and azotobacteria. Will provide nutrients to plants. Before planting flowerpots or seedlings, I add a kilo of humus to a bucket of soil.

In the fall, Vladimir Tarasenko advises preparing humus. He says that in winter, in open-air pits, it becomes waterlogged. Because of this, it will not be possible to mix it well with the soil. Therefore, one part of the seedlings will receive an excess of nutrition, the other will receive less.

Worms damage roots

36-year-old Nikolay Dryzhenko from the village of Radovanovka in the Cherkasy region drives worms out of a transplanted flowerpot with water.

-If a worm gets into the pot, it will harm the root. It does not eat living roots, but feeds on rotted remains. But he makes a lot of moves. It exposes the roots and injures them. Worms are indicated by breasts on the soil surface.

The owner puts the flowerpot in a bowl. Fill the pot with water so that the soil fills it to the top.

-In a day or two, the pest will definitely crawl to the surface, because it won’t have anything to breathe with,” Nikolai Dryzhenko laughs.

Video HOW TO PREPARE turf ground for seedlings? Olga

Sod it is. Turf

m. () f. Wed Wed sodded earth; the top layer of soil, densely overgrown with cereals, spike grass, and meadow grass; meadow, stove rie, grass, murava, mur; fine grass layer; n plow or virgin soil. The name is also the removed layer, for transferring ants, and each plate of it, in places, speaks. wrong vm. thorn, and vm. blackthorn. grave Wed , the place where the turf is removed, cut in layers, or torn off, raised with a plow, for arable land. and. interline, cover, turf gap between arable land, strips. From verb. fight, stupidity, shouting, quarrels. Turf O vyy, made of turf. Turf edge of roads. Dernov O y, related to turf. Sod iron ore. Turf And dense, heavily turfed, densely overgrown with steppe roots, meadow grass. Turfy soil is the same, to a lesser extent. || The soddy (turfy) peasant is old. assigned, attached to the land, serf, from old. shit real estate in eternal inviolable possession, property, sobin. They sold you to him for sod, completely, irrevocably, for eternal possession; adverb remains to this day. V O village, completely, completely, forever. Turf at shka f. dugout, shack, covered with canopy or earth. Turf And t at bare pile, cover it with turf. Twitch, be twitchy. Turf e nie cf. action is work, according to the verb. Turf e to turn into turf, to grow thickly (overgrown) with ants. Abandoned arable land will last for ten years. Turf e Nye Wed the state of a twitching, overgrown with ant. Dernov A to lay slopes, to sod, to cover with sod. Dernov A Nye, turf O vka turf, active according to verb. Turfmaker or turfgrass A worker, worker who covers slopes, edges of paths, etc. with cut turf or ants. Dernor e z m. projectile for cutting and lifting turf. || Worker cutting turf.

Planning a transplant indoor plants, we often wonder Which mixture is better to use: store-bought or homemade?.

The first option is fast and convenient, but experienced flower growers make up their own soil mixtures taking into account the needs of plants.

Most of these mixtures include forest soil - the so-called leaf soil: light and loose, obtained by rotting fallen tree leaves.

It is not as nutritious as humus or turf, but is well accepted by plants, especially those with thin roots. Having a good structure, air and moisture permeability, it is often used to loosen denser substrates.

The slightly acidic reaction of leaf soil is also suitable for most plants, but the acidity can be reduced by adding deoxidizers.

NOT ALL TREES ARE SUITABLE

Leaf soil is usually harvested in the fall from deciduous forests and tracts. To do this, lightly rake dry leaves and collect the top loose layer of soil.

The best are rotted leaves of birch, linden, hazel, ash, fruit trees, and maple. But it is not recommended to collect humus under oak, chestnut, poplar and willow due to the presence of a large amount of tannins in it. You should also not take soil under diseased trees or in young plantings - the layer of humus there is too thin.

WE PREPARE LEAF GROUND WITH YOUR OWN HANDS

Leaf soil is easy to prepare in the garden.

To do this, the leaves collected in the fall are placed in heaps, kept moist and periodically shoveled.

To eliminate excess acidity, add ash. After two years, loose, ready-to-use leaf soil is formed, which can be used both in the garden and in indoor floriculture.

CONIFEROUS GROUND

Another type of forest soil used in making mixtures is coniferous land, or humus from fallen needles of spruce, fir, larch, pine.

This is loose, acidic, low-nutrient soil, similar in structure to leaf soil, but even more breathable. It is collected in the coniferous forest under a bed of needles.

Earth mixtures for some types of plants containing forest soils
Plant	Earth mixture (in parts)
Abutilone	Leaf, turf, peat, humus, sand (1:1:1:1:1)
Azalea	Coniferous, peat (2:1)
Alocasia	Leaf, coniferous, peat, sand (4:4:4:1)
Anthurium	Leaf, coniferous, peat, sand (2:2:2:1)
Achimenes
Begonia	Leaf, peat, humus, sand (2:1:1:1)
Dendrobium and some other orchids	Leaf, peat, fern roots, pine bark, charcoal (2:3:3:1:1)
Dieffenbachia	Leaf, peat, humus, sand (3:1:1:1)
Jasmine	Leaf, coniferous, peat, sand (2:1:2:1)
Pelargonium	Leaf, turf, peat, sand (1:1:1:2)
Rosemary	Leaf, humus, sand (2:1:1)
Syngonium	Leaf, turf, peat, sand (2:2:2:1)
Sinningia (Gloxinia)	Leaf, peat, sand (6:3:2)
Ficus	Leaf, turf, humus, sand (1:1:1:1)
Hoya	Leaf, turf, peat, humus, sand (1:2:1:1:1)
Schlumberger	Leaf, turf, humus, sand, wood, coal (2:2:2:2:1)
Eucharis	Leaf, compost, sand, loam (4:2:2:1)
Episcia

Leaf soil (leaf humus)

I. P. Popov, "Growing early vegetables"
Gorky Publishing House, 1953
Published with some abbreviations.

In vegetable growing, leaf soil is not used so often. It is used in a mixture with other soils, mainly to loosen heavy turf soils. Most often, leaf soil is used in ornamental gardening, especially when sowing small seeds. flower plants. Leaf humus is obtained from the decomposition of leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs. When harvesting leaf soil, one must take into account the fact that the leaves decompose rather slowly. On average, good leaf soil is obtained only after 2-3 years. Leaf soil should be collected on farms where there are forests, plantations, and parks nearby, since collecting large quantities of leaves is quite labor-intensive work.
To prepare leaf soil in the fall, after leaf fall, or early in the spring, before the grass has yet grown, the leaves along with thin twigs are raked with an iron rake. The collected leaves are dumped into a hole 60-70 cm deep. The leaves are covered on top with a thin 10-15 cm layer of loose soil in order to somewhat compact the leaves and protect them from being blown away by the wind and water evaporation. It is better to arrange the pit in a shady place. During the summer, the leaves in the hole are shoveled and watered with slurry. After two or three years, a very light, dark-colored mass is obtained - “earth.” A cubic meter of leafy earth weighs only 600-700 kg.
To get leafy soil in more short term, the leaves collected in the fall should be dumped for temporary storage in one of the corners of the greenhouse area and covered thin layer soil so that they are not scattered by the winds, and leave in this form until spring. When shelving and thinning vegetable plants, a large plant mass accumulates. All this green, juicy mass is taken to the area allocated for greenhouses and stacked in long piles 2-2.5 m wide and 2 m high.
Laying is carried out in a certain order. Stacked on the bottom assembled sheet 20-25 cm thick, a layer of weeds of the same thickness is placed on top of the sheet; then a layer of leaves is laid down again, etc. The pile is completed with a layer of weeds sprinkled on top with a thin layer of soil. Influenced high temperature and humidity, the whole mass quickly decomposes, begins to settle heavily and before the onset of frost turns into a solid fatty mass. In the spring of next year and over the summer, the pile is shoveled 2-3 times. By autumn, the leaf soil is completely ready for use.
In the absence of pre-prepared leaf soil, you can use forest litter. To do this, you need to rake off the undecomposed leaves and twigs in the spring and, after removing the top 5-6 cm layer, pass it through a screen. Such leaf soil is obtained quickly, but it is of little value, since it is most of nutrients are leached and it is not free from pests and pathogens.