Raise a plot of land with soil and sand in the Moscow region. Chernozem in the country - pros and cons How to determine good soil by eye
If you decide to purchase summer cottage You should think first about the soil. Soil is the basis for everything, your guarantee of a good harvest. It would seem that the task is easy - soil is sold on every corner in the spring, and everything is completely black soil. But it's not that simple.
Let's figure it out.
- Buy soil only from trusted specialized companies. There are many such companies now; they can be easily found by searching on the Internet. On the company's websites you can get acquainted with the company's products and the composition of the soil. When buying soil from a company, there is less chance of buying bad soil and being deceived. In practice, chernozem from single sellers is a processed substrate from greenhouses or a layer cut off during the expansion of roads or abandoned collective farm fields. It is difficult to test such soil without laboratory analysis, and the license is unlikely to be a genuine document.
- It is necessary to determine the composition of the soil and calculate the volume. Experts do not recommend using more than 30% peat. Soil with a high peat content settles quickly and the soil must be purchased in reserve. If the composition is more than half peat, such soil is mixed with the soil of the allotment, thin layer peat mulches the plants.
- The cost of soil from different suppliers may vary, but each company has both economical options with poorer soil, and richer soil at a higher price. If it is difficult for you to calculate how much soil and what composition to purchase, companies often provide a service with which they can help you calculate the cost based on your requests and the site.
Most often used:
- Humus and peat;
- Manure and peat;
- Chernozem;
- Sand for leveling.
Chernozem is recognized as the most fertile soil. However, summer residents claim that during transportation it loses its properties. Many gardeners are more satisfied economical option– manure and peat or humus and peat.
How to determine good soil by eye?
Without expertise, this is difficult, but there are factors that, if you take a closer look at, reduce the chance of buying bad soil.
- Pay attention to the uniformity of the soil, the soil is well mixed, there are no foreign elements (stones, fragments of boards, glass, lumps of clay)
- The soil is loose, the clods are small
What to do with the brought soil?
The ground on the site must first be dug up and leveled, and the brought soil must be poured on top. If necessary, mix with soil.
All the soil is rarely used at once; you need to know how to store it. Keep the soil in a dry area in the corner of the plot where there is no watering. Store the soil 2-3 meters from tree trunks, cover it with film to keep it dry.
We hope the tips will help you do right choice. We wish you a rich harvest!
In the spring, along many highways you can see trucks with black soil for sale. Find out how to choose the right soil for your garden.
Chernozems are understood as soils of forest-steppe and steppe zones with agronomically valuable indicators: physical (crumbly granular structure, porosity, moisture capacity), chemical (nutrient content, acidity, humus content) and microbiological. There are no such soils anywhere else in the world, and black soils are recognized as our national wealth.
POLLUTION PROBLEMS
Companies offering black soil for sale must have permission to use state subsoil. However, it is often found that sellers of chernozem do not only have government permits, but even do not have sanitary examination certificates. But the proposed soil may well be collected, if not in the Chernobyl zone, then simply near highway, where the content is extremely inflated heavy metals from exhaust gases.
A similar problem is possible if the machine has relatively clean soil. for a long time I expected it to be sold in an area of heavy traffic, but if it was collected from former collective farm fields where long-decomposing pesticides were previously intensively used. Black soil is often sold under the guise of soil mixture for lawns (in this case it is easier to obtain permits).
In any case, when buying soil for a plot, try to check its quality as much as possible and, if possible, find out the level of heavy metals, conduct radiological monitoring, find out the content of nutrients, acidity, microflora and mechanical composition.
QUALITY CRITERIA
Chemical indicators. First of all, high-quality chernozem has a high content of nutrients and a high percentage of humus. All crops remove the most potassium from the harvest, and there should be more of this element in the chernozem. Sandy loam and sandy soils. Therefore, if the soil is taken from where there is sand under a 20-30 cm layer of black soil, you can easily detect the low quality even without the help of an agrochemical laboratory, but simply by the presence of sand in the ground. There is no need to be alarmed by high nitrogen content, this is normal.
Physical indicators. Here, don’t be too lazy to get into the car and lightly rake the pound. The best chernozem is only dry at the top, but already at a depth of 20 centimeters it is moist (the moisture content must be indicated in the certificate), has a pleasant granular-crumbly structure, and is black. If you wet it further, you can make a ring like plasticine from the fertile layer. If it crumbles, the humus content in the soil is low, as is its overall quality. Don’t be lazy to do this, even if the mechanical composition is indicated in the certificate. Also, you should not buy a pound whose certificate contains the characteristics “podzolic” and “swamp”. Finally, pay attention to the presence of vegetation. The abundance of weed roots, sticks and stubble sharply reduces the value of the product.
Let's consider a common example - the construction is finished, all that remains is to get the land and improve the site.
Before you bring land onto the site, immediately think about the drainage of the site (to remove waste water, remember how the snow melts in the spring, where stagnant water is located - this will help in the future to zone the site) and drainage wells.
Use our section Landscape design.
If everything is taken into account, the required volume of soil for the site is calculated, we begin the process.
Now let’s turn to our experience and make the soil as fertile as possible!
IN different regions There will always be companies or individual truck drivers who sell soil in large volumes. No matter how they assure you of the sale fertile soil- DON'T BELIEVE IT! Such soil was taken either from agricultural land or simply brought from the forest (and never buy soil from construction sites - it is usually impregnated with fuel oil, paint or something similar).
The soil from the fields is properly depleted and contains a high concentration of chemical fertilizers, fungal and bacterial diseases and pests are also possible.
So, we bring soil by truck, maybe peat, maybe " good land"(with the calculated volume) and pour it on the site (immediately think about the location). Then we bring a car of sand. And mix it (of course, not with our hands, but with special equipment).
Now we need to get rid of diseases and pests - we treat them comprehensively (Alirin, Gamair, Trichocin, Glyokladin, or Prestige). We calculate the application rates according to our volume.
Next step - mulch. We contribute Agrovermiculite, Expanded perlite, Mulching mixtures, in general, what can be obtained in your area.
Only after this can the soil be spread around the site.
Next you need to enrich the soil. Fill it with micro and macro elements. It is enough to apply according to the instructions (where application rates are prescribed) complex universal fertilizer. Add organic GUM fertilizers. And fill it with beneficial bacteria, which will accelerate the process of formation of fertile soil - they are contained, for example, in Baykam EM.
And leave the soil to overwinter for one season.
Why is this being done? The earth will settle a little (you can immediately fill up the areas where it settles). Bacteria and fertilizers will completely dissolve and create the most fertile layer. All pests and diseases will be eliminated. And you will once again calmly and thoughtfully plan the site.
That’s basically all the wisdom when filling a site with new soil.
I wouldn't recommend buying a pig in a poke.
They offer black soil, but they will deliver it simple land. Better land touch it with your own hands and see. The best thing is to bring in humus. If the land is still poorly developed, then humus is the best fertilizer. If the areas are large, then mixed with peat or black soil. If you import black soil, then pay attention to the quality. High-quality black soil is rich in humus and dark in color. Peat happens different types: light (riding) it is more light color and heavy (grassroots) of a darker color. Black peat has a higher humus content.
If you are raising an area, it is better to first use high-moor peat, since its decomposition period is still 15% and it has an increased desiccant capacity, which will make your area drier. And in the future, use both black soil and low peat with the addition of humus. Beautiful lands on old abandoned farms (if there are such in the area, of course).
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Comments
Dear Mamma mia, in your question you state that: There is no point in plowing up the old soil, because the plot needs to be raised." It is necessary to plow up. I just watched how our utility workers landscaped the patio. They brought in black soil - they spread it all day, worked it with a rake - the result is abundant The night rain and all the black soil were simply washed away onto the asphalt.
What kind of soil should I bring to the garden plot?
We have peat bogs and we also had to raise the ground level. We ordered loam with sand. The site was leveled, and fertile soil was brought in only for garden beds. We make raised, high beds. We make formwork from boards or make them from slate. IN ready beds we fill up the fertile soil. It is not known what they will bring you under the name black soil. It will still have to be adjusted. We mix imported soil with ash from the stove and barbecue, egg shells, and sand, since our “black soil” is more like peat. We put humus at the bottom of the bed, cover it with sand and put in a fertile mixture, spill everything with phytosporin. True, we do this in the fall.
We plant the potatoes in loam and add a little humus, ash and peat to each hole. We plant at the end of May, when the soil is more or less dry.
Buy land specifically for garden beds, and level the area with sand or loam. It's cheaper and better.
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No matter what kind of soil you bring to level the area, you will still need different soil for the beds for vegetables and berries.
Which? Each culture has its own. Each type of vegetable/fruit/berry has its own preferences regarding soil. For some vegetable crops need so-called warm beds, for example, cucumbers, some types of cabbage, so there can be any soil there, and warm beds will have to be made with your own hands quite carefully. And if you want to plant a vegetable garden and get a harvest, you will have to take care of the quality of the soil for the beds not just once and for all plants at once, but for each type separately. Meanwhile, if you have peat on your site, then buy loam, if it is loam, then buy peat. And be sure to buy the same amount of sand, which always goes 1:1 into the beds, and for individual species more sand plants are required. Sand is always useful.
Creating fertile land on a site often takes more than one year.
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In general, it is necessary to plow up the old soil in order to avoid the appearance of weeds as much as possible, by selecting weed roots from the plowed soil.
But first of all, you need to decide for yourself what kind of land to buy. Just take a closer look at what soil the plants you listed grew best on. Dig a hole using the bayonet of a shovel and determine its composition by eye. Based on the composition you have determined, purchase the land.
And don’t forget to fill it with manure; cucumbers especially love fresh manure.