Gardening and potting plants is something we all love to do. Not only having plants around you is a way of living in a healthy and fresh environment but they also make our backyards or balconies and look better. There are a few tricks and tips that you must learn related to planting which might help you in having a wholesome garden. The most important thing that we often ignore while planting is the type of soil that our plants need to grow. Every plant needs a different environment. While a few factors like sun and water remain constant, other factors like soil and fertilisers vary from plant to plant.
Here are a few tips on how you can choose the perfect soil for your plants.
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Consider what your plant needs
The first and the foremost factor that affects the soil type is the requirement of the plant. If you have got a plant then make sure you do all the research about it before planting. There are quite a few things that you need to know about your plants like the amount of moisture it needs to grow and whether it’s roots need to expand, the pH of the soil suitable for the plant’s growth, the nutrients and the optimum temperature of soil it requires for appropriate growth.
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Know about the type of soil in your backyard or where ever you are potting the plant
Before potting a plant know about the soil that you have in your backyard or garden. It might just be suitable for the plants to grow or it might need some improvement. Get your soil tested for pH, nutrients and its water holding capacity in order to get a better result after planting.
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Choose between different types of soil
Different plants require different nutrients hence you need to choose between the types of soil your plant needs. After knowing what your plant needs choose what suits your plant best. Basically there are two types of potting soils i.e. organic potting soils and conventional soils. The organic soils are more eco-friendly and have special nutrients that are good for your plant’s health. But sometimes plants don’t need special nutrients to grow and hence you can use conventional potting soils easily in place of organic soils.
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Determine the interval in which your plant requires fresh soil
After a certain period of time, the soil becomes saturated and the nutritional content becomes constant. Hence the plant needs pulverisation and mixing of new soil to the old one to retain the nutritional content and initial qualities of the soil. You must be aware when and how often does your plant require addition of new soil. It also depends on the soil type. In case of organic soils, they tend to have more nutrient content and hence the plants will need the addition or mixing of soil every new season but since conventional soils are low in nutrients they might require the mixing and pulverisation more frequently than the organic soils.
