Soil amendments are anything you can add to the soil to
improve its nutritional value, water retention, drainage, structure and
aeration to create a better environment for plant root development or increase
or decrease drainage or slow soil erosion.
Soil amendments can also be considered products that you can use on top
of the soil to retain moisture, slow erosion, manage weeds, moderate soil
temperature, increase aesthetics and aid in plant growth. They can be either organic or inorganic. Some of the following products or components
can have multiple tasks that they perform in your soil. However, I have tried
to categorize them into their main function.
Always follow the label for all products. We strongly recommend you get a soil test
before adding any nutrients to your soil.
This will give you a clear understanding of what might be missing from
your garden’s soil. You can use a
company like Agricultural Soil Management, Inc. in Champaign, IL to do your
soil test or go to http://urbanext.illinois.edu/soiltest/
for a listing of companies.
Some of the following products are easy to find at your
local Independent Garden Center but others may be difficult to find
stocked. Some of these products have
suitable substitution that your local Garden Center experts can suggest for you,
but if you really have your heart set on one product or a brand of product, you
can talk to them and they may be able to special order it for you.
Leaf Compost
 |
| Leaf Compost |
May be used
in organic gardening
May be
purchased or you can make your own
It adds
organic material to soil
Creates air pockets and increases
porosity for both
air and water channel
Retains
moisture
Keeps soil loose and not compacted
for a certain
period of time
Used as a
top dress mulch
Cotton Burr Compost
Loosens
clay soils
May be used
in organic gardening
Helps
neutralize PH in soils
Helps
increase the beneficial Microbes in the soil
Improves
water movement and air circulation of soils
Increases
water retention
Manure
Comes from
all sorts of sources
Cow is the most common, but can
include all sorts of herbivore animals like rabbit or goat
Dehydrated,
Composted or a Slurry are the various forms of manure
May be used
in organic gardening
It may
contain high levels of nitrogen and other nutrients
Provides food for good microscopic
bacteria to feed off
It may burn plants if not used
properly
Adds organic material to the soil
Manure that is properly composted
should not smell
Manure Compost Blend
Is a blend of manure and other
organic material mixed together (i.e. manure and composted peat)
Adds organic material to the soil
May be used in organic gardening
It may contain high levels of
nitrogen and other nutrients
Mushroom Compost
 |
| Mushroom Compost |
It is the growing media used to
grow mushrooms at
mushroom farms once they harvest the mushrooms
It consists
of horse manure, straw, peat moss and
other organic material
Adds organic material to the soil
May be used in organic gardening
It may contain high levels of salts
It may burn plants if not used
properly
Composted Chicken Manure/composted poultry manures
Very high
in nitrogen and contains phosphorous and potassium
Extremely
important to use thoroughly composted product
It may burn plants if not used
properly
Adds organic material to the soil
May be used in organic gardening
Composted peat/humus
Is slightly
acidic
Is
decomposed plant material
It adds
organic material to your soil
Helps
retain moisture
Creates air pockets and increases
porosity for both air and water channel
May be used in organic gardening
Definitions
Top dress – to apply product on top of the soil or garden
surface to either add nutrients, limit weed seed germination or weed growth,
retain moisture, deter soil erosion, increase aesthetic beauty
Leaching – Water soluble plant nutrients are lost due to
over watering or the soil’s inability to hold on to those nutrients for later
use
PH – is the measure of acidity to basic from #1 to #14
PH neutral – is in the middle of the PH scale at #7
Slightly Acidic – to lower the PH
Slightly Basic - To sweeten the soil, to raise the PH often
associated with lime products
N-P-K – Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium are often
depicted as number on plant fertilizers (i.e. 10-10-10)
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