Obj Discuss horticultural soils

  Organic  Partially decomposed material mined from the swamps  Good moisture holding properties Peat Moss

  Inorganic  Mica material matter  Commonly used to start seed and cuttings  Holds moisture  Neutral pH Vermiculite

  Inorganic  Natural volcanic material  Help with soil aeration and water holding capacity Perlite

  Dead plant or animal tissue  Contains carbon Organic Matter

  Decayed organic matter  Used for soil conditioning and fertilizer Compost

  Organic  Larger matter added to some horticulture media to promote drainage  Adding bark usually makes mix heavier  Used in tree and shrub production Bark

  Organic  Dehydrated remains of acid bog plants  Holds moisture  Very acidic  Commonly used to line wire hanging baskets Sphagnum Moss

  Soil is sterile  pH is neutral  Soil is disease and weed free  Good for starting disease sensitive seeds (tomato)  Easy to control the nutrient content of the soil  Improves crop uniformity  Easy to create a horticulture soil for particular plant needs Advantages of Horticultural Soils

  Expensive  Light weight Disadvantages of Horticultural Soils

  Sawdust has a high carbon to nitrogen ratio  Sawdust makes nitrogen unavailable for plant use  Wood shaving have a high carbon to nitrogen ratio  Wood shaving makes nitrogen unavailable for plant use Additional Materials Used

Obj: Discuss the soil profile and soil sampling for surface and subsurface layers.

  Soil layers are called horizons  O Horizon  A Horizon  B Horizon  C Horizon  R Horizon Soil Profile

  Rich in organic matter  Dark in color  Most fertile layer O Horizon

  Topsoil  Just below O Horizon  Home to earthworms and soil organisms  Brown in color due to the organic matter in soil A Horizon

  Subsoil  Clayey soil  High mineral content  Usually brown or reddish due to large amount of clay B Horizon

  Parent material  Consist mainly of clumps of un-weathered rocks C Horizon

  Bed rock  Cannot be dug by hand  Very few roots can penetrate the bedrock R Horizon

 A Soil Profile

  As you can see, soil is made up of several layers…much like this pudding  Imagine the layered pudding representing different layers of the soil horizon  Top the pudding off with a gummy worm, as the gummy represents the critters of the topsoil  Enjoy! An Edible Soil Profile

  Soil structure: How the soil particles fit together  Soil texture: Soil characteristic determined by the percentage of sand, silt, and clay Soil Structure

 Sandy Soil  Sandy soils typically have a loose soil structure  Sand has the largest particles (.05-2 mm)  Sandy soils have low moisture and nutrient holding capacity

 Silty Soil  Silty soils have a granular soil structure  Granular soil structure is best for plants  Silt has medium sized particles ( mm)  Silt has a good moisture and nutrient holding capacity

 Clayey Soil  Clayey soils have a blocky or platy structure  Clay has the smallest sized particles (<.002mm)  Clayey soils have a high water and nutrient holding capacity

 Loam  Loam has almost equal parts of sand, silt and clay  This is the ideal texture for most non container outside plants

 Textural Triangle  Used to determine soil textural class from the percentages of sand, silt, and clay in the soil  How do you determine these percentages?  SOIL SAMPLE!

  Practice using the following worksheet by using the textural triangle! Try the Textural Triangle