How can I improve soil quality for various soil textures?
All the preparations are done. You’ve got the tools, the plants are big enough, the Ice Saints have passed and the chance of freezing temperatures is small. Time to get to work! But there could be one last thing you need to prepare: the soil quality you’re going to plant in. Soil needs to have a good structure, texture and it should contain enough (not too much) nutrition.
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Testing your soil quality
Curious about the state of your soil? Take a sample and send it to an organization that can test it. There are several organisation that will do this for you, although it will generally cost you a bit of money. You’ll get a report about the composition of your soil, so you’ll know exactly which nutrients you might be short on.
Improve your soil texture and structure
To get started, you need to know what texture and structure of soil you’re dealing with.
Sandy soil texture is loose and airy, but it also contains few nutrients and it has a bad water retention capacity. You’ll have to help sandy soil a bit by adding nutrients and improving water retention. The easiest way is to mix in a substrate like our Batmix or a soil improver (see below). The big advantage of sandy soil is that it’s easy to work with.
Clay soil texture is exactly the other way around. It has such a heavy, dense structure that there’s nog place for air and water can’t pass through. Improve clay soil by adding rough sand, beside compost or humus.
Peat soil texture has a bit of the properties of both sandy and clay soils. Generally peat soil is a fine substrate to grow in. It’s airy, retains water well and contains nutrients.
Improve your soil fertility
We have a range of products to improve your soil's quality: Bat Guano, Mega Worm, Supermix and Perlite. The latter product won’t be very useful in open ground since Perlite doesn’t degrade and will clutter up your soil. The other substrate complements are suited to specific goals:
Bat Guano contains high amounts of, yes, bat droppings. These are rich in phosphorus and potassium. This complement helps a plant to form roots and leads to abundant flowering.
Supermix is a very versatile and well balanced fertilizer, which stimulates a rich soil life.
For growing outdoor in open soil, your best substrate complement is Mega Worm. This is an organic soil improvement product based on plant compost produced by worms. This worm humus is very beneficial to your plants, because it contains trace elements, enzymes, minerals and good fungi like Mycorrhiza and Trichoderma. These fungi enter a cooperation with the roots of your plants and protect them from diseases and pests. Mega Worm also improves the structure and water retention of your soil.
Before you start planting, you break open the soil. Then you mix the Mega Worm through the open soil. You’ll need 1 liter of Mega Worm to every 4 square meters. Don’t add Mega Worm too long before planting! If you leave the opened soil for more than a week, it will dry out and the soil complement will no longer be useful.
Testing your soil
Curious about the state of your soil? Take a sample and send it to an organization that can test it. There are several organisation that will do this for you, although it will generally cost you a bit of money. You’ll get a report about the composition of your soil, so you’ll know exactly which nutrients you might be short on.
Need help with your grow?
Contact our Grow Expert via our Servicedesk.