What is turf ground?

Flower growers often encounter the fact that for planting plants it is recommended to use sod land or a mixture of it with various fillers. Experienced vacationers usually well imagine what it is, but for a beginner such a concept may be new. Today, we will analyze in detail what the turf land is, where to take it, and what impact it has on the growth and development of plants. If you first started planting a plant, sometimes it seems that it is easier to buy a ready-made substrate in the store. In fact, cooked at home soil mixture does not differ from the one that you will be offered in a beautiful, original packaging.

The basis of floriculture

Mixes for planting domestic plants can vary greatly in composition. The main difference is which ingredient predominates in it. Knowing their properties well, you get the opportunity to take into account the individual characteristics of each potted plant and select the soil in which they will develop favorably.

The tilled land is considered to be the main one in floriculture. It is used in the manufacture of most soil mixtures. Plants adapt very well to it, intensively developing.

Differences in Substrates

The soddy land is a term by which various garden soils are understood. At first glance, simply remove the top layer of soil, which contains vegetable humus. However, garden lands can be obtained by the decomposition of sod or other organic matter. The initial substrate will affect the physical and chemical properties of the resulting soil mixture. Therefore, today we will consider several options, as well as the possibility of their optimal combination among themselves.

Soddy land

It is very rich in nutrients. Moreover, the potted plant will be provided for several years in advance, without requiring additional fertilization. It is obtained mainly from meadows and pastures, as well as fallow lands. The main criterion for selection is the presence of cereal-clover grass at the final collection sites of the substrate. However, it can not be said that in any case it will be the same. Distinguish:

• Heavy sod substratum, which differs a lot of clay;
• average;
• Light, in which most of all sand.

Seasonal factor

And we continue to understand the concept of turf land. What is it, where to get such soil mixture, now we will tell you in detail and tell. Harvesting is carried out in the summer. To do this, you need to select the period of maximum grass stand. In this case, the calculation is made such that before the winter cold the turf will have time to partially decompose. But to get a ready-made substrate, it takes much more time. Initially, the sod is cut into strata, 20 cm wide and 8 cm thick. Now it is necessary to fold it with piles, up to 1.5 meters high. To accelerate the decomposition, the layers are wetted with a solution of slurry. Another problem is to reduce acidity. To do this, lime is added. The next summer you need to shovel the pile 2-3 times. Only in two seasons it will be ready for use. In the second year, in the autumn, it is recommended to pass it through the rumble and put it in a closed room.

Gathering place

You already know what the turf land is, but collected in different places, it will be very different. To cut it it is necessary on a clover, where grass grows especially violently and do not have a food deficit. It is easy to evaluate in appearance. The whole herbage should be bright green, without yellowness and stains, specks and dry tips. If the grasses are low in the meadows available to you, they start to turn yellow and dry early, then it does not make any sense to take the land here. She is poor in nutrients.

The location of the meadow also plays an important role. Since you can only prepare turf ground directly on a meadow, choose the highest places. In marshy lowlands the soil will be too acidic. Average loam will be optimal in composition. Sandy loamy turf has a high water and air permeability, but it is poor in nutrients, for which it is used in gardening.

Deciduous humus

As you can see, the preparation of the sod land is not difficult, only access to open meadow lands is needed. If there is nothing like this next to you, then you can try similar mixtures, which are also perfectly perceived by domestic plants. Now we will discuss in detail what substratum is replaced by sod land. First of all, this is leaf land. It is loose and light. On the other hand, this disadvantage is easily corrected by mixing different mixtures and obtaining the optimal composition. Particularly good results are obtained by foliar foliar mixed with heavy, soddy soil. Often, flower growers use leaf land mixed with peat and sand. It turns out an analog of the heather mixture, it is easy and nutritious.

Workpiece

Even in urban conditions, you can easily find a place for harvesting leafy land. If you can go out of town, into the forest, then here you can find its natural deposits. Year after year, the leaves fall and pereprevayut under the trees, forming a nourishing layer. In urban parks you can collect during the period of mass leaf fall in parks and gardens. The most suitable are the leaves of lime and maple, fruit trees. But the willow and the oak are absolutely not suitable for these purposes.

Collected leaves or forest litter are formed in stacks and moistened with slurry. It remains good to compact the pile and leave it until next summer. Over the next warm season, it will take several times to thoroughly shovel the leaf mass, moisten the slurry and add lime. That is, quality sheet earth you will only get to the end of the second summer.

Compost land

This term is often used by vacationers, so we will mention it. Compost is an analog of sod and leaf land. The essence of them is one - they are the remnants of plant organics. The quality of the compost land depends on the type of waste, that is, the material used. This is an intermediate link between turf and humus.

To make it, you need a compost pit, although some gardeners use heaps or stacks. In them during the summer collect all plant and animal remains, weeds and debris, food waste. As the accumulation of residues are poured with lime and moistened with slurry, and the top is covered with peat. In the second and third year, the mass must be shoveled. By the end of the third year, the land is fully ready for use. Now you already know what sod and leaf land is like, how to make compost, and you can choose the substrate base for your home plants.

We prepare a mixture for plants

So, it's about landing. Usually, these gardeners begin to engage in the spring. Prepared from the autumn soil warm, disinfect and prepare from it an ideal substrate. The main characteristics are:

• Water capacity. Soil should easily absorb water. Do not pass through yourself, as is the case with sand, but do not delay, as does clay.
• Water and air permeability. This is understandable, the substrate must be loose to provide air access to the roots.
• Nutrition.
• Suitable pH level (most often absence of acidification).
• Cleanliness, that is, the absence of toxic substances.

Optimal proportions

Most often, the turf ground 1: 1 is mixed with a component such as sheet humus. This is easy to explain, since it acts as a baking powder. Some growers recommend to add in similar proportions the earth from molehills. It is loose and nutritious, and also does not contain pest larvae. Humus is another important component. This is a black, homogeneous mass, which is obtained from a well decomposed manure. It is very nutritious, but often contains seeds of weeds and pathogens, so it is extremely important to calcine the mixture before use.

Baking powder

In order to ensure the optimum air permeability of the soil, it is necessary to observe the proportions of turf and sand. It is important that only large sand is used. The shallow will only make the substrate more dense. Before adding to the ground, the sand is thoroughly washed. This is necessary in order to wash all the dust and leave the necessary small pebbles. In this form, it is added to almost all mixtures for indoor plants, providing better air permeability.

Additional materials

Sand is not the only component that does not carry a nutrient load, but it is still necessary for the growth and development of the plant.

• Substrates often include vermiculite, perlite, polystyrene, expanded clay and the like. All of them are necessary for improving the water-air properties of the substrate.
• Moss is also a frequently used component for the preparation of a substrate that will be ideal for indoor plants. Most often used moss-sphagnum, which gives the soil looseness.
• Charcoal - it is not used for all soil mixtures, but mainly for those who do not tolerate stagnant water and waterlogging.

Recommendations for the preparation of a substrate

In the specialized literature it is usually indicated what kind of soil mixture for a particular plant should be. However, one must understand that even turf land, which was prepared in different regions of the same area, will be of different quality. Therefore, it remains only to carefully observe and change the number of components. So, when preparing substrates, you can face several problems:

• The earth is dense and moist, does not dry out for a long time. In this case, add sand or other inert material.
• The mixture is very light, the water instantly passes through it. In this case, you need to increase the amount of turf land.
• The earth is good, but not nutritious. A sheet of humus will come to the rescue.
• The substrate is needed for transplanting the seedlings. In this case, you need to increase the amount of sand.

Ready substrates

Today they can be found in any specialized store. However, do not trust everything that is written on the package. Preliminary look for information about the manufacturer, as well as reviews of gardeners and florists. It is not superfluous to read the full information about what components the mixture consists of and for which plants it is intended. The content of nutrients will tell the amateur little, from all the figures you can pay attention only to the pH level, it should not be higher than six.