The problem of many summer cottages is low soil fertility. Therefore, gardeners are wondering whether it is possible to create nutritious artificial soil. In order for plants to fully grow and develop, the resulting mixture must be nutritious, water- and breathable. To solve the problem, you can use different methods that exhibit both negative and positive qualities.
Peculiarities
Artificial soil is in demand when growing crops, both in open and closed ground; it is used in the case of enriching poor lands.The product is a mixture of inert materials and organics (most often peat, sand, sawdust, gravel, organic and mineral fertilizers are mixed).
It is noteworthy that it is possible to create formulations that are optimally suited for growing specific types of plant crops. Caring for artificial soil is easy; it is convenient to use when organizing beds in the form of compact boxes placed around the site.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like any material, artificial soil has advantages and disadvantages. Benefits of the mixture:
- the ability to precisely regulate the composition of elements;
- increasing the yield of plant crops grown;
- no additional fertilizers are required to be added to the soil;
- reducing costs for pesticides and disinfection of greenhouses;
- thanks to the loose structure, water and breathability are created;
- increasing labor productivity.
The disadvantages include the need to purchase individual materials (sawdust or peat or loose sand are not always available on the site). Therefore, it is advisable to use a limited volume of mixed substances to fill individual boxes or containers.
How to create artificial soil
The fertility of natural soils is determined by the amount of humus and the quality of the structure. Several methods are used to artificially create a nutrient mixture:
- low-fertility soil is enriched with organic nutritional supplements (peat, vermicompost), mineral fertilizers. This is a popular method that does not require much effort or expense. The disadvantage of the method is the difficulty of changing the structure, the lack of bioproductivity of the enriched soil;
- A method that improves the quality of the soil is to enrich the soil with complexes containing chernozem-creating organisms (worms, microorganisms). The advantage of this method is that as a result of the vital activity of microorganisms, the structure of the earth changes and the amount of humus increases. But we must admit that the process is not quick;
- the best option is to create a multicomponent mixture containing infertile soil, manure/litter, peat, mineral additives, sand. To obtain structured soil, sorbing elements are added in the factory and the mixture is mixed in special devices.
In a summer cottage or in a garden, the easiest way to get artificial soil for decorating small beds is to mix loose sand and peat moss/sawdust. For these purposes, sawdust of various types of wood is used. Naturally, to increase nutritional value, you need to enrich the mixture with mineral supplements or organic matter.