-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 11,1978
116
Unerstanding soil important in home gardening
By KENDACE BORRY
LANCASTER - The first
of a series of three sessions
on home vegetable gar
dening was held this week at
the Lancaster Farm and
Home Center. Under the
direction of Arnold Lueck,
Co. Extension horticulture
agent, interested gardeners
learned how to better then
skills of growing vegetables.
“Anyone can garden,”
Lueck stated. “All it takes is
a small amount of land, a
little work, a little
knowledge, and some am
bition.”
The session centered on
which
“soil,”
described as that thin layer
of the outer crust of the earth
on which plants will grow.
All soil, lie further ex
plained, comes from
weathered rock.
The first step to better
vegetable gardening is
understanding the soil,
Lueck stated. Made of
several layers, it consists of
the soil surface, the top soil,
the subsoil, and the parent
material.
The top soil is the most
interesting layer, Lueck
believes. Also called the
“plow layer”, the usually
dark-in-color soil is alive
with micro-organisms. In
comparison, the subsoil is
lighter in color, and is the
storehouse of water.
The natural home of the
plant is the soil. Plants can
be divided basically into two
parts, that below ground
portion and the above the
soil parts.
Below the ground, the
roots serve many purposes.
They anchor the plant and
fill the function of absorbing
the plant food, oxygen, and
water that the plant needs to
survive. They help to keep
the soil pliable, and are used
in the storage of food.
Those parts of the plant
which are above the ground
go through the entire growth
and life cycle. *
Lueck
Arnold Lueck
In gardening, the major
role of the gardener is to
encourage the plant. Plants
entire purpose in their goal
_pf growing is reproduction
and pushing and aiding this
action to hurry the plants is
what gardening is all about.
That brought Lueck to the
subject of plant nutrition
which is the feeding of the
garden plants. Lueck ex
plained that if a good job of
feeding is done, the gar
dening is “made”.
Lime is important to
gardening. The substance
neutralizes soil acids,
provides calcium, helps soil
organisms work, and makes
more plant foods available
from the soil. Most vegetable
plants like soil with a ph of
6.5 and up.
The problem occurs when
the soil acidity makes the ph
drop below this level.
Everything that is done to a
soil makes it more acidic,
'Lueck stated. He added that
rainfall greatly drops the ph
of soil, leeching out the
calcium. A general formula
for how much lime is needed
is 50 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. or
two tons per acre. But to
correctly determine all the
needs of the gardening soil,
Lueck recommended a soil
test be done. Soil testing kits
are available from the
Extension service for a fee of
$3.
The primary needs of the
garden soil are supplied by
three elements - nitrogen,
phosphate, and potash.
Nitrogen is the growth
element. It makes plants
grow faster and yield bigger.
It promotes leafy parts,
giving a rich color to its
foliage. The protein content
of the harvested portions of
the crop is boosted. Nitrogen
also feeds. the soil
microorganisms that
breakdown organic matter
to improve tilth, release the
plant food, and increase
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water storage capacity of
the soil.
Nitrogen is the most likely
of all the soil nutrients to be
lacking. It moves out of the
soil easily in drainage water.
Phosphate serves many
purposes also. It stimulates
early root formation and
growth. It promotes the
production of flowers,
followed by fruits and seeds.
It hastens full maturity of
the plant Pod and fruit
crops respond well to
phosphorus. Most soils are
nuturally low in phosphorus.
Phosphorus will stay put in
the soil for it lacks mobility.
Potash makes plants
stronger and stiffer, being
an essential of plant cell organic or inorganic sour
walls. It is involved in ces. Organic sources are
general plant metabolism more expensive as a rule,
and helps to translocate Manure, any plant residue,
starches, sugars, and oils. It sawdust, are all examples of
builds resistance to diseases organic materials which can
and helps in Winter har- be used on the garden. Lueck
diness. Tuber and root crops stressed that gardeners
require a high percentage of should keep working to in
potash. Potash level in most crease the organic material
soils is fair to good. in their gardens.
These three elements can Inorganic materials come
be applied from either (Turn to Page 125)
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