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Soil is composed of organic matter (decomposing plants, animals, and microbes), biomass (living plants, animals, and microbes), water, air, minerals (sand, silt, and clay), and nutrients (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus). [4] For optimal plant growth, a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20–30:1 must be maintained. [3]
Wood chips are an easy and affordable way to give your garden a boost. They're commonly used as mulch to suppress weeds, improve water retention, and reduce soil erosion.Beyond mulch, wood chips ...
Soil conditioners may be used to improve water retention in dry, coarse soils which are not holding water well. The addition of organic material for instance can greatly improve the water retention abilities of sandy soils and they can be added to adjust the pH of the soil to meet the needs of specific plants or to make highly acidic or ...
Plants and animals utilize soil for food and shelter, disturbing the upper soil layers and transporting chemically weathered rock called saprolite from the lower soil depths to the surface. [3] Terrestrial bioturbation is important in soil production, burial, organic matter content, and downslope transport.
Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together, as in microbiota, plants and animals.
Nutrients in the soil are taken up by the plant through its roots, and in particular its root hairs.To be taken up by a plant, a nutrient element must be located near the root surface; however, the supply of nutrients in contact with the root is rapidly depleted within a distance of ca. 2 mm. [14] There are three basic mechanisms whereby nutrient ions dissolved in the soil solution are brought ...
Soil stabilization is a general term for any physical, chemical, mechanical, biological, or combined method of changing a natural soil to meet an engineering purpose. [1] Improvements include increasing the weight-bearing capabilities, tensile strength, and overall performance of unstable subsoils , sands, and waste materials in order to ...
Air plants are epiphytes, meaning they anchor to a host plant by their roots. They do not need soil to grow, absorbing moisture and nutrients through little scale-like structures, called trichomes ...