The outermost part of the earth's crust is called soil. Soil can be understood as the skin of the earth. Soil is a thin layer of minerals on the earth's surface, which has undergone weathering and combined with some organic components. Although soil is only a thin layer, it is an important component of the geosphere.
Soil is one of the basic elements of agriculture because soil is the place where plants grow, soil is the environment on which food is created for most organisms.
The combined natural process of geology - hydrology - biology is called weathering of parent rocks that create soil. Simply put, soil is made up of a combination of six elements: parent rock - organisms - climate - terrain - water - time. The earth's crust is made up of rocks, which over a long period of time under the influence of organisms, climate, terrain, and water gradually break down and crumble into soil. When humans appeared, they became an important factor affecting the formation and degradation of land.
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The nature of soil is a mixture of minerals, organic matter, air and water. Soil is made up of solids (inorganic and organic), water and air.
Soil solids consist of 2 parts: 5% organic matter and 95% inorganic matter. Although organic matter accounts for a small portion, it plays an extremely important role in helping to retain moisture and absorb nutrients because it contains living microorganisms. The remaining 95% are inorganic substances including nutrients such as nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium,...
The effect of water is to dissolve nutrients in the soil so that plants can easily absorb them through root hairs. Water is an indispensable part for plant growth, no organism can live without water for a long time.
Soil air has the same components as atmospheric air: nitrogen, carbon, oxygen. However, the amount of oxygen in the soil is less than the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, and the amount of carbon dioxide is hundreds of times more than in the atmosphere. Air stays in the crevices of the soil, helping the soil become loose. Air in the soil helps organisms and microorganisms in the soil live, and provides air for plants.
Each type of soil has a different percentage of components. Soil is considered good when it has a ratio of 40% solid: 30% water: 30% air. Good soil has the ability to retain moisture, retain nutrients and absorb water quickly, and has a neutral pH of 5.5 to 7.5.
Soil is the environment, the foundation for plants to grow. Soil provides water, oxygen, nutrients and helps plants stand firmly and not fall. Thanks to that, plants can grow well and produce products to serve human life.
To ensure the growth and productivity of plants, before starting to plant or garden, people need to learn carefully about each type of soil and choose suitable soil.
Soil plays an important role in crops, determining good and bad growth and development of plants, and determining crop productivity. Therefore, preparing the land and choosing soil for planting is an important step in the gardening and planting process.
See more: https://medium.com/@bestgalvanizedraisedgardenbeds
