Translations:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Nature/House Plants/7/en
From Pathfinder Wiki
There are potting soil recipes all over the web, including these:
A search engine such as Google or Yahoo will surely turn up more.
Soil Ingredients
Different potting soil ingredients impart different properties to the soil. We list several ingredients here along with their characteristics:
- Clay
- Clay is soil that sticks together into a ball when compressed. It is impermeable to water, so it inhibits drainage. It is very common in garden soil and is typically avoided as a potting soil ingredient.
- Silt
- Silt is soil or rock derived granular material of a specific grain size. Silt may occur as a soil or alternatively as suspended sediment in a water column of any surface water body. It may also exist as deposition soil at the bottom of a water body.
- Sand
- Sand is made up of mineral grains larger than those that make up silt. Water will pass through sand, so it is useful in creating well-drained soils.
- Perlite
- Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content. It makes composts more open to air, while still having good water-retention properties. It can therefore hold water in the soil until it is needed by a plant.
- Vermiculite
- Vermiculite is a natural mineral that expands with the application of heat. It is very similar to perlite and has many of the same properties.
- Peat
- Peat is soft and easily compressed. Under pressure, water in the peat is forced out. It is also dug into soil to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and add nutrients.
- Humus
- Humus refers to any organic matter which has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no further and might, if conditions do not change, remain essentially as it is for centuries, if not millennia. It is often the basis for potting soils.
- Compost
- Also known as brown manure, compost is the aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter. Compost serves as a growing medium,or a porous, absorbent material that holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients in which most plants will flourish. To maximize plant growth, it is sometimes necessary to dilute compost with soil or peat to reduce salinity or to add neutralisers to bring the pH closer to 7, or additional nutrients like fertilisers or manure, wetting agents, and materials to improve drainage and aeration, such as sand, grit, bark chips, vermiculite, perlite, or clay granules.
- Manure
- Manure is organic matter used as fertilizer. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen that is trapped by bacteria in the soil. Manure is generally acidic, lowering the soil's pH. It is often combined with lime to bring the pH back to a neutral level.
- Pea gravel/crushed stone
- These are often layered at the bottom of a pot to promote drainage. Crushed stone will also raise the pH of the soil making is less acidic.
- Fertilizer
- Inorganic fertilizers are described by three numbers (such as 10-20-20) which specify the amount of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) they contain. These are essential plant nutrients.
- Lime
- Lime is used for raising the pH of soil. Combined with manure, the horticulturalist can set the soil's pH level to a plant's optimum level.
- Bonemeal
- Bone meal is a mixture of crushed and coarsely ground bones that is used as an organic fertilizer. As a slow-release fertilizer, bone meal is primarily used as a source of phosphorus.
- Blood meal
- Blood meal is dried, powdered animal blood used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer. It is one of the highest non-synthetic sources of nitrogen and if over-applied it can burn plants with excessive ammonia. Blood meal is completely soluble and can be mixed with water to be used as a liquid fertilizer.
- Pine bark
- Shredded bark will make soil hold more water.
Plant Needs
| Plant | pH range | Soil range | Water range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narcissus | 4.5-8.5 | Sandy Loam to Clay Loam | Well-drained | Do not include organic amendments. |
| Aspidistra | 5.5-7.5 | Mostly Sand to Mostly Clay | Normal to moist | |
| Philodendron | 5.5-6.5 | Sandy Loam to Clay Loam | Normal to moist | |
| Aluminum plant | 5.5-6.5 | Loam | Normal to moist | |
| Daffodil | 4.5-8.5 | Sandy Loam to Clay Loam | Well-drained | Daffodils are the same thing as Narcissus. |
| Sanseveria | 5-7 | Sandy loam to Clay loam | Normal to moist | Snake plant |
| Boston fern | 5-6.5 | Some sand to Loam | Normal to wet | |
| Piggy-back plant | 4.5-7.5 | Sandy loam to some clay | Normal to moist | |
| Bird's nest fern | 5.5-6.5 | Loam to Clay | Moist | |
| Caladium | 4.5-6.5 | Sandy loam to Clay loam | Normal to moist | |
| Gloxinia | 7-8.5 | Sandy loam to loam | Moist | High pH (use lime and avoid manure) |
| Spider plant | 7-8.5 | Loam to potting soil | Dry to normal | High pH (use lime and avoid manure) |
| Geranium | 5-8 | Mostly sand to mostly clay | Dry to moist | |
| Maidenhair fern | 7-8 | Mostly sand to loam | Moist to wet | Prefer humus-rich, moist, well-drained sites. |
| Begonia | 6-7 | Some sand to clay loam | Normal to moist | |
| Ficus | 5.5-7.5 | Bark to potting soil | Normal to moist | |
| Tulip | 5.5-8 | Mostly sand to some clay | Normal | |
| Iris | 5-7.5 | Some sand to some clay | Normal to moist | |
| Crocus | 5.5-8.5 | Mostly sand to clay loam | Normal | |
| Coleus | 5.5-6.5 | Sandy loam to clay loam | Normal | |
| Hyacinth | 6-8 | Mostly sand to mostly clay | Dry to moist |
