6 Tips for Healthy Soil

8/20/2018

2018 Upper Midwest Regional Master Gardener State Conference note highlights from Donna Amidon, MGV

Session: Tiny but Mighty: How Soil Bugs, Worms, and Microbes Influence Plant Health. Anne Sawyer, PhD (U of M Extension Educator)

6 Tips for maintaining healthy soil ecosystem:

Feed the soil with organic matter. Compost has prebiotics which feed probiotics. The organic matter is carbon rich plus has nitrogen.
Provide air and water to the soil. Stop compacting the soil by walking on it, especially when it is wet. Establish walking areas in the garden so you only compact certain areas where you will not be planting. Avoid excessive tilling because that breaks up the fungi aggregates which are beneficial.
Keep your soil covered to decrease soil displacement and to help avoid spreading some diseases to plants such as septoria leaf spot, blight, and other fungus.
Rotate crops each year. This deprives pathogens of their favorite “food” and allows different plants to access different nutrients in the soil.
Use caution with chemicals.
Do a soil test to find out about your soil texture, the pH index, how much organic matter, potassium and phosphorus are in your soil. It also recommends what you may need to add to your soil.

For more info on soil testing go to:
UW Soil Lab - Lawn & Garden Testing Information

4 Comments

gggc laboratories link

12/4/2020 05:50:00 am

It is a great blog post.I am always read your blog helpful and informative tips. I like it thanks for sharing this information with us

Tez link

6/17/2021 06:50:31 pm

I like what you said about keeping your soil covered. I need a sample taken of my 23 acres. I'll have to hire a contractor to do the sampling for me.

Charlotte Fleet link

6/29/2021 02:11:38 pm

Thank you for explaining the best ways to maintain healthy soil. I agree that it is important to keep your soil fed with organic and carbon-rich matter. I would imagine that it would also be smart to invest in a soil conditioner that helps to decrease the acidity and increase its pH levels to boost plant growth.

Curtis Butler link

7/29/2021 03:05:43 pm

I didn't know that covering soil can help prevent diseases from being spread. My sister would like to start a garden and needs some quality soil. She should learn how to care for whatever soil supplies she decides to purchase.

Diversity in the garden