Growing in Tough
Soils & Difficult
Climates
by Frank Rauscher
You might be wondering why your
plants are losing their leaves and
hardly forming any buds. There’s
a good chance your garden soil is
not healthy enough for producing
magnificent yields. Read on to learn
about your garden soil and how to
make it rich for growing.
58
Maximum Yield
T
hough we are
hydroponic grow
enthusiasts, most of us also
have gardens and landscapes
around our home. Often,
many of these plants struggle
to thrive or grow vigorously.
A motto I like to use when
giving outside garden advice
is “make a $100 planting hole
for a $10 plant.” This attempts
to put the focus for landscape
plants on the soil and root
system where it needs to be.
In hydroponics we provide
only the best grow media for
our crops. Outdoor growing
is almost always done in the
soil or dirt that happens to
come with our yard.
Soil is comprised of
inorganic particles and
categorized into three
different sizes; clay, silt,
and sand. Of course, there
are also other things that
comprise soil: rocks, organic
matter, water, air, and
sometimes things that really
don’t belong there. A good
soil typically fits into the loam
category (see soil pyramid
chart on page 66) and also
has a reasonable per cent of
organic matter like compost.
This type of soil is friable,
meaning it breaks up easily,
and lends itself to growing
root system expansion and
health. A good soil does not
have too much clay, nor does
it have too much sand.
Soil Composition
Just what the composition
or particle makeup is of
your soil is a very important
thing to know. There is a
simple “jar test” you can
do to find this out.