Prepare Your Soil for Fall Production

The sun is the first step to a successful fall harvest. The second step is to have healthy soil. Many think that soil is the reason crops fail, but if you have your plants planted in the wrong microclimate they will fail just because of their exposure, or lack of, to the sun. The second most important step is the soil. If you have healthy soil, you have a healthy plant that will create healthy produce, which in turn means a healthier you.

For the soil you will want to make sure it is deep, about 18 to 24 inches deep of healthy soil. You will want the soil to be well draining and like a sponge. You don’t want water to pool up, you just want it to be moist to the touch.

Soil should be high in organic matter. You want that organic matter to be heavily broken up, especially as we head into the fall and winter seasons. From our experience you don’t want to be throwing on a bunch of wood chips or things that haven’t decomposed all the way. As we head into the cooler months things will break down a lot slower so you will want to use matter that is already decomposed.

The soil should have a neutral pH of about 6 or 7. In the winter we like to lean in the direction of the 6 or even maybe the 5. When your soil is a little bit on the acidic side it will help the plant uptake the nutrients that are available in the soil. As it gets colder it reduces the amount of bio activity that is going on.

The soil should crumble easy. If you grab a chunk of your soil and make a ball out of it and open your hand it should crumble apart into pea size pieces, kind of like a chocolate cake.

Some fall additions to think of is gypsum if you have low drainage. This helps to establish root systems. This may increase the pH of the soil so you may want to add some organic crumble and add some mulch on top to keep the soil healthy.

Now is the time to work on your soil and prepare it to preform for the fall. To learn more and get some amazing free guides check out Agriscaping Green Thumb Thursday at https://agriscaping.kartra.com/page/greenthumbthursday