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Physical Exam

In organic gardening, healthy soil means healthy plants.

Since soil is at the heart of the matter, we ought to know what shape it's in. A simple knock off alhambra style necklace and inexpensive soil test is the garden equivalent of a physical checkup. It'll tell you everything you need to know about your soil's health.

After the test, not only will you know exactly how to improve your soil's nutritional balance if needed, you'll also learn what plants will grow best in your soil as it is.

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Most plants prefer slightly acidic soil, with a pH rating between 6.0 and 7.0. The presence of some acid makes it easier for plants to access nutrients like iron, potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Too much alkalinity decreases nutrient availability, resulting in plants with stunted roots and withered leaves.

However, some plants prefer an even more acidic soil (pH between 4.0 and 6.0) like rhododendrons, camellias and hydrangeas (which change color according to pH: blue below 5.5, pink above 6.0) while others prefer a slightly alkaline soil like lettuces, carnations, nasurtiums and phlox. Take this into account as you proceed in your garden.

The test results will give you more specific information on adjusting the pH level of your soil, but generally gardeners add pulverized limestone to raise the pH and elemental sulfur to lower it.

The great neutralizer, sweet alhambra necklace knock off however, is compost. In fact, any pH imbalance that the test reveals can be corrected by adding substantial amounts of composted organic matter if the problem is not too severe.

Most urban gardeners won't have to fertilize or amend their soil if they add healthy compost regularly. Soil thrives on this nutrient rich additive.

The soil test will also provide a micro and macro nutrient count.

A healthy soil includes the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur and magnesium. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are most quickly depleted by plants, which is why you see the N P K ratio on fertilizer packages.

Briefly, nitrogen promotes healthy leaf growth, phosphorus is essential for root growth, and potassium stimulates plant hardiness with strong stem and root development.

Healthy soil micronutrients are needed in smaller amounts. These include zinc, boron, manganese, molybdenum, copper and iron.

If your test shows that your soil is deficient in one of these minerals, you can add organic fertilizers. These contain bone meal for phosphorus, blood meal for nitrogen, and green sand for potassium. Compost, however, contains all the macro and micronutrients, as well as needed carbohydrates and cellulose.

Another way to add these nutrients to soil is to grow cover crops. These crops are grown during fallow seasons specifically to amend the soil. Called "green manures," cover crops were a standard before the advent of chemical fertilizers.

Legumes like vetch, clover and fava bean add nitrogen to the soil. Other cover crops like buckwheat and oats release carbohydrates in the soil, which make nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium more available to plants.

Cover cropping is not just for farmers. At San Francisco's Garden for the Environment where the of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) teaches organic gardening, cover crops are used regularly on garden beds as small as 4 by 4 feet.

Cover crops can be grown year round and are a great start for a new garden.

The soil test will also calculate the percentage of organic matter any plant or animal, living or dead in your soil.

We're talking compost, again. Compost is decomposed organic matter that feeds the micro and macro organisms that inhabit your soil. Bugs and worms knock off van cleef diamond necklace come to feast on the compost and, in turn, their waste matter nourishes your soil.

The better fed your organisms are, the healthier your soil will be, and hence, the healthier your plants will be.

In most gardens, organic matter makes up 5 percent of the overall balance; in some forest locations, it can get up to 20 percent.

San Francisco gardeners especially need to be aware of the threat of lead contamination in their soils. Vegetables, especially root crops, readily absorb lead if it's present.

Although lead paints were banned in 1978, many properties, particularly rentals in the Mission and Bernal Heights, haven't been painted since then. As the houses weather, lead dust or paint chips flake off and settle in the soil.

The San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) warns that even houses that have been painted since the ban may still have lead contaminated gardens.

SLUG recommends anyone in San Francisco with children under the age of 6 have a soil test to detect lead contamination, whether they garden or not.

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