GARDEN

HOW TO “IMPROVE” PEAT SOILS

Many collective gardens, especially in the eighties of the last century, in our region were founded on the territory of drained swamps and peat workings. Peat soils in these areas have some specific properties, which, if not eliminated, can adversely affect garden plants for a long time.
Peat soils are very diverse in their physical properties. But they all contain little phosphorus, magnesium and especially potassium; they lack many trace elements and, first of all, copper.
Depending on their origin and the thickness of the peat layer that forms them, peat soils are divided into lowland, transitional and highland.
Low-lying peatlands, often located in wide hollows with a slight slope, are most suitable for growing garden and vegetable plants. These soils have good vegetation cover. The peat on such peatlands is well decomposed, so it is almost black or dark brown, lumpy. The acidity of the peat layer in such areas is weak or close to neutral.
Lowland peatlands have a fairly high supply of nutrients compared to transitional and highland peatlands, especially nitrogen. Unfortunately, this nitrogen is found in low-lying peatlands in a form almost inaccessible to plants and can only become available to plants after aeration.
The transition of this nitrogen into a state available to plants can be accelerated by draining the peat soil and increasing the activity of microorganisms that promote decomposition. organic matter, by adding a small amount of manure, ripe compost or humus to the soil.
High-moor peatlands are usually overly moistened, since they have a rather limited runoff of rain and melt water. They are highly fibrous because they do not provide conditions for greater decomposition of plant residues. This leads to severe acidification of the peat, which explains its very high acidity. Such peatlands are light brown in color.
The nutritional elements in high-moor peat, which are already scarce in any peat soil, are in a state inaccessible to plants. And soil microorganisms that help maintain soil fertility are often simply absent from them. When planting gardens and vegetable gardens on such soils, their cultivation requires large expenses. And in pure form High-moor peat can practically only be used as bedding for livestock, since it absorbs slurry well.
For all types peaty soils characterized by low thermal conductivity, so they slowly thaw and warm up in the spring, and are much more often exposed to recurrent frosts, which delays the start of spring work.
It is believed that the temperature of such soils on average during the growing season is 2-3 degrees lower compared to the temperature of mineral soils. On peat soils, frosts end later in the spring and begin earlier in the fall. Create a more favorable temperature regime on such soils there is only one way - by draining excess water and creating loose structural soil.
Peat soils in their natural state are almost unsuitable for growing garden and vegetable plants. But due to the presence of a large amount of organic matter in them, they have significant “hidden” fertility potential, all four “keys” to which are in your hands. These keys are lowering the groundwater level, liming the soil, adding mineral supplements and using organic fertilizers. Now let’s try to get to know these “keys” in a little more detail.
Declining groundwater level
For removing excess moisture on site and improvements air regime Peat soils very often have to be drained, especially in new areas. It is, of course, easier to do this throughout the entire garden area at once, but sometimes you have to do this only on your own site, trying to create a local simple drainage system.
And if you are very unlucky and you have an area where the groundwater level is very high and it is quite difficult to lower it, then there will be even more worries. In order to prevent tree roots from coming into contact with these very groundwaters in the future, you will have to solve not one, but two “strategic” tasks at once - reduce the groundwater level in the area as a whole and at the same time raise the ground level in the place where trees are planted and berry bushes by creating artificial mounds from imported soil. As the trees grow, the diameter of these mounds will need to be increased annually.
Soil liming
Under liming acidic soil understand the addition of lime or other alkaline materials to it to reduce its acidity. In this case, the most common thing happens chemical reaction neutralization.
But in addition to this, liming peat soils also enhances the activity of various microorganisms that assimilate nitrogen or decompose plant remains contained in peat. In this case, brown fibrous peat turns into an almost black earthy mass. At the same time, hard-to-reach forms of nutrients contained in peat are converted into compounds that are easily digestible by plants. And phosphorus and potassium fertilizers applied to the soil are fixed in the upper layers of the soil, are not washed out of it by groundwater, remaining available to plants for a long time.
Knowing the acidity of the soil on your site, add alkaline materials in the fall. The dose of their application depends on the level of soil acidity and for acidic peat soils averages approximately 60 kg of ground limestone per 100 sq. m. meters of area, for moderately acidic peat soils - on average about 30 kg, for slightly acidic peat soils - about 10 kg. On peat soils with acidity close to neutral, limestone may not be added at all.
But all these average doses of lime fluctuate greatly depending on the level of acidity, especially on acidic peatlands. Therefore, before adding lime, its specific amount must be clarified again depending on the exact acidity of the peat bog.
A wide variety of alkaline materials are used for liming peat soils - ground limestone, slaked lime, dolomite flour, chalk, marl, cement dust, wood and peat ash, etc.
Remember!!! It is not recommended to apply lime to the soil together with phosphorus fertilizers and ammonia forms of nitrogen fertilizers.
Adding mineral supplements
An important element improving the physical properties of peaty soils is their enrichment with minerals - sand and clay, which increase the thermal conductivity of the soil, accelerate its thawing and enhance warming. Moreover, if they have an acidic reaction, you will have to add an additional dose of lime to neutralize their acidity.
In this case, clay must be added only in dry powder form so that it mixes better with peat soil. Adding clay in the form of large lumps to peat soil gives little result.
The lower the degree of peat decomposition, the greater the need for mineral additives. On heavily decomposed peat bogs, 2-3 buckets of sand and 1.5 buckets of powdered clay per 1 sq.m should be added, and on weakly decomposed peat bogs, these doses should be increased by a quarter.
Application of organic and mineral fertilizers
Manure, peat-manure or peat-fecal composts, bird droppings, humus and other biologically active organic fertilizers are applied in quantities of up to 0.5-1 bucket per 1 square meter. meter for shallow digging to quickly activate microbiological processes in peat soil, promoting the decomposition of the organic matter in it.
To create conditions favorable for plant growth, it is necessary to add mineral fertilizers to peat soils: for basic tillage - 1 tbsp. spoon of double granulated superphosphate and 2.5 tbsp. spoons of potassium fertilizers per 1 square meter of area, and in the spring additionally 1 teaspoon of urea.
Most peat soils have a low copper content, and it is in a form that is difficult for plants to reach. Therefore, applying fertilizers containing copper to peat soil, especially on acidic peat soils, has a significant effect. If necessary, fertilizers containing other microelements, primarily molybdenum and boron, must also be applied to peat soils.
Then the peat soil, along with mineral soil, manure, organic and mineral fertilizers and lime poured on top, must be carefully dug to a depth of no more than 12-15 cm, and then lightly compacted. It is best to do this in late summer or early autumn, when the soil has dried out significantly.
If it is not possible to cultivate your entire plot at once, then develop it in parts, but by adding to them all the above-mentioned amounts of mineral additives and organic fertilizers at once, or by first filling the planting holes with loose, fertile soil, and in subsequent years carrying out work on cultivating the soil in between the rows. But this is already the worst option, because it is better to do it all at once.
Remember! On already developed peat soils, there is a gradual decrease in the thickness of the peat layer due to its compaction and mineralization of organic matter. This happens especially quickly in areas where the same vegetables have been grown for a long time without observing crop rotation, requiring frequent loosening of the soil.
Therefore, cultivated peat soil in garden plots, and especially in vegetable plots, requires annual additional application of organic fertilizers. If this is not done, then every year on your site there will be a gradual irreversible destruction of peat (its mineralization), and after 15-20 years the soil on your site will no longer be fertile peat, but low-fertile sod-podzolic. At the same time, her physical properties will change greatly for the worse.
To prevent this from happening, in addition to everything else that was mentioned above, a well-thought-out crop rotation system rich in perennial herbs must be constantly operating on your site.
You also need to be able to use the advantages of peat
Peat is one of the most popular organic fertilizers in the Urals, especially among novice gardeners. They try to purchase as much of it as possible and immediately apply it to the soil. But often there is little benefit from such an application, since in peat, as you already know, there is only enough nitrogen, but even in low-lying, well-decomposed peat it is often in a state inaccessible to plants.
In the first years after application, such peat only increases the absorption capacity of the soil and improves its air regime. Therefore, we must remember that if the soil in the garden is well cultivated, loose and fertile, then adding such unprepared peat to it is practically useless.
It's another matter if the soil has little organic matter, especially if it is heavy clay soil. In this case, using peat can significantly improve the physical properties and structure clay soil, make it more loose, water- and moisture-permeable, and sandy soil, on the contrary, significantly increase its moisture capacity. In addition, peat is usually relatively cheap. But all this must be done skillfully.
As you already know, there are different types of peat - lowland and highland. You should definitely be interested in this when purchasing it. In addition, both of these peats have completely different colors. Lowland peat can be used to add to the soil without composting after aeration, but this is not the most the best option, since the conversion of the nitrogen contained in it into a form convenient for plants will occur slowly.
Some gardeners sometimes use such fresh low-lying peat with the addition of garden soil to create bulk beds for growing cucumbers and zucchini, planting seedlings in holes completely filled with good humus.
When the roots of the plants grow beyond the boundaries of such a hole, the lowland peat will already lose its negative qualities. When constructing such beds, wood ash is added to the peat, 2 cups per bucket of peat and ordinary garden soil.
But, of course, it is much more useful to cover a pile of low-lying peat with film and keep it like that for 3-4 months, occasionally watering it with water, diluted slurry or herbal infusions. During this time, the peat will “ripen”, and it will already be “truly” useful peat.
And acidic high-moor peat in its pure form cannot be added to the soil at all. It needs some serious composting. Composting high-moor peat with manure converts a significant part of the inaccessible nitrogenous compounds of peat into a form more accessible to plants. These processes occur much faster if the compost temperature is maintained at a fairly high temperature.
It is not difficult to prepare such peat manure compost in the garden. A layer of peat 25-30 cm thick is placed at the base of the stack. Then layers of manure and peat are alternated until the stack reaches a height of 1.2-1.3 meters. Then you need to pour 1-2 buckets into the middle of the stack hot water, and cover the top of the stack with a layer of peat 15-30 cm thick. For one weight part of high-moor peat manure, take 2 times more.
When placing acidic high-moor peat and manure in such a pile for composting, it is very useful to add superphosphate at the rate of 2-3 kg per 1 ton of composted material and various lime fertilizers, depending on the acidity of the peat.
They shovel such a pile of compost every 1.5-2 months. Properly prepared peat manure compost in terms of its effect on the yield of garden and garden crops is not inferior to ordinary manure, and often surpasses it. This is the real use of peat.
To prepare peat-liquid compost, any type of peat (primarily high peat) and slurry are used. The peat is placed in two adjacent shafts in such a way that a depression is formed between them with a thickness of the lower layer in the recess of at least 35-40 cm. Slurry is poured into this recess at the rate of 0.5 tons of this slurry per 1 ton of peat. You can also add superphosphate here, 2-3 kg per ton of peat. After the slurry has soaked all the peat, the mixture is raked into a pile without compaction and covered with film.
The temperature of the compost in such a pile, when laid loosely, quickly rises to 50-55 degrees. Peat vigorously absorbs ammonia and reduces nitrogen losses from peat-liquid compost during storage. And slurry helps to more quickly convert the nitrogenous compounds of peat into a form more accessible to plants. When prepared in spring and summer, such peat-liquid composts ripen within 3-3.5 months.
But if there is little slurry (and this is mostly the case), then it is poured into the compost heap only to “infect” the high-moor peat with bacteria. Then you need to add lime materials to such a pile - for 1 ton of high-moor peat, 20-30 kg of lime or 30-40 kg of wood ash. But such compost will mature only after 1.5-2 years and, of course, will contain fewer elements nutrition than peat-manure compost. But this is also very good organic fertilizer.
It is rational to use high-moor peat in the garden and for preparing peat-fecal composts. This is a very strong and fast-acting fertilizer, containing almost twice as much nitrogen as manure. They are prepared in almost the same way as peat-liquid composts.
To do this, place a layer of peat 40-50 cm thick under the canopy, make a depression in it, where the feces are drained. Then they are covered with a layer of peat chips 15-20 cm thick and covered with film. It is important that the process of composting feces in a pile takes place at a temperature of 55-60 degrees, favorable for neutralizing pathogenic microflora.
If necessary, new layers of peat and feces are added to this pile. But in this case, complete disinfection of the compost will occur slowly, so such compost can be used no earlier than a year after the last addition of feces.
And it is advisable not to place such peat-fecal composts on a vegetable or strawberry bed, but to use them only in an orchard.

V.G. Saffron

Peat soils, their improvement

There is a popular opinion that such soils seem unsuitable for growing vegetables and berry bushes, but after two to three years of development, most garden crops can already be grown on them.

But the approach to the development of each type of peat bog must be individual- depending on what type of swamp was previously in this place.

Peaty soils are very diverse in their physical properties. They have a loose, permeable structure that does not require special improvement. But they all contain little phosphorus, magnesium and especially potassium; they lack many trace elements, primarily copper.

Depending on their origin and the thickness of the peat layer that forms them, peaty soils are divided into lowland, transitional and highland.

Low-lying peatlands, often located in wide hollows with a slight slope, are most suitable for growing garden and vegetable plants. These soils have good vegetation cover. The peat on such peatlands is well decomposed, so it is almost black or dark brown, lumpy. The acidity of the peat layer in such areas is weak or even close to neutral.

Lowland peatlands have a fairly high supply of nutrients compared to transitional and especially high-moor peatlands. They contain a lot of nitrogen and humus, since plant residues are well decomposed, the acidity of the soil is weaker, and they contain enough water that must be drained into ditches.

But, unfortunately, this nitrogen is found in low-lying peatlands in a form almost inaccessible to plants and can only become available to plants after aeration. Only 2-3% nitrogen from total number is found in the form of nitrate and ammonia compounds available to plants.

The transition of nitrogen to a state available to plants can be accelerated by draining the peat soil and enhancing the activity of microorganisms that contribute to the decomposition of organic matter by adding a small amount of manure, ripe compost or humus to the soil.

High-moor peatlands are usually overly moistened, since they have a rather limited runoff of rain and melt water. They are highly fibrous because they do not provide conditions for greater decomposition of plant residues. This leads to severe acidification of the peat, which explains its very high acidity. Such peatlands are light brown in color.

The nutritional elements in high-moor peat, which are already scarce in any peat soil, are in a state inaccessible to plants. And soil microorganisms that help maintain soil fertility are often simply absent from them.

When planting gardens and vegetable gardens on such soils, their cultivation requires large expenses. In order for such soils to become suitable for growing garden plants, lime must be added to them. river sand, clay, rotted manure, mineral fertilizers.

Lime will reduce acidity, sand will improve the structure, clay will increase viscosity and add nutrients, and mineral fertilizers will enrich the soil additional elements nutrition. As a result, the decomposition of peat plant residues will accelerate and conditions will be created for growing cultivated plants.

And in its pure form, high-moor peat can practically only be used as bedding for livestock, since it absorbs slurry well.

All types of peaty soils are characterized by low thermal conductivity, so they slowly thaw and warm up in the spring, and are much more often exposed to return frosts, which delays the start of spring work.

It is believed that the temperature of such soils on average during the growing season is 2-3 degrees lower compared to the temperature of mineral soils. On peat soils, frosts end later in the spring and begin earlier in the fall. There is only one way to create a more favorable temperature regime on such soils.- by draining excess water and creating loose structural soil.

Peat soils in their natural state are almost unsuitable for growing garden and vegetable plants. But due to the presence of a large amount of organic matter in them, they have significant “hidden” fertility potential, all four “keys” to which are in your hands.

These keys are lowering the groundwater level, liming the soil, adding mineral supplements and using organic fertilizers. Now let’s try to get to know these “keys” in a little more detail.

REDUCTION OF GROUNDWATER LEVEL

To remove excess moisture from the site and improve the air regime, peat soils very often have to be drained, especially in new areas. It is, of course, easier to do this throughout the entire garden area at once, but much more often you have to do this only on your own site, trying to create your own local simple drainage system.

The most reliable way to arrange simple drainage is to place shovels in grooves two bayonets wide and deep drainage pipes, pour sand on top of them, and then soil.

Much more often in drainage ditches instead of pipes they put branches, cut stems of raspberries, sunflowers, etc. They are covered first with crushed stone, then with sand, and then with earth. Some craftsmen use for this purpose plastic bottles. To do this, they cut off the bottom, screw off the plug, make holes in the side with a hot nail, insert them into each other and lay them in place of the drainage pipe.

And if you are very unlucky and you have an area where the groundwater level is very high and it is quite difficult to lower it, then there will be even more worries.

In order to prevent tree roots from coming into contact with these very groundwaters in the future, you will have to solve not one, but two “strategic” problems at once- reduce the groundwater level in the area as a whole and at the same time raise the soil level in the area where trees are planted by creating artificial mounds from imported soil. As the trees grow, the diameter of these mounds will need to be increased annually.

SOIL DEACIDIFICATION

Peat soils come in different acidities- from slightly acidic and even close to neutral (in peat bog lowland soils) to strongly acidic (in peat bog high soils).

Deoxidation of acidic soil means adding lime or other alkaline materials to it to reduce its acidity. In this case, the most common chemical neutralization reaction occurs. Lime is most often used for these purposes.

But, in addition to this, liming of peat soils also enhances the activity of various microorganisms that assimilate nitrogen or decompose plant residues contained in peat. In this case, brown fibrous peat turns into an almost black earthy mass.

At the same time, hard-to-reach forms of nutrients contained in peat are converted into compounds that are easily digestible by plants. And phosphorus and potassium fertilizers applied to the soil are fixed in the upper layers of the soil, are not washed out of it by groundwater, remaining available to plants for a long time.

Knowing the acidity of the soil on your site, add alkaline materials in the fall. The dose of their application depends on the level of soil acidity and for acidic peat soils averages approximately 60 kg of ground limestone per 100 sq. m. meters of area, for medium acidic peat soils- on average about 30 kg, on slightly acidic- about 10 kg. On peat soils with acidity close to neutral, limestone may not be added at all.

But all these average doses of lime fluctuate greatly depending on the level of acidity, especially on acidic peatlands. Therefore, before adding lime, its specific amount must be clarified again depending on the exact acidity of the peat bog.

A wide variety of alkaline materials are used for liming peat soils: ground limestone, slaked lime, dolomite flour, chalk, marl, cement dust, wood and peat ash, etc.

APPLICATION OF MINERAL ADDITIVES

An important element in improving the physical properties of peaty soils is their enrichment with minerals- sand and clay,- which increase the thermal conductivity of the soil, accelerate its thawing and enhance warming. Moreover, if they are acidic, you will have to add an additional dose of lime to neutralize their acidity.

In this case, clay must be added only in dry powder form so that it mixes better with peat soil. Adding clay in the form of large lumps to peat soil gives little result.

The lower the degree of peat decomposition, the greater the need for mineral additives. On heavily decomposed peat bogs, you need to add 2-3 buckets of sand and 1.5 buckets of dry powdery clay per 1 square meter. meter, and on weakly decomposed peatlands these doses should be increased by a quarter.

It is clear that such an amount of sand cannot be added in one or two years. Therefore, sanding is carried out gradually, from year to year (in autumn or spring), until the physical properties of the soil improve. You will notice this yourself by the plants you grow. The sand scattered on the surface is dug up with a shovel to a depth of 12-18 cm.

APPLICATION OF ORGANIC AND MINERAL FERTILIZERS

Manure, peat manure or peat-fecal composts, bird droppings, humus and other biologically active organic fertilizers are applied in quantities of up to 0.5-1 bucket per 1 square meter. meter for shallow digging to quickly activate microbiological processes in peat soil, promoting the decomposition of the organic matter in it.

To create conditions favorable for plant growth, it is necessary to add mineral fertilizers to peat soils: for basic tillage - 1 tbsp. spoon of double granulated superphosphate and 2.5 tbsp. spoons of potash fertilizers per 1 sq. meter of area, and in the spring additionally- 1 teaspoon of urea.

Most peat soils have a low copper content, and it is in a form that is difficult for plants to reach. Therefore, adding fertilizers containing copper to peat soil, especially on acidic peat soils, has a significant effect. Most often used for this purpose copper sulfate at the rate of 2-2.5 g/m2, first dissolving it in water and watering the soil from a watering can.

The application of boron microfertilizers gives good results. Most often, for foliar feeding of seedlings or adult plants, take 2-3 g boric acid per 10 liters of water (1 liter of this solution is sprayed on plants over an area of ​​10 sq. m).

Then the peat soil, along with mineral soil, manure, organic and mineral fertilizers and lime poured on top, must be carefully dug to a depth of no more than 12-15 cm, and then lightly compacted. It is best to do this in late summer or early autumn, when the soil has dried out significantly.

If it is not possible to cultivate your entire plot at once, then develop it in parts, but by adding to them all the above-mentioned amounts of mineral additives and organic fertilizers at once, or by first filling the planting holes with loose, fertile soil, and in subsequent years carrying out work on cultivating the soil in between the rows. But this is already the worst option, because it is better to do it all at once.

On already developed peat soils, there is a gradual decrease in the thickness of the peat layer by about 2 cm per year due to its compaction and mineralization of organic matter. This happens especially quickly in areas where the same vegetables have been grown for a long time without observing crop rotation, requiring frequent loosening of the soil.

To prevent this from happening, cultivated peat soil in gardens, and especially in vegetable plots, requires annual additional application of organic fertilizers.

If this is not done, then every year on your site there will be a gradual irreversible destruction of peat (its mineralization), and after 15-20 years the soil level on your site may be 20-25 cm lower than it was before the development of the site began, and the soil will become swampy.

In this case, the soil on your site will no longer be fertile peat, but low-fertile soddy-podzolic, and its physical properties will greatly change for the worse.

To prevent this from happening, in addition to everything else that was mentioned above, a well-thought-out crop rotation system rich in perennial herbs must be constantly operating on your site.

In the future, you will have to import and deposit annually or sufficient quantity organic fertilizers (10-15 buckets per 100 sq. meters), or other soil.

And if there is no manure or compost, then green fertilizer can help out. Sow and bury lupine, peas, beans, vetch, sweet clover, and clover.

V. G. Shafransky

Quite often, many amateur gardeners wonder how and what to fertilize all their favorite plants so that maximum benefit And minimal costs. They give their preference to those fertilizers that are available in their region.

Areas with many wetlands are rich in excellent fertilizer - peat. People started using peat as a fertilizer not yesterday or even the day before yesterday. People have guessed about its beneficial qualities since ancient times and, through many experiments, came to the conclusion that soil fertilized with peat becomes much more fertile, and the plants on it delight with their strength and beauty.

Article outline

This inhabitant of swamp spaces not only serves to create a highly nutritious environment for all plants. It can be used to heat homes, filter for various solutions, and provide ideal thermal insulation. But most often, soil fertilization with peat is used.

What is this wonderful substance? These are the remains of plants and animals, which over time undergo rotting, decomposition and compression. This wonderful organic substance also contains useful mineral fertilizers.

Mineral fertilizer peat is indispensable for any species of flora. It is used to fertilize the soil on which garden or vegetable plants grow. But do not forget that feeding with peat is not useful for all soils. In some cases, such feeding can cause harm.

Soil in which there is a sufficient amount of humus does not need fertilizer. But the soil, which consists mainly of clay and sand, really needs to be simply diluted with peat. If we approach this issue with all seriousness, then after feeding such soil with peat, it will be saturated with organic and other useful substances.

Peat is an organic fertilizer, which, depending on the degree of decomposition and its acidity, is divided into three types:

• High-moor peat is practically undecomposed and unpressed remains of animal and plant life.
• Lowland peat is a mass that has completely decomposed.
• Transitional – the middle link between high-moor and low-lying peat.

The first and second types of peat have too much acidity, so using it without any impurities, in its pure form, can be harmful to plants.

It is best to combine this fertilizer with other organic and mineral substances.

Thus, peat will help retain agrochemicals in the soil, saturate it with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. By the way, peat contains 50-60% carbon. And this is a sufficient amount for the plants to feel great.

Fertilizing the land with peat has a beneficial effect on its composition and quality. Thanks to this, she seems to be reborn again. Becomes water and breathable. In other words, the soil begins to breathe. In such soil, plants become comfortable and cozy. This happens if you fertilize the soil with lowland or intermediate view peat The top layer of peat is not suitable for such a role. This is ideally an excellent mulching material for covering the plant on winter period time.

Peat consists of:

• 50-60% carbon;
• 5% from hydrogen;
• 1-3% from oxygen;
• 3% from nitrogen;
• 1% from sulfur.

ABOUT beneficial properties peat

Peat is a plant fertilizer that has some distinctive features. It is heat- and moisture-intensive, has a slightly acidic environment. There are some rules that should be followed when working with this substance:

1. Before you start using peat, it must be thoroughly ventilated. The fact is that it contains a large portion of substances that can have Negative influence on plants. To prevent this from happening, it is enough to post not a large number of peat in a pile in a well-ventilated place.
2. It is necessary to carefully pay attention and control the moisture content of the peat. In no case should it fall below 50%. If you do not keep track and allow the humidity to drop, then the soil fertilized with peat will poorly retain moisture, which will negatively affect the development and growth of plants.
3. We must not forget that for fertile lands peat will not play a big role. It is useful for depleted soils, sandy and clayey.
4. You should not wait for an immediate reaction after fertilizing with peat. As a rule, it is valid for 2-3 years. The most positive effect is noticed from the second year, so don’t be upset or rush things.
5. You can fertilize the soil with fertilizers that contain peat both in autumn and in spring time of the year. In both cases it will be beneficial for the plants.
6. Fertilizing slightly acidic soils with slightly acidic peat is neither correct nor prudent. To begin with, the peat must be neutralized with lime or dolomite flour.
7. In order to enrich lowland peat with useful components, it must first be used for animal bedding. And only after that use the resulting mass for its intended purpose.

The quality of peat can be judged by doing a small experiment at home. You need to take a small amount of this material in your hand, squeeze it between your fingers and move it along a clean sheet of paper. The less moisture is squeezed out and the darker the stripe on the paper, the greater the amount of plant and animal remains that has had time to decompose.

There must be good peat dark brown, with a loose structure and good moisture capacity. The acidity of peat is checked with ordinary litmus paper.

Methods for determining soil acidity

Peat is an excellent fertilizer for flowers. In order to extract everything useful qualities To create this valuable material and at the same time not harm the flowers, peat is mixed with black soil and sand.

This mixture will help to grow wildly flowering plants rich in greenery. Flowers are usually stored in such soil in a flower shop for a long period of time, which not only does not harm them, but on the contrary promotes their good development and growth.

In many cases, peat is valued by gardeners and gardeners. This is an excellent and incomparable fertilizer for many plants. But most often peat is used as fertilizer for potatoes. Potatoes use all the beneficial substances of peat more fully than all other crops.

In order for powerful vegetative masses and healthy potato tubers to form, it is necessary to feed it not only with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, but also with other useful substances. To do this, it is also necessary to have loose soil, its correct structure with a slightly acidic environment. Soddy-podzolic soil with sand or clay is best suited for these purposes. Sand does not retain moisture well. Clay, although it retains moisture quite well, is basically airtight in its condition.

If all these indicators are mixed with peat, and even humus particles are added to this mixture - more fertile soil will be difficult to find. It is advisable to fertilize light soil in the spring, at the same time as planting potatoes. It is better to feed heavy ones with peat and manure in the fall, after the harvest has been harvested.

If bird droppings are used instead of manure, then fertilizing is also needed purely in the autumn. On average, 10 kg of such fertilizer per 1 sq.m of land is sufficient.

When fertilizing in spring, peat with manure is thrown directly into the hole with planting material. This allows all the beneficial substances to get directly to the seeds, and in the future to the roots of the plant, which is especially important for achieving a rich harvest.

Where can I get peat? Trip for peat on video

Peat can be fed to both garden flowers and those growing in pots. It is used both as top dressing and as a mulching material. But every gardener should remember that this natural material for feeding plants, it begins to work perfectly when combined with other organic and mineral components.

Not the last place in plant growing and gardening is occupied by acid peat. With its help, agricultural and flower plants. The use of acid peat is acceptable on a large industrial scale, but in a small area summer cottage or garden, bagged soil mixtures are prepared with its help.

For greater efficiency and without that useful material it is necessary to add other additional mineral and organic substances. The uniqueness of acid peat is manifested in its biological properties. The most acidic peat is considered to be high peat. Its formation occurs on a flat or elevated area. The degree of its decomposition is not too high. If you neutralize this type of fertilizer, it will become an indispensable assistant when growing seedlings and greenhouse crops.

Thanks to the use of acidic peat, the physical and chemical condition of the soil is greatly improved. There are positive changes in its density, breathability, nutritional value and microbiological state.

Peat, the extraction of which occurs in June-October, is usually the most valuable and nutritious. It is light, airy and absolutely non-toxic. It should not be stored for a long time. This deteriorates its quality, and some useful substances disappear.

How to prepare soil for seedlings - how to add peat in advance

Using peat in the garden

Using peat in the garden requires some knowledge. Before using it directly, the peat must be thoroughly fluffed and kept for 14 days. Ideally, it would be sifted through a special mesh with the required cell sizes. This material requires constant watering and an average temperature of 17-20 degrees.

If it is prepared correctly and also correctly placed in pots and cassettes, then the roots of the seedlings will be provided with useful substances and oxygen, and this in turn will contribute to its intensive growth.

An excellent peat fertilizer is peat compost. It is used by gardeners when manure is not available. Why manure better than peat? Peat decomposes a little more slowly in the soil, which somewhat limits the access of useful components to plants in time.

It has already been mentioned above that peat has high acidity, so it is an excellent assistant for gardeners and gardeners only strictly after composting. If we approach this issue from full responsibility, then using peat compost you can create an excellent fertilizer for plants, in no way inferior to manure.

The right time for preparing composts is from early spring to late autumn. Excellent material that will be added to peat in the compost heap is various plant waste, fallen leaves, grass clippings and various food scraps. Most often used for peat compost:

• tops;
• weeds;
• sawdust and shavings;
• leftover food;
• and of course peat.

Do not throw plastic waste, rubber, glass or iron products into this pile.

Garden peat is a valuable product. Some people believe that only selected plants can grow on acid peat. In fact, there are simply a huge number of options for using peat in garden plots. It contains an unlimited amount of useful organic substances, it has amazing structural properties and can be of great help in the national economy.

Compost from peat can be prepared within 1-1.5 years. It is considered ready only when the compost heap has turned into a homogeneous, loose mass.

It is not worth making the compost heap very high, since in this case the decomposition processes will proceed unevenly - the maximum recommended height of a compost heap with peat is one and a half to two meters.

How peat is extracted on an industrial scale

It is widely used by many gardeners and peat has long proven itself as a fertilizer for tomatoes.

It is enough to do foliar and root feeding of tomatoes with a peat mixture once every fourteen days and the result will not take long to arrive.

It can also be added for greater effect when planting in holes along with plant seeds.

Peat has shown itself very well as a fertilizer for flowers. In airy and super-porous soil, thanks to peat, flowers quickly recover after transplantation and feel simply excellent throughout their growth.

Peonies are especially grateful for this wonderful fertilizer. They develop much faster, bloom much more profusely, and the smell of such peonies is much richer. After all, there is more than enough air in such soil. It holds as much moisture as the plant needs.

Fertilizer for cabbage

Cabbage is a rather finicky vegetable. It is too demanding on the soil and environment and prefers to grow in low acidic soil.

If you reduce the acidity of peat, make compost from it and apply this mixture when planting, then the effect of such organic fertilizing will be visible with the first harvest.

If you neutralize the acidity of peat and apply it when growing cucumbers, it will be one of the most effective fertilizers in gardening. It is important to observe certain proportions and requirements.

Can be grown big harvest, growing cucumbers directly on peat. It is enough just to produce it correctly and add the fertilizers necessary for good plant growth.

There is a type of soil that becomes crusty after rain. This becomes a big problem for plants growing in such soil, because oxygen access to the roots is practically blocked. If you periodically fertilize such soil with peat, this problem will remain a thing of the past and over time you can forget about it.

Peat is often and actively used in greenhouses. This application works great for 2-3 years. After this period, the quality of the peat deteriorates somewhat. Its mineralization (decomposition) occurs.

To ensure that the quality of the peat remains the same top level It is necessary to periodically add loosening materials to the soil with it.

This could be sawdust, sand or straw cuttings, manure or fresh peat. The mineralization of peat is stopped if pine bark crushed into dust is added to it.

The standard recipe for peat fertilizer for a greenhouse is as follows:

• 40% garden land;
• 40% lowland peat;
• 10% cow manure;
• 5% ash;
• 5% sawdust.

Thanks to these secrets, you can use such soil in a greenhouse for up to 6 years. After this period, it is better to completely replace the soil with a new one. One that has done its job can still serve as an excellent fertilizer for plants in the open air.

High peat

High "red" sphagnum peat, unlike soil mixtures, is characterized by high porosity (about 95%) and excellent moisture capacity (60 - 70%). It is not microbiologically degradable for a relatively long time, which means it can be used for a long time. Thanks to its long-fiber structure, high-moor peat is able to retain mineral fertilizers added to it, while they are not washed out for a long time and are stored in a form accessible to plants.

The long-fiber substrate based on high-moor peat is light in weight. It also has good thermal insulation properties, does not cake and does not shrink when growing plants.

The root system of crops planted in such a substrate easily entwines the entire peat lump.

High peat in its natural form has an acidic reaction (pH 2.8 - 3.6) and can be used to acidify the main soil. It is especially convenient to use it for plants that prefer to grow in an acidic substrate: rhododendrons, hydrangeas, heathers, some types of violets, strawberries, potatoes, sorrel. For these crops, aerated peat is applied at a rate of 1:1 (for clay or sandy soil).

For rhododendrons, hydrangeas and azaleas, you can also add one part of pine litter.

Based on high-moor peat, you can prepare a substrate and grow seedlings of vegetable and flower crops on it, or use it as the main soil in a greenhouse. To do this, add lime or dolomite flour on average 9-10 kg/m3 and mineral fertilizers (for complex mineral fertilizer, dose 1-2 kg/m3) to well-ventilated and mixed peat. Then measure the pH (acidity). Optimal soil acidity for most vegetable plants and colors vary from 5.5 to 6.5.

The prepared substrate must be kept for 1.5 - 2 weeks, stirring occasionally. Then water it and plant the plants. During the growing season, cucumbers are watered with slurry diluted with water (1:10), and the remaining plants are fed with compost and mineral fertilizers.

The advantage of this method of growing in a greenhouse is that the soil spent during the season can be replaced without special costs.

And as you know, changing the soil helps get rid of root infections that accumulate over the season.

Lowland peat

Lowland peat is mostly black. It is characterized by a high degree of decomposition, a high concentration of minerals, especially calcium, and can be neutral or slightly acidic (pH 4.2 - 4.7). Lowland peat is rich in humic acids, but absorbs a large amount of water and does not release it well (humidity more than 70%). It is prone to caking, clumping and silting.

For ventilation, lowland peat is kept at outdoors within a few days. It is poured into heaps, which allows compounds harmful to plants to erode.

It is better to use lowland peat in a mixture with compost and mineral fertilizers as a source of replenishment of organic matter in mineral soil, as well as to lighten and aerate clay soils and bind and retain moisture in sandy soils.

ON A NOTE

Peat is most often extracted directly from the surface of the earth. This method is called milling. Less commonly, peat is extracted from quarries.

Low-lying or high-moor peat is distributed evenly over the surface of the earth and dug up along with the soil to a depth of 10 cm. The application rate is 20 - 30 l/m2. For new plots of land it is necessary to apply 50-60 l/m2.

When peat is added, the soil becomes optimal for plants - finely lumpy and granular (soil particles are stuck together into lumps with a diameter of several millimeters). Land with such a structure contains a lot of air necessary for the root system to breathe; it absorbs and retains water well, which creates conditions for plants to more fully and productively use atmospheric and soil moisture.

Lowland peat is perfect for mulching lawns in the spring. First, the grass is combed out and applied nitrogen fertilizers and then scatter peat over it thin layer(3 - 5 mm is enough).

Peat mulching is also useful for sandy and clay soil and for retaining moisture at the roots when watering. It is usually carried out in the spring. We pull out all the weeds, water them, and apply fertilizer if necessary. Peat is distributed in a layer of 2 - 5 cm, without pouring it close to the stems. For large plants and when using a large fraction of peat, the thickness of the mulch can be increased. In autumn peat is buried in upper layer soil.

Peat compost

Peat is great for removing odors. compost heaps consisting of household waste. To do this, it is laid in a layer of 25 - 30 cm, household waste, slurry, etc. are poured on top, which are periodically covered with peat on top.

The width of the stack should be twice its height. For one weight part of peat, take 2-3 parts of waste (slurry) in summer, and half as much in winter. The mixture is stirred periodically. The ripening period of compost depends on the time of laying - in spring and summer 2-4 months, in autumn and winter 6-12 months. In dry, hot weather, the composted material should be moistened.

If you are getting divorced poultry, rabbits and larger animals, then you will not find a better disinfecting bedding than peat.

Vegetables, fruits and flower bulbs are also perfectly stored in dry peat.

And if you are the owner of a peated swampy area– don’t be upset! Grow what others cannot: hydrangeas, rhododendrons, heathers, azaleas, varietal cranberries, blueberries, lingonberries with huge fruits and a storehouse of essential amino acids, antioxidants and vitamins.

Well, was it worth it to be afraid of this truly wonderful raw material? If you are too lazy to bother with preparing peat for use or it is not available in your region, it can be purchased in stores and from enterprises specializing in the production of peat substrates. From all of the above, choose what suits you!

ON A NOTE

For garden toilets, the best choice is high fluffy peat, which can absorb 400% of liquid waste and at the same time absorb odors.

Any peat - highland, lowland or transitional - can be used to cover plants for the winter. Fertilized and neutralized peat can be used to cover the rhizomes of raspberries, roses, grapes, and add strawberry bushes.

It is ideal to cover rhododendrons, azaleas, and hydrangeas with high peat in its pure form, and then wrap it with agrotextile on top to protect against sunburn.

Covering with peat is very convenient because in the spring you just need to lightly scatter the top layer of peat around the plants, freeing the trunks and branches. The same substrate will also serve as additional nutrition for plants in the spring.

Peat: both mulch and fertilizer

It is often recommended to mulch seedlings with peat. But peat is also a fertilizer?

Both lowland and highland peat are a mixture of semi-decomposed plant remains. Indeed, this is an organic fertilizer. But don’t expect peat to instantly increase soil fertility. Peat has almost no effect on the saturation of the soil with nutrients. However, it greatly improves the structure of the soil - it makes it loose, so water and air penetrate to the roots faster. It is useful to add peat to sandy soil, because, unlike sand, it perfectly retains moisture and nutrients.

Pay attention to the types of peat (see table).

On low-lying peat you can grow berries and vegetable crops. High-moor peat is only suitable for growing blueberries or cranberries, or it can be added to compost and covered plants with it for the winter. Peat can be added both in spring and autumn - for digging at the rate of 35-40 kg per 1 K8.M.

It is good to add peat to the tree trunks of trees and shrubs to a height of 5-6 cm. This mulch is especially useful after prolonged rains, when a dense crust forms on the soil surface. In this case, peat also acts as a leavening agent.

NOTE: High-moor peat must be neutralized before application: add 2-3 kg of lime or 3-4 kg of ash per 100 kg of peat.

		Plants- peat formers	Peculiarities
Horse	brown	Sphagnum mosses, cotton grass, wild rosemary, marsh sedge	Contains a large amount of organic matter and few nutrients available to plants; with high acidity
Lowland	brown	Sedges, hypnum mosses, reeds, horsetail, meadowsweet, cinquefoil	Contains more nutrients and less organic matter than horse grass; acidity (pH) - from 4.7 to 6.0

Colors black thickening fabric pot plant pot container...

Exist different types soils on which horticultural societies are located. Somewhere clay predominates, somewhere peat. For example, my site is located on peat bogs. For some reason, some gardeners have a negative attitude towards such soil. Although all gardeners try to buy peat and fertilize their beds with it. Such soil has its pros and cons.

Disadvantages of peat soil

The disadvantages of such soil are the following.

It is necessary to water the sown seeds frequently until the seeds germinate, since the top layer of soil (about ten centimeters) dries out very quickly, and moisture is necessary for seed germination. The moisture of morning dew is not enough for all types of seeds. They especially suffer small plants, for example, dill. For some plants, it is necessary to add sand to the beds (to retain moisture). Not all types of fruit trees grow on such soil.

Of course, you need to be careful when burning fires on peat lands. You will extinguish the fire from above, but it may ignite the lower layer of peat, and you will not immediately detect it. It is better to fill the area with gravel for this. Or you can do it as it was done on my site - on concrete slab put up a barbecue. It can be used to cook and burn garbage.

To remove excess moisture, drainage ditches, thirty centimeters deep, run along the perimeter of our site. This is enough to remove excess moisture during rains.

Benefits of peat soil

The advantages include the following.

Peat soil is very loose, light, and working in such soil is a pleasure. You can dig any hole with your hands and hill up the plants. There is no need to loosen the beds, just weed them. There is no need to moisten the soil before weeding; all weeds are easily pulled out. Almost all plants grow by leaps and bounds. You always have soil at hand for sowing seedlings. After the seeds germinate, when the plant roots grow through the upper dry layer and enter the lower layer, you can rarely water the beds. Because the peat soil is wet inside.

On my site there is a hole dug measuring three by three meters, about two meters deep, there is always groundwater which I water my plants with. They grow beautifully all summer different kinds leaf salads: lettuce leaves, arugula, parsley, celery, mustard, watercress. I always collect a good harvest of onions, carrots, beets, cucumbers, bell pepper, pumpkins, zucchini, cabbage, radishes, potatoes and other vegetable crops.

We added sand to the strawberry beds. Lush bushes with a lot of berries grew, as a result we got wonderful harvest. All these plants grow very well in this soil. Cuttings root well different plants due to the lightness of such soil.

Many types of flowers and ornamental shrubs. There are a lot of flowers in my area. These are dahlias, gladioli, asters, petunias, phlox, irises, lilies, primroses, lavaterra, September flowers, hosta, tulips, daffodils, decorative sunflowers, crocuses, various types rosary. And they all grow and expand beautifully without frequent watering or loosening. Of course, provided that the summer is not very dry. I can say that in dry summers it is necessary to water any soil frequently. Of the ornamental shrubs that grow well on my site, I can name the following - barberry, heather, juniper, thuja. Currants, honeysuckle, gooseberries, and raspberries also grow well. And they all bear fruit well.

I do not use any fertilizers on my site, because I am against any plant growth stimulants. My opinion is that what grows will grow. I collect a good harvest from my plot, and it is environmentally friendly.

From my practical experience I can say that there is no need to be afraid to acquire land on peat lands. And if now I had a choice - on what basis to buy garden plot, I would choose peat soil. The advantages of such soil are much greater than the disadvantages.