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Learn about the official system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys in the U.S. Find resources, guides, and tools for soil taxonomy, soil series, and soil orders.
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- 6 Different Types of Soil
- How to Determine What Soil Type You have?
- Different Types of Soil Commonly Used in The Garden
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. Loam Soil
Loam soil is an even mix of sand, silt, and clay, with the ideal combination being 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay. By mixing them together, each component lends the soil their advantages while lessening the impact of their disadvantages. Sand improves drainage while the clay and silt improve nutrients and water absorption. It’s easily cultivated and light enough for roots to spread easily. Any gardener can tell you this is the most perfect soil to grow in, and if you have it, you’re very lu...
2. Clay Soil
Clay soil is soil that is made with 50% or more clay. It’s sticky when wet and rock hard when dry. Just think about it in terms of pottery – you wet the clay to make it malleable, then it dries into a hard substance. Because of clay’s tiny particle size and that it gets sticky when wet, it has smaller pores in between particles, which keeps water from draining properly. Heavy clay is great if you want to build a pond for that very reason. Clay soil can be the hardest soil to grow in, as the m...
3. Sandy Soil
Sandy soil is mostly sand particles. It feels gritty to the touch. Because sand particles don’t absorb water but create a lot of space in between for water to move, sandy soil drains quickly and nutrients wash away. On the plus side, sandy soil doesn’t suffer much from compaction and is very good for plants that like loose soil (like carrots). Sandy soil can be challenging to grow in, with its low levels of nutrients and poor moisture retention, but it is easier to cultivate than clay soils....
Squeeze Test
Depending on your soil and struggles, you might have already had flashbacks when reading the descriptions. If not, it can be as easy as picking up a handful of soil and rolling it in your hand. If it feels fine-textured and slightly damp, and when squeezed holds its shade for a short time, then it could be loam soil. If it’s sticky when wet, easy to smear, and you can roll into a long thin sausage, then it’s likely clay. If it feels gritty, it falls through your finger, and you can’t roll it...
Jar/Settle Test
If you can’t tell based on a squeeze (soils are complicated and don’t neatly fall into the 6 types), then try a settle test. Sift a handful of soil to remove any debris, then add it to a transparent jar of water with dish detergent (mason jars work great!), shake well, then leave to settle in 12 hours. Because the different particles settle at different rates, it’ll naturally sort out the different types of soil. Loam Soil: The particles will settle into distinct layers, with the finest parti...
Topsoil
Topsoil is the top layer of soil that usually runs 5 to 6 inches deep but can also go 12 inches. This is where plant roots grow, organic matter breaks down, and beneficial microbes live. Topsoil is what we’re talking about when we talk about the 6 types of soil and what fills your in-ground garden beds. You can also buy topsoil for garden projects (like building a raised bed or recovering areas affected by soil erosion), and you can choose different types to improve the topsoil you already ha...
Garden Soil
Garden soil is topsoil that’s been blended with compost or other ingredients to better support plant growth. You only use it for in-ground or raised bed gardening, as it doesn’t have enough drainage for container gardening.
Raised Bed Soil
Raised bed soil is a mixture that’s been developed specifically for raised beds, and usually includes ingredients to provide nutrients and improve drainage. You don’t specifically need raised bed soil – a mix of topsoil and compost (like garden soil)will do just as well and possibly save you money. You can even fill the bottom layer with kitchen scraps that will compost in place. Just make sure you completely cover the kitchen scraps with a generous layer of topsoil and finished compost to av...
What Are Soil Amendments?
Soil amendments are any kind of material that you use to improve a soil’s physical properties, like water infiltration, drainage, water retention, permeability, aeration, and structure. It’s also used to reference organic materials you’d add to improve nutrients, like adding alfalfa meal to increase nitrogen.
What’s The Best Soil For Gardening?
The best soil for gardening is loam, as it balances out drainage with water retention, has excellent aeration, and provides plenty of nutrients. Most gardeners will never have the pleasure of loam soil, so it’s best to learn how to garden with your particular soil type. The more you work with your soil, like choosing plants that thrive in your soil type, the easier time you’ll have.
What Does Soil pH Mean?
Soil pH is how acidic or alkaline your soil is. The pH level affects how easily a certain nutrient can be absorbed by a plant (or how “available” a nutrient is). Plants have adapted to grow at different pH levels by making the most of the low levels of nutrients. This is why it’s difficult to grow acidic-loving plants in alkaline soils and vice versa – they get too much of nutrients they need little of and too little nutrients they need more of.
Learn what soil is, how it forms, and how it differs across the world. Explore the 12 soil orders, their properties, and their uses in this introductory guide to soil science.
Learn about the four types of soil based on their texture: sandy, silt, clay and loamy. Find out their properties, formation, suitability for agriculture and more with examples and FAQs.
- 1 min
- Soil is usually referred to as the naturally occurring organic materials found on the earth’s surface. It is mainly composed of minerals, nutrients...
- Loam or Loamy soil is called the gardener’s best friend.
- Loamy soil is suitable and the best soil for growing crops such as cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, wheat, pulses, jute and other vegetables.
- Sand or sandy soil is formed by the smallest or fine particles of weathering rocks. This soil is known as the poorest type of soil for agriculture...
- Clay or clay soil is mainly composed of the smallest particles of soil, which are densely packed with very little or no airspace and they effective...
- Loamy Soil is the mixture of clay, sand and silt soil which consists of additional organic matter and is very fertile compared to other types of so...
- Sandy soil is the preferable soil to grow coconut and melon.
Learn about soil type, a taxonomic unit in soil science that classifies soils based on their properties and formation. Compare different soil classification systems and their definitions of soil type.
Jun 7, 2020 · Learn about the characteristics and composition of 28 soil types, such as loam, clay, sand, and spodosol. Find out how soil texture and composition affect plant growth and soil formation.
May 9, 2024 · Learn how to feel and see the different soil textures and how they affect water, nutrients, and plant growth. Follow 7 simple steps to determine your soil type and improve it for your garden.
