Is it possible to add peat. Peat as fertilizer - advantages and disadvantages
My name is Inna and I am a chemist by education. And in my free time, I almost live in the country, and the tomatoes, berries, and cabbage that grow on my site are envied by my country neighbors, friends, and colleagues. But I quietly share my secrets. And today I will tell peat, its benefits and harms, how to use this fertilizer correctly and what mistakes you should not make when using it.
In fact, peat is a loose sedimentary rock. Occurs when there is a lack of air high humidity in swamps, and as a result of the decomposition of plants and sometimes animals living in swamps. It is used, for example, as a fuel, as well as a heat-insulating material, but also as a fertilizer.
There is up to 60 percent carbon, about 5% hydrogen, up to 3% oxygen, the same amount of nitrogen and 1% sulfur. This fertilizer is divided into three types:
- Horse. It has not yet rotted and therefore is not suitable as a fertilizer. It can only be used to mulch the soil before winter;
- transitional. It is already suitable as fertilizer, decomposition processes are in full swing here;
- Lowland peat has time to completely rot.
What can he give to the soil? Firstly, it makes it lighter and more porous, due to which air enters the root better. It is also a good antiseptic that protects both the plants themselves and the earth from bacteria and fungi. Well feeds any poor soils, especially well interacts with soils sandy and loamy.
And finally, this material is needed to increase the acidity of the soil. This makes all applied fertilizers more effective. That's only if the acidity is high, peat is better not to use. In addition, its absorption ability can be very useful. It reduces the humidity of the air, if it is excessive, taking water into its pores. When water is needed, peat gives it to both plants and soils.
disadvantages
The disadvantage of fertilizer is that it is not very effective. True, it concerns only fertile soils, but if the soil on your site is poor, it does not matter. The downside is that nitrogen from this fertilizer is not absorbed well: out of a thousand kilograms of peat, plants receive no more than one and a half kilograms of nitrogen, which is not enough. To make peat effective, add other fertilizers to it and then it will keep agrochemicals in the ground.
And if you use the product incorrectly, this fertilizer can suppress the growth of all crops, slow it down and even completely destroy them. Incorrect application is, for example, continuous application.
How to apply
The most common option is to add it for digging into the ground. About 30 kg of fertilizer is needed per 100 square centimeters. Next, you need to sprinkle it around trees and shrubs. You can also sprinkle peat on the snow.
If the soil requires it, the acidity can be neutralized. Enough for this tree ash (12-13 kg per 100 kg of peat) or lime (you can use dolomite flour).
You can also add sand, vermiculite compost or humus to peat. The sand must be wet, because peat can ignite spontaneously.
In the greenhouse, its use is also appropriate, because the humidity here is often high. In the soil for greenhouses, it can contain about 70%, but it must be combined with other fertilizers. Peat-containing soil for greenhouses should consist of:
- Garden land and peat itself (they need 40% each);
- manure. Not horse, but cow (need 10%);
- Sawdust from trees and ash (5% each).
You can also buy fertilizers based on this substance in stores. So, the extract from it also contains mineral fertilizers. For the plant, it is an organic top dressing, which is obtained by electro-hydraulic treatment, during which the agent is enriched with nitrogen.
The oxidate of the substance acts as a plant growth stimulator. It activates all vital processes in plants, improves metabolism. This has a positive effect on the quantity of the crop, on the ripening of the fruits and on their quality. At the same time, peat oxidate is a substance completely harmless to animals and people.
How to make compost from peat
Peat compost is the easiest way to enrich this substance. To create it, we first need weeds (you can’t take field bindweed), tops of plants from the garden, nettle, burdock, plus leaves and flower stems. We will need lupine, which will enrich the substance with nitrogen, chrysanthemums, medicinal or garden chamomile. But what can not be used is the delphinium, euphorbia and garden irises: These flowers are poisonous and all poisonous of them successfully turn into compost. Castor oil is also not recommended.
Choosing a site for compost should take into account the fact that plants that rot do not smell very good. So, place the compost away from living quarters.
First, sawdust from a tree must be poured onto the ground (layer thickness -0.2 meters). Then we put soil and peat on the sawdust in equal amounts, on top - the same amount of tops. If it is crushed, then you can put even more than soil and peat itself.
We repeat this operation three times and fill it with mullein (infusion) or bird droppings (also like infusion). Superphosphate is also suitable: for 10 liters of water it needs 100 g. We make a layer of our tops even thicker, but first we grind it.
Don't make this pile too high. Ideal Height- from one and a half meters to two. Fertilizer is processed in a year and a half, and it is ready when it becomes crumbly and homogeneous.
Peat is a mixture of semi-decayed plant residues under conditions of excessive moisture. He is one of the most popular organic fertilizers especially for beginner gardeners.
They try to acquire it as much as possible and immediately apply it to the soil or use it for growing seedlings. But at the same time they often fail, because. plants fertilized with only peat do not grow well enough, and seedlings grown in pots filled with peat alone often die for some reason. To avoid these failures, you need to know what kind of peat can be used, where and how.
As you know, peat is different - high, lowland and transitional. This is something you need to be aware of when buying it. They are easy to distinguish from each other, because. they have completely different colors.
- horse peat formed on nutrient-poor elevated terrain. He light color, with an increased amount of organic matter, very acidic (pH 2.5–4.5), difficult to decompose, very moisture-intensive, with a low ash content (up to 5%), with a very low nitrogen content (two times less than in lowland peat ) and others nutrients.
- lowland peat, as a rule, dark color (brown and even black-brown). It has a much higher degree of decomposition of organic matter and ash content, its acidity is often close to neutral.
- transitional peat occupies an intermediate position in its properties.
Lowland peat can be used for soil application without composting. But before being introduced into the soil, it is well crushed and “weathered” in heaps for at least six months. But it's not the best the best way, since the conversion of the nitrogen contained in it into a form convenient for plants will occur slowly.
That is why the use of even low-lying peat in its pure form as a fertilizer is inefficient, and sometimes harmful, since dry peat, when applied to the soil, absorbs the moisture needed by plants from the soil.
As can be seen from all that has been said, there is little sense in introducing unprepared peat into the soil, because. it potentially contains only nitrogen in abundance, but even in low-lying, well-decomposed peat, it is practically in a state inaccessible to plants.
In the first years after being introduced into the soil, 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 it is practically useless to introduce such unprepared peat into it.
Another thing is if there is little organic matter in the soil, especially if it is heavy, clayey, swimming or, conversely, sandy or light sandy loamy soil. In this case, with the help of peat, you can significantly improve physical properties and structure clay soil, to make it more loose, water and moisture permeable, and in sandy soil, on the contrary, to significantly increase its moisture capacity.
To increase the humus content on soddy-podzolic soil by 1%, it is necessary to add 2–3 buckets of peat per 1 sq.m. At the same time, it is better to scatter it on the soil surface in autumn, and gradually mix the surface layer with peat in spring. Since peat retains all available substances well, it can be applied to the soil even in winter directly on the snow. In addition, peat is usually relatively cheap.
Some gardeners sometimes arrange fresh lowland peat with the addition of garden soil to it. bulk beds for growing cucumbers and zucchini, planting seedlings in wells completely filled with good humus.
By the time the roots of the plants have grown beyond such a hole, the low-lying peat will already have sufficiently lost its negative qualities. When arranging such beds, wood ash is added to 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 a film and hold it for 3-4 months, occasionally pouring water, diluted slurry or herbal infusions. During this time, the peat will “ripen”, and it will already be a “really” useful peat.
And acidic high-moor peat in its pure form cannot be introduced into the soil and used for growing seedlings at all. Such peat is used mainly for animal bedding. Before being introduced into the soil, it needs serious composting. It is used for the preparation of peat-dung, peat-fecal, peat-phosphorite, peat-ash and other composts.
Probably everyone knows what peat is? For those who do not know, I will reveal a “terrible” secret: peat is the rotted (to a greater or lesser extent) compressed remains of plants and animals. In nature, peat is formed in swamps, under conditions high humidity and obstructed airflow. used as combustible material(contains up to 60% carbon), fertilizer and thermal insulation material.
How is peat formed?
Plants and organisms that live in swamps, in overgrown reservoirs, lakes with low-flowing water die over time, forming a biomass, which every year more and more overlaps each other and, accordingly, is pressed. Thus, in conditions of high humidity and lack of air, peat is formed. Depending on the degree of decomposition, there riding(almost undecayed) lowland(completely decomposed) and transitional(an intermediate state between upland and lowland).Peat as fertilizer: pros and cons
Is pure peat, that is, without any third-party additives, suitable for fertilizing the garden? After all, some are not very experienced gardeners buy it in large quantities. They scatter on the beds, under the trees and shrubs and joyfully rub their hands in anticipation record harvests. Alas ... they cannot be obtained in this way ... Although peat (lowland and transitional) consists of 40-60% humus, it is highly not recommended to fertilize the site only with them.
Why? Yes, because it is quite poor in nutrients. Yes, it is rich in nitrogen (up to 25 kg per ton), but nitrogen from peat is very poorly absorbed by plants. Out of a whole ton, our green pets get only 1-1.5 kg of nitrogen, not to mention other vital elements for plants. So never fertilize your plots with peat alone, use other types and fertilizers.
It is useful for enriching the earth. Thanks to the fibrous porous structure, it significantly improves physiological properties soil itself different composition. The soil, well flavored with peat, becomes water and breathable, "breathes" easily and freely, and the root system of plants feels more than comfortable in it. I'm talking about now low-lying and intermediate peat, and here riding generally not used as a fertilizer, as it strongly acidifies the soil.
It should be noted that there are many plants that require acidic or slightly acidic soil for normal development. These include, for example, heathers, ericas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, blueberries. When planting such plants on permanent place in landing pit it is high-moor peat that is added, and then periodically they are mulched with it.
So is “clean” peat (that is, without any additives) needed as a fertilizer? And here a lot depends on the quality of the soil itself. If the soil is fertile, sandy or light loamy, then applying peat as a fertilizer will give practically nothing, do not waste your efforts and money)) But if the soils on your site are sandy or clayey, depleted and poor in organic matter, applying peat together with other fertilizers significantly improve the yield and appearance your decorative pets. The value of peat as a fertilizer can only be considered in combination with other types of organic and mineral dressings and in the form of compost.
How to make peat compost
Peat compost includes organic matter: tops, uprooted weeds with clods of earth, wood ash, sawdust, shavings, food waste and other natural components. A compost heap is very easy to set up. Somewhere aside, away from places of rest, organize a platform measuring 2x2 m. First lay peat about 30 cm high on it. Sprinkle sawdust (10 cm) on top, then lay tops, weeds, food leftovers mixed with garden soil. Make this layer 20 cm high.If you have manure, great! Put it on top of the above layers to a height of 20 cm. Absolutely any manure will do: horse, mullein, bird droppings, and so on. Now cover this entire multilayer structure with another layer of peat (20-30 cm) and leave to rot for 12-18 months. Do not raise the compost heap to a height of more than 1.5 m, but cover it with peat or garden soil from the sides in order to ensure an appropriate microclimate inside the heap. Moisturize Periodically compost heap water with the addition of superphosphate (100 g per bucket).
If manure is tight for you, at least find the opportunity to water the compost with diluted slurry (5 kg of mullein per bucket of water). Or a solution of dry bird droppings (0.5 kg per bucket of water) or fresh droppings (2 kg per bucket of water). 2-3 times over the summer, thoroughly shovel the compost heap, trying to upper layer got inside, and the bottom, respectively, out.
It is very useful to close the pile from the scorching sun with a special canopy. In the fall, cover the compost heap: cover it with dry leaves, high-moor peat, earth, spruce branches or other mulching material. And when the first snow falls, wrap the pile of compost in a snow coat.
Now we can talk about nutrition country plants, since such compost is in no way inferior in its nutritional properties to manure, and if it has not been overdried and frozen, then it even surpasses manure in its value for plants.
They fertilize the land with peat compost in the same way as with manure: they are evenly scattered over the sown area, poured into the near-stem circles of trees and under shrubs. But here it should be noted that properly prepared peat compost is more valuable fertilizer than manure, and much less is required to fertilize the soil. If 60-70 kg of manure is usually applied per 10 m² of soil, then peat compost only 10-20 kg is required for the same area (besides, it gives more generously useful material plants than manure).
To begin with, it is worth noting that it is impossible to “refertilize” the land with peat. They bring it both in spring and in autumn, evenly scattering it over the site and digging it onto a spade bayonet, 30-40 kg per 1 m². In the future, pour peat into the near-stem circles of trees, shrubs and places for planting plants to a height of 5-6 cm.
Such bedding is especially useful on those soils where, after heavy rains a dense crust forms on the surface. In this case, peat also acts as a mulching material. It is quite friendly to any soil and will not spoil any soil. But there is little nuance: peat has hyperacidity(pH 2.5-3.0), so it should be neutralized with lime, dolomite flour or wood ash at the rate of 5 kg of lime or dolomite flour per 100 kg of peat or 10-12 kg wood ash per 100 kg of peat.
So we have considered beneficial features peat as a fertilizer for our green pets. Or maybe you know any other ways to use peat in the country? Share with us!
Many gardeners are starting to cook soil mixture for growing seedlings in February. An important component of this soil mixture is peat. Thanks to the microorganisms living in the lower peat, the seedling root system will receive a sufficient amount of heat and nutrients. In the process of life, bacteria process the remains of marsh plants and generate heat. In peat soil, seedlings develop faster than in a sandy fertile mixture, for which perlite sand and humus are mixed.
Peat is highly acidic. Therefore, it cannot be used as the basis for a fertile mixture. If you sow the seeds in acidic soil, then after germination they will rot. The acidity of peat must be balanced with neutral soil or garden soil.
To prepare a fertile mixture for seedlings you will need:
- grassroots (lowland) peat;
- sand;
- potassium and;
- garden land or neutral purchased soil.
As a fertilizer for a fertile peat mixture, you can use alcohol tincture high peat. The seeds of flowers and other plants are also treated with its solution. To prepare the solution, you need to pour the high-moor peat with alcohol and insist for a week. Then one tablespoon of tincture should be dissolved in 10 liters of water. Plant seeds are treated with this solution. This solution is used as a bioactive fungicide and insecticide.
Preparation of peat mixture
To prepare a soil peat mixture, you will need calcined river sand, which is used as drainage. garden soil or neutral soil must be sifted through a sieve.
Since peat contains a large number of resin, it repels water. Therefore, before preparing the mixture, the soil must be steamed. Under the influence of steam, the soil becomes looser and better passes water.
In 10 kg of sifted soil, add one tablespoon of potash and phosphate fertilizers. Potassium salt and superphosphate are used as these fertilizers. Next, the soil is poured into the tank. A container with soil is placed in a larger tank. Up to 10 cm of water is poured into such a “matryoshka” and put on fire. On the gas stove the soil should hold 30 minutes. Steamed soil is mixed with 5 liters of peat and 5 kg of river sand. Such a peat mixture is poured into containers, and then seeds are sown in them.
What to do if the soil is peat? What agricultural techniques can be used to prepare it for growing vegetables and potatoes? A.M. Antipov.
Almost all areas with peat soils need drainage, which must be carried out before proceeding with their cultivation. Recall that soils in which the thickness of the peat upper horizon does not exceed 30 cm are referred to as peaty, and with a greater thickness (sometimes it reaches 2 or more meters) - to peat.
Peat soils come in different acidity - from slightly acidic and even close to neutral (in lowland peat bog soils) to strongly acidic (in peat bog highland soils). One of important tricks cultivation of marsh soils is the introduction of lime. Its dose is determined depending on the degree of acidity. At pH 4.7-5, it is recommended to add 100-300 g of lime per 1 sq. m, at pH 4.3-4.7 - up to 500 g, at pH 3.9-4.3 - up to 800-1000 g or more. Lime is scattered over the surface of the peat layer and dug up on a spade bayonet.
Peat soils are characterized by a high content of organic matter and nitrogen. However, only 1-3% of the total amount of nitrogen is in the form of nitrate and ammonia compounds available to plants. During drainage and numerous treatments (digging, loosening), organic matter is vigorously decomposed, a lot of nitrates are formed, plants are well supplied with them and do not even have time to use them. In this case most of nitrates can be washed out of the soil in ground water and pollute them. This should be taken into account by those who have household plot. At the same time, peat soils are characterized by a low content of phosphorus and low potassium.
During the primary cultivation of peat soils under autumn digging it is recommended to add 40-50 g/m2 of potassium chloride. By spring, chlorine will be washed into the deeper layers of the soil and will not have a harmful effect, and potassium will be fixed in a form accessible to plants in the upper soil layer. In the spring, about 50 g / m2 of simple or 20-25 g of double superphosphate should be applied. Against the background of high doses of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, small doses have a positive effect. nitrogen fertilizers- 10-15 g of urea or 15-20 g ammonium nitrate per 1 m2.
Forms and doses mineral fertilizers may be different. When making them, you should take into account the recommendations that are usually placed on the package.
Despite the fact that peat soils are rich in organic matter and nitrogen, there is a lot of evidence that the application of manure (1-2 kg/m2) increases the yield of many crops, such as cucumbers, cabbage.
On peat soils it is necessary to apply microfertilizers, especially copper: blue vitriol at the rate of 2-2.5 g / m2, previously dissolving them in water and watering the soil from a watering can.
Preparation of peat for use (Fertilizer in greenhouses - 1)
Good results are obtained by the introduction of boron microfertilizers. Most often, 2-3 g are taken for foliar feeding of seedlings or adult plants. boric acid per 10 liters of water (1 liter of this solution is sprayed on plants in an area of 10 sq. M).
When growing different cultures on drained peatlands is extremely important timely watering plants. When drying, the top layer of peat does not absorb water well, when watering it rolls off the bed, the plants suffer from a lack of moisture.
Under the influence of drainage, numerous tillages, as well as fertilizing and changing the reaction of the soil solution as a result of liming, the activity of soil microorganisms is enhanced, and decomposition of the peat layer (mineralization) can occur very quickly. On the one hand, this process is necessary, since the peat mass is, as it were, “earthed” and enriched with forms of nitrogen and other nutrients available to plants. But, on the other hand, the peat layer is destroyed, its thickness decreases, or, as experts say, peat is depleted, organic matter is lost and nitrogen is washed out in the form of nitrates. To avoid this, to the surface peat soil mineral soil is poured - sand or clay (approximately 20-40 kg / m2 each) and mixed with peat when digging. At the same time, water, thermal and nutritional regimes are improved and the rapid decomposition of peat soils is prevented.
Another method of improving swamp soils was successfully used at the end of the last century. Sand is poured on the surface of drained peat soil with a layer of 10-15 cm. When cultivating the soil, it is not mixed with peat. Sand protects peat from drying out and from excessively rapid mineralization, in other words, from destruction.
Read more articles on this topic here.
home Horticulture Preparation, preparation of the ideal soil substrate for seedlings
Preparation, preparation of the ideal soil substrate for seedlings
Tricks of soil producers
There are a lot of soil soils on the market, both domestic and foreign, for any kind of plants. When choosing desired mixture sometimes it is difficult to figure out which one to prefer.
All soils commercially available, usually consist of lowland or highland peat with the addition of sand, mineral fertilizers and humic acids. And peat, alas, is not always of high quality, because it is not extracted from the best peat bogs, and not all companies make it according to the rules. After all, peat must be removed in layers so as not to disturb its structure, the upper 5 cm must be loosened and dried. It is clear that not every company has the appropriate equipment to use this technology.
Small producers most often, peat is mined with an excavator or a shovel, mixed with lime and fertilizers, poured manually into bags. Therefore, it is heterogeneous in structure, unequal in acidity. Somewhere interspersed with pieces of dolomite flour, plant remains. Getting into such soil, the roots of our green pets burn out, the plants die.
Some manufacturers go to the trick: add mineral fertilizers several times more than the norm. As a result, the plant grows fat, gains excessive green mass, and there are almost no roots. Seedlings that have fallen into such conditions, after planting in the ground, take root for a long time, get sick, and set fruits with a delay.
Few people think that peat soil mixtures have an expiration date, and if it has expired, seedlings in the substrate may die. The fact is that old peat, especially high-moor peat, changes its physical and chemical properties in the package.
He can warm himself up. It is better to pour such peat on the garden bed, and not in a pot on the windowsill. Unfortunately, the market is full of such perennial soils, many manufacturers simply do not set the release date or change it to their advantage. And briquettes are generally very often made from low quality peat.
Of course, imported soils are sometimes better than Russian ones, but they are always more expensive. Although we now have firms with their own deposits, modern technologies and equipment for uniform mixing and packaging of the substrate. Mixtures have proven themselves well: “ Garden land”, “Rostok”, “Violet”, “Bogatyr”, “ living earth”, “Giant”, “Ideal”.
Recipes for the preparation of soil, substrate
But still, I prefer and advise everyone to make up the soil mixture on my own with my own hands, and take the purchased soil as the basis. What components are commonly used?
Here are some recipes that are quite suitable for vegetables on the window.
1.
Garden land 50%, humus 50%;
2.
Lowland peat 50%, sawdust 30%, garden soil 20%;
3.
Lowland peat 50%, sawdust 20%, river sand 30%.
For 10 kg ready mix add 15-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 40-50 double superphosphate, 30-40 g of potassium sulfate and 0.5 cups of ash.
What components are included in the composition of the soil, substrate
Let me dwell on some of the ingredients. Where to take them from? How to cook?
Garden land. You should not "extract" it from the cucumber or potato beds, where pathogens live. In addition, there is a lot of nitrogen and minerals in the soil from under cucumbers, which is harmful, for example, for seedlings. It is best to make potting soil, taking soil from a pea, bean or bean garden, or from one where green vegetables grew. Well, the best land mixture is obtained on the basis of a substrate from molehills. It has a granular structure, it does not need to be sieved, as it is well mixed with moles. During the thaw, gently pry off the bumps that the moles have dug in wet areas with a scoop and put them in a bag. Mole earth, mixed in equal proportions with humus, is an excellent substrate for indoor vegetable plantings.
Humus. This is rotted compost or manure 2-3 years old. It is rich in valuable nutrients that are well absorbed by plants. A special type of humus is leafy soil. The decomposition of fallen leaves comes from a specific microflora. Leafy soil is looser and lighter. It has less nutritional value, but optimal moisture capacity. The soil substrate from such humus, even in overdried room air stays wet for a long time.
leaf ground indispensable in mixtures for forcing root crops that do not tolerate manure humus. It improves soil structure, its physical properties. Humus is made from the leaves of birch, linden, maple, but oak and willow contain tannins and are unsuitable for the leafy soil of the home garden.
Periodically moistening them with a 0.5% solution of urea or adding microbiological preparations helps to reduce the time of leaf overheating. If it is not possible to prepare leafy soil, dry birch leaves in the sun, rub them and sift through a fine sieve.
Such a powder, added to vegetable pots, has a very beneficial effect on plants.
Peat. It serves mainly as a filler, giving the substrate lightness, high absorption capacity, friability. However, peat is characterized by low acidity. High-moor peat is brown and more acidic than black lowland peat. If you take high-moor peat as the main filler, you need to add 2-3 tbsp to the mixture. spoons of dolomite flour or lime per 10 liters of substrate. You can also use compressed peat, you just need to properly soak it with water before use.
Wood sawdust. They also give the soil mixture friability. Sawdust is better to take stale. If they are fresh, you first need to scald them with boiling water and add urea (40 g per bucket of sawdust). Urea will replenish the amount of nitrogen that fresh sawdust taken from plants during decomposition. From hardwood trees produce more useful sawdust than conifers. But those that come out of wood impregnated with varnishes and paints are not at all suitable.
river sand. Light coarse-grained is especially good. It gives soil mixtures porosity. Ground fine-grained red sand is worse, but if it is thoroughly washed, it is also suitable. River sand is placed on the bottom of pots or boxes for drainage so that the soil does not silt.
Moss-sphagnum. It also loosens the earth, making it light and hygroscopic. Moss is preliminarily dried and rubbed through a sieve. It is useful for them to cover the ground in pots from above so that it does not dry out. Sphagnum inhibits the development of pathogens.
How to prepare the soil, freeze or steam?
Have you collected all the soil components? Now sift each ingredient through a sieve so that plant residues do not come across, because their decomposition inhibits the growth of young plants, especially seedlings.
Make a mixture for seedlings now, put it in a bag and soak it on a balcony or loggia until spring.
— First of all, in the room the earth quickly dries up.
— Secondly, it will be good if it freezes several times after the winter thaws.
Soil preparation for seedlings at home
Such a mixture will not need additional disinfection. This method of disinfection is more effective than steaming the soil. At high temperature dead soil microorganisms soon decompose, poisoning the substrate. Steamed soil very quickly overgrows with mold, pathogenic bacteria in it develop much faster than useful ones.
Before sowing, the soil mixture should be slightly moistened and loosened by stirring. The same substrate cannot be used for several years in a row, this multiplies the disease. Empirically, you can choose the optimal composition of the soil for each type of vegetable grown in the room, combining purchased soils with homemade additions.
Anastasia Lebedeva, Ph.D. Sciences
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1. Try to guess and add what “professions” assistants a person needs to close the cycle of substances in the fields.
2. Try to make a food chain from the following living organisms: hawk, tick, spruce, squirrel. Write down the names of the participants in the food chain and connect them with arrows.
Spruce - squirrel - hawk - tick
3. Determine how living organisms need to be moved so that each of them gets into its own ecosystem and is well adapted to its conditions? Point with arrows.
4. Try to guess a part of the ecosystem by a set of words related to it. Write the name of this part.
Breathe, wind, transparency, gas - air.
Pouring, flowing, transparency, liquid - water.
Strength, solid body, minerals - rocks.
Green color, release of oxygen, growth - manufacturers.
Fertility, mixture, root - the soil.
Dead remains of organisms, soil, food - destroyers.
Movement, nutrition, breathing, growth - consumers.
5. Determine what connections exist within the ecosystem. Add phrases.
Plants absorb from the air carbon dioxide. Animals absorb oxygen from the air.
Peat in agriculture: characteristics, useful properties, methods and rules of use
Plants get water from the soil. Animals drink water. Plants grow in the soil and absorb minerals and salts from it. Animals live in the soil. Water destroys rocks. Soil is formed from broken rocks. Water is an integral part of the soil. Animals eat plants.
Harvesting - peat
Page 1
Peat harvesting consists of draining a peat bog, cleaning it from forest-shrubs and stumps, removing the upper sod layer and extracting it in a layer-by-surface method. With such extraction, peat is collected from the surface of the peat bog in layers after loosening.
For continuous peat harvesting, two sites were selected, their processing and compost harvesting were carried out alternately. As well as peat-fecal, peat-mineral composts were also prepared.
When harvesting peat for litter, it is good to treat and loosen the surface of peat bogs with a cutter (FB-10 on the trailer of the DT-55 tractor), after which, by repeated tedding of the loose layer, bring it to the required moisture content. As it dries, peat is collected in rolls or stacks.
When harvesting peat, one of the longest processes is its drying, which until now has been carried out in the air during the summer peat harvesting. Soviet specialists have developed methods for accelerated drying by squeezing water out of peat and chemically artificially dehydrating it. The use of these methods makes it possible to bring the moisture content of peat up to 30% within an hour.
How is peat harvested for bedding, fertilizer and for composting.
One of the longest processes in peat harvesting is its drying. Drying of peat in air lasts for months, and by artificial methods the duration of its dehydration can be drastically reduced.
Along with the accumulation of manure on the farm, harvesting of peat, sapropel, accumulation bird droppings, slurry, composting, the use of straw, green manure. Since the dry matter content in these fertilizers is different, for ease of use they can be converted into bedding manure. In this case, conversion factors are used.
The task of such a permanent detachment is to obtain high-quality manure, prepare straw cutting for livestock bedding, harvest peat, various composts, collect and store slurry, bird droppings, ash and feces.
Use of peat as a fertilizer
In the planning process, they identify the need for earth-moving equipment to perform on-farm work (treading, repairing roads, cleaning livestock buildings, etc.), repairing irrigation and drainage canals and structures, harvesting peat and lime for fertilizers and other work carried out in excess of needs capital construction.
At present, machine and tractor stations, in addition to current agricultural work, carry out irrigation, reclamation, road work, are engaged in the construction of ponds and reservoirs, and the improvement of meadows and pastures. In the non-chernozem zone of the RSFSR, in Belarus, in the Baltic Soviet republics and a number of other regions of the country, MTS carry out work on the harvesting of peat and lime. In the southern regions, where horticulture and viticulture are developed, MTS carry out planting work. All these works are, as a rule, one-off, and it is not expedient to buy machines for collective farms to carry out such work, since they cannot be fully loaded on a separate farm. It is more expedient to leave these machines at repair and technical stations so that they can rent them to the collective farms or perform the corresponding work under contracts. In some areas, for example in the north and north-west of the country, as well as in a number of areas Central Asia and Transcaucasia, many collective farms, apparently, do not find it expedient to purchase such a machine as a grain combine, since in these collective farms the areas under grain crops are small and one combine can serve several collective farms. In such areas, repair and technical stations should have several combine harvesters to service collective farms with small areas under grain crops.
The central place in the fertilizer system of any collective farm and state farm should be occupied by a plan for the accumulation and storage of manure, slurry, peat, bird droppings, ash and other local fertilizers. In this plan, it is necessary to reflect measures to increase the bedding for livestock and improve the work of livestock brigades for cleaning cattle yards and laying manure in manure storage facilities, measures for the removal of manure in the field, the preparation of peat and compost, indicating for each year hectare doses and the timing of removal to the field of organic and mineral fertilizers.
As a serious shortcoming, it is necessary to condemn the current last years the wrong attitude of the workers of the agricultural bodies, many heads of collective farms and state farms towards the use of local fertilizers. There is a harmful underestimation of this case. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain the situation that the plans for the accumulation of manure and peat harvesting are not being fulfilled.
Sometimes farms carry out quarry-excavator harvesting of peat. With such harvesting, the cost of peat increases, its moisture content remains very high, and the quality of peat decreases. In addition, it is practically impossible to use swamp areas for growing crops after quarry-excavator harvesting of peat.
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OLD WAY improve the balance of moisture and air, as well as replenish the supply of nitrogen and biologically active substances in the soil - add rotted manure, peat or compost. But the scarcity and high price of traditional organics hinder its widespread use. In addition, manure, especially fresh, is a source of pathogens and weeds, and peat must be neutralized with lime and thoroughly mixed with the soil: tender roots react poorly to excessive acidity and, if watered insufficiently, die, crushed by peat lumps. Therefore, manure, peat and compost are usually added to the holes or furrows before planting seedlings or sowing seeds, only locally improving the fertility of the site.
FERTILITY OF THE WHOLE BED or gardens can be improved with the help of green manure - specially sown for planting plants in the soil. Cold-resistant crops - rye (cut in 25-35 days at a plant height of 15-20 cm), oats, rapeseed, mustard, oil radish, rape, pelushka (after 1.5-2 months, at the time mass flowering), winter and spring vetch are sown as soon as the earth ripens after the snow melts or in mid-August - on the beds that have been vacated after harvesting. Amaranth, seradella, annual lupine, calendula are placed in the garden when the soil warms up to 10 °. Siderates are embedded in the soil to a maximum depth of 15 cm.
To increase the power of the root layer in the garden, I recommend alternating the sowing of dicotyledonous (with a taproot) and monocotyledonous (with superficial, fibrous roots) plants in time: the roots form a capillary network through which moisture can pass deep into and accumulate in the soil.
SAVE moisture in the soil, without compacting it and protecting it from erosion, overheating or hypothermia, mulch helps - a layer of plant material 3-5 cm thick. Mowed grass, cut stems of lupine, sweet clover, nettle, hay, straw, flax fire, weathered sawdust, buckwheat and sunflower seed husks, remains of corn stalks and cobs, fallen leaves, paper shavings, shredded bark. However, these materials are mostly cellulose, and the bacteria that feed on it rob the plants of nitrogen. In addition, harmful microorganisms hibernate on mulching plant residues. And mulch also interferes with the warming up of the soil in spring, the uniform sowing of seeds, especially small ones, the friendly emergence of seedlings of not only weeds, but also cultivated plants. That is why in the spring it is recommended to remove the mulch from the beds. Peasants, since there was no modern technology, arranged a fall - set fire to the stubble. Today, this technique is prohibited, since it is established that the fire not only threatens rural houses, but also reduces the content of available nitrogen and destroys beneficial microflora and fauna in a 5-cm soil layer.
MORE EFFICIENT treatment of the surface of the beds with a biodestructor - a preparation that contains a complex of soil cellulose and lignin-destroying, nitrogen-fixing, lactic acid and other beneficial microorganisms. Biodestructor accelerates decomposition plant residues making the soil looser. Useful microflora accumulates nitrogen in the soil, converts poorly digestible phosphorus and potassium of the soil into available compounds, enhances the formation of active humus. They inhibit the development of pathogenic fungi, bacteria, nematodes, stimulate the development of beneficial soil microflora, plant growth and their resistance to stress, protecting the garden from infections. The addition of humates to the biodestructor will enhance the effect of the formation of "healthy soil".
Although biodestructors allow you to reduce the doses of fertilizers, without the latter, it will still not work to make the soil fertile.
Large doses (6-9 g / sq. M) of the missing nutrients are introduced in the fall (for the main treatment of the site).
Peat pots will help grow seedlings
In the spring, starting doses of fertilizers are needed, which we close up simultaneously with loosening the soil. I advise you to give preference to granular and soluble fertilizers, including those with trace elements. It will not be possible to evenly close them with a shovel, and the work is hard. On a small bed, I advise you to use a manual loosening tool. If the area is processed more than a hundred, quality processing will provide electric and gasoline cultivators.
COMBINING THE FOLLOWING, IT IS POSSIBLE TO RETURN FERTILITY TO THE BEDS IN "FIVE STEPS".
1 . In the spring, we fill the “bare” beds with starting fertilizer and fill them with green manure, and water the mulched ones with a biodestructor.
2 . At the appropriate time, we close up the plant mass, while cultivating the soil.
3 . After a week, we spill it with a biodestructor, fill the furrows and holes with humus or compost and sow the seeds.
4 . When the seedlings sprout, we loosen the aisles, once again apply the microbiological preparation, mulch the beds.
5 . After harvesting, we sow green manure or loosen it, apply the main fertilizer, close the beds with mulch and water with a biodestructor and humates.
Yu. SOSNOVA, agronomist and summer resident, Tula region