Fertile Soil: What Makes Soil Fertile for Your Plants

Soil fertility refers to soil’s ability to foster crop production and plant growth. In order for any organic matter to grow, the ground it grows in must contain the right balance of inputs. This entails a suitable mixture of soil microorganisms, organic matter, water, and various nutrients for specific types of plant life. Various different soil types require different balances of materials to remain fertile.

You need fertile soil to achieve optimum plant growth. When soil is even partially infertile, it makes it harder for the roots to uptake the nutrients necessary to grow in the first place. As such, encouraging and maintaining soil health is one of the paramount goals for any gardener or farmer.

Effective soil management means preventing your soil’s health and fertility from depleting. Here are a few common causes of such depletion:

• Compaction: As humans construct buildings, roads, and other elements necessary to maintain modern civilization, it can have an outsized negative impact on healthy soil structure. This process, known as compaction or compacting, is one of the leading causes of soil depletion. To combat this, landscapers, farmers, and gardeners utilize soil aeration.
• Erosion: Over time, soil erosion occurs out of necessity. This process need not be a negative one, but it can be under a host of different circumstances. As the topsoil moves and shifts, it can disrupt the fragile natural balance necessary for life in the ground.
• Pests: The arrival of fungi, predatory insects, and bacteria in your soil is perhaps the leading cause of depletion. All of these pests and maladies can cause a massive decrease in soil nutrients, leading to a marked collapse in the ground’s ability to maintain life.
• Leaching: Your plant roots need a wide variety of nutrients—including boron, calcium, and more—to grow in the first place. If too much water seeps into the earth, it can lead to plant nutrients moving out of the roots’ reach. This process, known as leaching, renders soil much less fertile than it was prior.

Soil management might seem daunting, but it’s simple with enough preparation and know-how. Keep these tips in mind as you strive to maintain and encourage soil fertility:

• Balance the nutrients. To keep your soil fertile, ensure you have the right balance of nutrients present. Different plants require different soil types, and these types might feature a different balance of both macronutrients (e.g., phosphorus and potassium) and micronutrients (e.g., magnesium and manganese). Get the balance right for ideal fertility.
• Consider using fertilizers. There are plenty of resources you can use to make your soil more fertile. For example, you can mulch the ground with organic material to increase the levels of plant nutrients. You can also use both artificial and organic fertilizers to supplement any deficiencies in your soil. Natural humus (or leaf litter) will also cause an increase in fertility.
• Ensure adequate light and water. Soil quality, as with plant life itself, requires plenty of light and water. For instance, sunlight affects your plant’s photosynthesis processes both above and below the soil. Make sure to water with moderation in mind. Too little or too much can lead to problems.
• Test the soil. Consider performing a soil test to get an idea of what your garden ecosystem needs to be as fertile as possible. You can use these tests to learn about your soil pH and any nutrient deficiencies you need to overcome. There are also plenty of apps you can use to make sense of this information.
• Try crop rotation. Before the days of artificial fertilizers, farmers relied on rotating crops to ensure the soil remained fresh and fertile each year. Whether you’re aiming for a crop yield or modest garden growth, treating your soil to biodiversity will keep it much more versatile and healthy than if you just planted the same things every year.