Amazing Facts About Top Soil

Topsoil is the upper most layer of soil that contains all the important organic material and microorganisms required for the growth of a plant. It is about 2 to 8 inches thick layer of soil and most of the biological activities take place in this area only. Topsoil is commonly used in the lawns and gardens. Topsoil contains highly nutritive organic elements required by plants in the process of photosynthesis.

The main ingredients of topsoil are Minerals, microorganisms, water, air, debris, animal waste, bacteria and fungi. Topsoil is bit darker in color than the subsoil. Topsoil formation is the result of biodegradation and decomposition process and it takes about 100 of years to form a thin layer of high nutritive topsoil.

Topsoil can be classified in three categories; sandy soil, loam soil and clay soil. The occurrence of different types and amount of topsoil based upon the specific geographic locations and its climatic conditions. The areas that have dry atmospheric condition would have sandy soil and the area which has moist weather would have clay or loam soil. Different type of topsoil is required by the different plants according to their habitat. Higher the presence of nutritive elements in the topsoil higher will be the quality of topsoil.

Soil testing is the most common and reliable method to evaluate the quality of the topsoil. There are many factors which are to be taken in to consideration for evaluating the quality. These factors includes: Texture, color, Organic Content, Moisture content, Topsoil pH and structure. Although all these factors are very important for testing the topsoil but the main three factors that show the quality of topsoil are its texture, its organic content and its pH level. Texture of the topsoil depends upon the type of soil. Sandy soil has large particles, porous and with large spaces between its soil particles. It observe high amount of water but retain very less which is available to the plants. Loam soil is also porous but observe lees amount of water and retain good amount of water in its particle. Clay soil has small particles and dense with few air spaces between the particles. It retains the large amount of water in its particle that is provided to the plants.

The organic content of the topsoil depends on the decomposition of microorganisms, plants, animal waste and minerals present in it. As far as the pH level is concerned topsoil is acidic in nature and its pH value varies from 3.38 to 7.55. So, by testing these factors we can evaluate the quality of topsoil. If topsoil contains good texture, high amount of organic content and acidic pH level then better will be the quality of the topsoil. Good quality topsoil is highly fertile and that is the basic requirement for the growth of plants.
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