Cultivating Soil Newbies 101!

Cultivating soil is the best way prevent watering and soil problems. It keeps the soil evenly moist, promotes even drying of the soil, helps watering by allowing good and even water penetration, allows roots to get more air. The list goes on but needless to say if you aren't doing it then start now, so simple but yet so effective.

The pics show me digging the soil up with a fork, anthing will do so long as it can fluuf that top half inch to an inch of soil up. Your aim is to get it fluffy, light and plenty of air pockets. I dig down to show you the roots at about an inch deep, these will move aroound easy and radiate out from the main tap root or plant stem. Dont worry if you hit these just cover them back up and don't cultivate so deep next time. If the soil is particuarly crusty or dosen't cultivate so well give it a day or so and cultivate again!

Don't worry if the cultivated soil goes dry after a day or so, it is meant to do this and the soil underneath will still be wet or moist and dosen't need a watering yet. Go of the weight of the pot to judge watering times. The dry soil on the top promotes moisture in the pot to rise up and evaporate at the surface. No it will not dry the pot too quickly but it will prevent dry pockets and the soil being too wet.

Oh yer, this is a jalapeno pepper plant, i don't only grow weed!

Cool i done this before to it, really helps it,i need to do it more often my dad tought me this.
But my problem is i only done it once Lol

very useful information!

I have always done this as well, although I use my hand. Not knocking the method, just maybe the tool used as it can do damage in the hands of an over zealous noobie.

++ You helped me with this problem awhile back ago, thanks mate.

Green Life said:

++ You helped me with this problem awhile back ago, thanks mate.

Click to expand...

About the best thing you can do to arerate the soil and try and rid it of the moisture locked within, not great but every little helps, on a muddy soil water retention will be a lot but add some drainage and cultivate the top layer to break it up and allow air into the soil and moisture to get out, best i can offer and almost every farmer cultivates for better soil properties. Peace

Thanks again buddy!

i saw this one time, and have done it every grow since...i do it a bit differently though. i take a phillips head screw driver...very small one...and just push it about 2 inches down in the soil a shit load of times...being careful to not bash the roots, and i came across a small back scratcher, with a metal head...looks like a super small rake...and then i just grab the soil, and push...and pull back and forth, then smooth back out.

As long as it breaks up the top layer of soil, roots are trickier, say you got a big pot, lot of roots and well established in the pot then breaking a few surface roots wont make much difference, if anything they will grow more roots from the break like when you top a plant and it grows from the next available growing node.

This being said be carefull with the roots, i would rather keep my pots cultivated so some roots get killed, plant learns not to grow roots there or it keeps them under the cultivated layer. The roots nearest the surface get more air too so helps the plant to grow and against overwatering.

Now if you got good drainage and lots of perlite then the top layer will not need cultivating as the drainage or perlite will allow air in and out of the soil. I rarely bother cultivating with over 30percent perlite in my soil unless the top layer forms a crust.

I recomend everyone learn to cultivate or get some very good drainage in the soil. A well cultivated top soil layer will help keep the lower soil more healthy and aerated. A very simple procedure and yes a screw driver is fine to use as is anything else but your main aim is to loosen the top layer up so it is light and fluffy, smooth over if you want it neat it dont matter. Good gardeners do this inside and outside to uncompact the soil, sometimes to a depth of a foot before planting to give good soil structure.

It helps seedlings best imo, they always suffer from overwatering, one little slip of the watering jug and the seedling starts to drown, cultivating helps speed the soil up drying.

Really is the simplest thing anyone in soil can do. Peace

just a quick qt....is it possible to aerate too much??? say i rigged an air pump....or something similar

Jakabok Botch said:

just a quick qt....is it possible to aerate too much??? say i rigged an air pump....or something similar

Click to expand...

In soil i think an air pump would be un-benificial, never seen this technique ever, i believe aeroponics is closer to what you are thinking about but in soil an air pump is just not practical over somthing like perlite or hydroclay, its about the air pockets in the soil not added air, soil naturally pulls in air as it dries.

If you want to look into aerating soil better i believe the airpots some use are about the best on offer for an aerated soil and also air prune roots so increases root mass and prevents pot becoming root bound so quickly. I have never used them as yet though. Peace

Thank you for this information. I will become an apprentice immediately.

side11 said:

Thank you for this information. I will become an apprentice immediately.

Click to expand...

Were all apprentices to mother nature on this site dude. Peace

Kingrow1 said:

In soil i think an air pump would be un-benificial, never seen this technique ever, i believe aeroponics is closer to what you are thinking about but in soil an air pump is just not practical over somthing like perlite or hydroclay, its about the air pockets in the soil not added air, soil naturally pulls in air as it dries.

If you want to look into aerating soil better i believe the airpots some use are about the best on offer for an aerated soil and also air prune roots so increases root mass and prevents pot becoming root bound so quickly. I have never used them as yet though. Peace

Click to expand...

i know the difference and i know its not "practical"..was just makin an example....you didnt answer my question....can you give them too much??

Jakabok Botch said:

i know the difference and i know its not "practical"..was just makin an example....you didnt answer my question....can you give them too much??

Click to expand...

No you cannot aerate soil with an air pump and no you can never give roots too much air neither can you give leaves too much air, however root hairs will not grow without moisture so too dry conditions on the roots will kill of the nutrient absorbing hairs.

That is the best i can explain, perlite will help you aerate the roots better as will most drainage. Aeroponics works by saturating the air with moisture i believe so it is a combination off air and moisture, roots need both. peace