An ideal soil contains 25 percent air, 25 percent water, 45 percent mineral material and 5 percent organic matter. ... If a soil lacks any of these components, plant growth is limited.

If you keep trying to grow food in your garden but nothing turns out right, there could be something wrong with the soil. Try ...

Organic matter in soil consists of both living and nonliving material. The living organic matter is made up of bacteria, fungi, and plant roots. Nonliving organic matter consists of plant ...

It’s the end of the season, and we’re all starting to tuck in our garden beds for winter. The soil in your raised garden bed has worked hard all season to impart nutrients to your vegetables ...

Salts are natural components of soil, surface, and groundwater. They are ionic mineral compounds, which means they bonded by electrostatic attractions between cations (+ charge) and anions (- charge).

Some kits will also detect complementary components, such as organic matter and carbon, which don’t directly help plants grow but may impact the nutrient retention of the soil.