Content summary: It is cool autumn again, and the plants have regained their vitality and started a new round of peak growth season, blooming beautiful autumn flowers, or storing nutrients to grow healthyly, for the most beautiful spring next year. It is cool autumn again, and the plants are revitalized and have begun a new round of peak growth season. Beautiful autumn flowers may be blooming, or the nutrients may be stored to grow healthily, for the most beautiful spring next year. Perhaps the gardeners are starting to be busy, sorting the garden, cleaning up the summer pantyhose, planting the horny pantyhose, transplanting the perennial plants in different plants, fertilizing the hydrangea roses, and the lawn is also the season to resoil ryegrass. Taking advantage of this opportunity, there is a very important job that is easily overlooked by many novice gardeners. Soil improvement! 1. Never been so solid. This summer, it was exposed to dryness and there was no nourishment of rain. Tap water is used for daily watering and maintenance. Tap water is also called "hard water". Long-term watering can easily lead to solidification of soil. The soil in hippo gardens is particularly solid this year, mainly due to deep well pumping and irrigation. (This year's drought, it would be nice to have water to make the plants live.) Q: Can well water be used to water flowers? Answer: Try not to use well water. Reason: Most of the well water is alkaline and long-term watering can easily cause the soil to be salinized. In summer, the soil temperature is high, and when it encounters cold and hard well water, it will cause severe soil crumbing. If it is necessary, it is best to extract the water first and leave it in the water storage container for a few days before watering. (The same is true for tap water) In addition, the use of compound fertilizer/inorganic fertilizer will further solidify the soil. [Knowledge Point] Soil slab refers to the soil's surface becoming dry and hard. In the absence of organic matter, the soil loses its vitality and the structure is destroyed. After drying, the soil surface becomes hardened by cohesion. 2. If the soil is solidified, it will not be well-fried. The solidified soil is stiff in the topsoil, so the plants will naturally grow poorly and even die in severe cases. 1/ Watering is not easy to penetrate. Water erodes from the topsoil and cannot reach the root system of the plant. The more well water/tap water is used at this time, the more it will cause slab bonding. So at that time, I was looking forward to a rainfall, with raindrops wet into the depths of the soil layer by layer. 2/ Plant root system cannot breathe. The root system of plants needs to breathe, and most plants need loose and breathable soil. When soil is solidified, the breathing of the plant roots will weaken and various elements needed for growth will not be supplied. Overall plant growth slows down, becoming increasingly unhealthy, and even dies. Cause of death: "Suffocation" When I introduced the maintenance of summer lawns, I mentioned that one of the reasons for lawn death is the solidification of soil caused by watering. The roots of Manila cannot breathe air, and the roots are suffocated~ The same principle applies to some potted plants that are watered too much. Long-term soil moisture affects the respiration of the plant root system, which is directly manifested as root rot. Cause of death: "drowning" 3/ It is disabled even if it is not dead. Soil solidification and pH imbalance affect the root system's absorption capacity, and the plants are unhealthy. 3. Soil modification is too important. Soil modification means improving the soil, so that unhealthy soil can be restored to health and vitality. Only healthy soil Only then can healthy plants grow. The most basic definition of health is loose and breathable, water and fertilizer, rich in humus, and balanced nutrient pH. If the soil ratio of potted plants is high, long-term irrigation of compound fertilizer and tap water will also be solidified. It is recommended to use loose and breathable peat to grow. What should I do with the solid soil? Soil turning + Improvement: Turn the solidified soil appropriately deep. Around the plant root system, you also need to use a small hoe to loosen the solidified topsoil and mix microbial fertilizers or matrix partners to improve the fertility of the soil. Microorganisms can also rejuvenate the soil itself. [Hippo Garden Operation Sharing] The work of turning the soil and mixing matrix partners is partially carried out when the soil is slabed in summer. The relationship between climate and watering is that after soil modification, slight slab formation appears. Therefore, soil modification is not done in one step~~ (In winter, humus and organic fertilizer need to be supplemented.) In addition, the garden plants are lush, so soil modification can only be carried out on a small scale. It is recommended that when cleaning the plant, you must turn the soil and change the soil to adjust the soil for a few days before planting other plants. [Reminder] Do not plant the purchased seedlings directly in plate-formed soil or clay, as they may not grow well. Autumn is also a season for division and transplantation. Especially for the growing lush chrysanthemums, echinaceae, hosta, etc. that have been growing for many years, they all need to "slim down" the plants. Taking advantage of the opportunity to dig out, loosen the soil and add matrix companions, and then plant it. Perennial bulbs such as German iris also need to be adjusted and replanted after several years, otherwise the solidified soil will make it grow weaker and weaker. While turning over the soil, it can also remove diseased leaves and rot, clean weeds, and discover them in time. Pests and diseases are treated. This is the earthworm discovered by turning over the soil, and it has eaten up all the roots of the wormwood vegetables that have been in the summer! When turning over the soil, mycelium was found with white silk disease, so I quickly cleaned it up. Several clematis trees died of white silk disease before. White silk disease affects the root system in the soil. When the plant is found to have problems, the root system has completely rotted. The lawn has started to replant ryegrass. The previous Manila grass needs to be cut to the shortest. If the soil is slightly clotted, it is recommended to pierce and sprinkle some substrate companions before sowing. The slab is so serious that even the Manila grass cannot grow well, and the dry soil is exposed. You must loosen the soil before sowing it. The germination rate of grass seeds will be very low if they are sprinkled directly on them. [Reminder] The shrubs planted on the lawn also need to leave empty around the roots of the plant, undulate and change the soil. In short, because of the severe solidification this year, the task of soil modification is very arduous, so I bought 20 packages of matrix companions. 【Not an advertisement】The matrix partner is really good to use to modify soil. It is directly mixed with loose soil to enhance the soil's breathability and fertility, and more importantly, the microbial bacteria inside can rejuvenate the soil. Don't worry about being too fat and burning seedlings. It can be used regardless of the season. Organic fertilizers, humus, etc. are recommended to be used in winter. [Tip] You can sprinkle the old soil of the potted plant (dry it as much as possible) in the garden and mix it with the topsoil. Most of the ingredients are peat and perlite, which can increase the breathability of the soil. Reminder: Try not to plant plants with fleshy roots, bulbs can also be used (dirty disinfection of residual bacteria, etc. can easily breed mold. bacteria. ) There is no old soil or substrate companion, it is also OK to use potted nutrient soil. In fact, only when the soil is healthy can plants grow healthily and bloom more and more beautiful flowers. Old flower lovers all say: "Grow flowers first and cultivate soil." If you grow flowers in the soil, you will get twice the result with half the effort~ This is the reason~