Hello my name is Silvia and I'm 13yrs turning 14. This is my first time on GardenStew, so please kinda help me get around on this site... Also in school this is my first year in Honor Earth Science although im not sure why... Anyway, my class has a Science Fair Progect, and i chosen to see if soil types changes how well plants grow. I have a research paper that is due thursday and all i have is my title... i really dont know much about plants so can someone please help me... I really nees to pass this or i would fail this class... well i think from the way she grades... I'm doing a APA format. Please and Thank You :-o
soil types........... Yes ..... Soil types do effect how a plant grows...... For instance,some plants like sandy soil, some like humus soil, some like well drained soil....... Why not type in GOOGLE search......How different soils effects plant growth.. Bet it will give you great ideas. barb
And get yourself a ph test kit from the garden center- you can get them pretty cheap. The ph is critical- for example, where I am in Washington, the soil is almost universally somewhat acid due to the abundance of evergreens- rhododendrons and many other acid lovers flourish here. In areas with more alkiline soil a completely different sort of native plant does well. In clay-rich soil you will find plants that love to have their "feet" wet- those plants wither in sandy soil. And the stuff that gardeners dream about is a sandy loam with lots of organic matter broken down in it. You've taken on a very rich and multifaceted topic, far too much to cover by Thursday, but best of luck trying! O, and if you want a highly visual example of how Ph affects plants, do an image search on hydrangeas- the same species in acid soil will be one color, another in alkiline (blue vs. pink!)
Soil types Its a fascinating topic and plants have evolved to suit their natural surroundings of their original homes. You have different types of soil in nature - sandy, clayey, chalky and so on. Also the pH (thats how acidic or sour the soil is) varies; ranier parts of the world tend to have acidic soil and deserts chalky ones. Chalk is mostly calcium carbonate and makes soil less acid. However it dissolves in rain water slowly and leeches out - so rainier parts have less chalk in the soil and hence are acidic. So here we go: Roses - mostly from China need moderately acidic soil Azaleas from the Himalayas; very rainy, need very acidic soil; so do Gardenias and camellias (the plant we get Tea from and the camellia flowers) Hibiscus is native of the Pacific islands; so is the Plumeria (frangipani)- need a rich, fertile and acidic soil like what they get in Hawaai and thereabouts Brassicas - thats cabbages, broccoli & those sorts, need the chalky soils of the mediterranean Papyrus - the egyptians made paper from this plant that they found growing along the banks of the Nile -needs boggy soil with lots of standing water. All the daisies of south africa - Diamorphotheca, Gazanias, etc need the dry, sunny, sandy soil with good drainage and slightly chalky conditions that they get in their homeland; so do the so called 'geraniums' (actually these are Zonal Pelargoniums) Cactii grow in deserts and need pure sand with pebbles and limestone or dolomite chips. Orchids and bromelliads grow on trees and many need no soil at all - dendrobiums, phalenopsis and several others grow in a mix of moss and chips of bark. And forest cactii and forest orchids like vandas need a woodsy soil with lots of leafy mould and twigs and organic stuff dumped into the soil that is constantly moist but never very wet. You could look up a good gardening book and get to know hundreds of plants and the kind of soil they need and where they come from and compile it in your essay. Happy reading
