Planting Tips

Chapter 17 How to Disinfect Culture Soil
Since the natural soil often contains germ spores, pest eggs, living bodies and weed seeds, etc., the prepared culture soil needs to be disinfected to achieve the purpose of eliminating germs and pests.The simple and convenient disinfection methods commonly used in family gardening are as follows.

(1) Eye disinfection method Spread the prepared culture soil on a clean cement floor or a wooden board, and expose it to the sun for 2 to 3 days.For example, exposure to the sun in summer can kill a large number of germ spores, hyphae, eggs of pests, and nematodes.Although this method of disinfection is not strict, but simple and easy.

(2) Heat disinfection method There are many heating methods, including cooking, high-pressure heating and steam heating.As long as it is heated to 80-100°C for 30-60 minutes, the purpose of disinfection can be achieved.However, the heating time should not last too long, otherwise it will kill the beneficial microorganisms that can decompose the fertilizer, thus hindering the normal growth and development of flowers.If there is no heating equipment for family gardening, you can put the prepared culture soil into an iron pot, fry it on the stove for 20 minutes, or steam it in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes, which can also receive the disinfection effect.

(3) Formalin containing 40% formaldehyde is often used for disinfection in the chemical disinfection method. In each cubic meter of culture soil, 400-500 ml of formalin and 50 times the dilution of water are evenly sprinkled, and then the soil is piled up. Cover with a plastic film, seal it for 48 hours, remove the cover and spread the soil, and use it after the formalin gas has completely volatilized.Wear a mask and gloves when disinfecting to prevent the drug from being inhaled into the mouth and touching the skin.Which flowers like acidic soil and which flowers are suitable for alkaline soil? Due to different origins, flower plants have great differences in their adaptability to acidity and alkalinity.Most types of potted flowers are suitable for neutral to slightly acidic (pH5.5-7.0) soil, because within this limit, the nutrients that flower plants need to absorb from the soil are in an absorbable state, higher than or Below this limit, some nutrients become unabsorbable, which leads to nutrient deficiency in some flowers.

Flowers that love acidic soils

According to its adaptability to soil acidity and alkalinity, it can be divided into the following categories:
(1) Acid-resistant flowers (pH4~5): Rhododendron, Hydrangea, Gardenia, Coleus, Purple Commelina, Ferns, Orchids, etc.

(2) Suitable for weakly acidic flowers (pH5-6): begonia, amaryllis, cyclamen, camellia, jasmine, Milan, michelia, five-needle pine, palm plants, primrose, gloxinia, white orchid, etc.

(3) Suitable for neutral and slightly acidic flowers (pH6~7): chrysanthemum, asparagus, asparagus, poinsettia, osmanthus, fuchsia, clivia, narcissus, cattail flower, crabapple, etc.

(4) Suitable for neutral and slightly alkaline flowers (pH7~8) rose, rose, carnation, geranium, winter jasmine, boxwood, nandina, elm leaf plum, juniper, hibiscus, pomegranate, grape, wisteria, cactus, incense Peas, lime flowers, Limonium and so on.How to prevent hardening and alkalization of pot soil When planting flowers with heavy viscous soil, they do not want to seep water after watering, and cracks and hardening are easy to appear when dry, which is not conducive to the growth and development of flowers. This is mainly because the soil particles are too fine and lack organic matter. .The way to improve it is to add some coarser substrates and soil components containing a lot of humus to the pot soil, such as fermented horse manure, manure soil, peat soil, sawdust, coarse sand, etc.The improved basin soil is soft and has good air permeability and water permeability, so there will be no hardening and cracking.

(End of this chapter)