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You are here: Home / 10 Indications Your Soil is Bad and How to Fix It

10 Indications Your Soil is Bad and How to Fix It

Last updated : 1 June 2015

11 Comments

You buy all the seeds and small plants for your vegetable garden. You spend time day dreaming about the day you will pick all the fresh vegetables. But, what you didn’t think about is your soil. Maybe you did, because you’re still having problems that don’t involve garden pests. The problem could be your soil.

Know the signs of bad soil, and what can cause it, before planting your garden.

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 Here are 10 indications of bad soil and how to fix the problem.

  1. Low Nitrogen: If your plant leaves (low on the plant itself) are discoloring and falling off the soil is likely low in Nitrogen. Adding compost to the soil is an organic way to fix this issue.

soil1

  1. Low Phosphorous: Do your plants look purple? They are likely low in phosphorous. This happens because of the temperature of the soil. The Phosphorous is probably there but because of the temperature of the soil it’s unable to be released to aid the plant. Use some mulch to increase the soil temperature and get the phosphorous to release.

soil2

  1.  Too much Nitrogen: Do you have lush foliage but little to no fruit? You could have too much nitrogen. Other signs include wilting and downward cupping of older leaves, followed by yellow and brown burnt areas on lower leaves. How do you fix this problem? Oddly enough – mulch will fix this. Go slowly. You can also plant vegetables that will deplete or bring down the levels of nitrogen like cabbage, broccoli and corn.

soil3

  1. Pollination: Even vegetables need pollination in order to bear fruit. If your plant is blooming but not producing you could need more birds and bees. Plant some flowers around the border of your garden. While you’re waiting you may have to cross-pollinate yourself. I don’t know if dinner and a movie will help but who knows.

soil4

  1. Uninvited guest to your garden: If you’re making a hanging floral wreath moss is great. Moss is not so great in your garden. Moss means your soil high in acidity. Add some wood ash or lime to bring your soil to a more neutral level. Also at the end of the planting season take a good look at where your garden is located. Moss hates direct sunlight. If you have overhanging tree branches or bushes that block the sun from your garden, moss will, and can grow. Get rid of any sunlight obstruction.

soil5

  1. Volunteers: A plant that grows on its own rather than be deliberately planted by a farmer or gardner. For example have you ever seen a corn plant in the middle of a soybean field? That corn plant is a volunteer. A hold over from last years corn crop. No matter how large or small the garden volunteers can happen. Why are volunteers bad? There bad because you should rotate your crop every year to avoid disease. Seeds can be brought to your garden by a good wind, or a bird flying over. The best way to deal with volunteers is to pull them as soon as you see them coming up.

soil6

  1. Clubroot: Clubroot affects cabbage, radishes, turnips all plants of the Brassicaceae family. Clubroot lives in the soil and does horrible things to the roots of plants. The roots look knobby and swollen upon examination. It doesn’t just affect the roots it also caused under-developed vegetables and eventually the death of the plant. The women of my family always told me the roots look like the hands of someone with arthritis. If you suspect or have confirmed this is the problem you may as well not plant anything susceptible to clubroot for at least 7 years.

soil7

  1. Water: Puddles of water, or standing water, are very bad for your garden. If you live in a climate with lots of rain you understand the dilemma. Often times gardeners who are eager to get their gardens started in the spring deal with this issue. How do you know when your soil is ready after the spring thaw? Take a handful and squeeze. If water drips from your hand then you need to aerate the soil.

soil8

  1. The crumble: Is your soil crumbly like a good coffee cake or dry, hard and cracked? The soil should be crumbly. If it’s dry and cracked, water will run off and not absorb into the soil like it should. Also, not enough water will make it to the root system and allow the roots to grow down in all that hard soil. So, crumbly good. Dry and cracked bad. How do you deal with this problem? Add organic matter and add it often. Also, do not compact the soil.

soil9

  1. Test your soil. The best piece of advice I can give is to have your soil tested or do it yourself. Some nurseries and garden centers will test your soil samples or you can buy a kit and do it yourself. soil10

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Comments

  1. Vicki says

    April 22, 2018 at 9:14 am

    My raised bed garden’s top layer of soil is hard and dry. What’s underneath is great soil. We added lots of compost and worm castings. What is the problem? Planted turnip greens and they came up just fine but now the plants have slowed growth. Hoeing and mulching? Is that the solution?

    Reply
    • Mike says

      April 22, 2018 at 9:17 am

      Vicki,

      Just loosen the soil, the plants should do fine.

      Reply
  2. Jason says

    January 31, 2018 at 6:48 am

    I’m doin border on my lawn and as it’s a new estate the soil is full of small rubble. I’ve dug them already. Any suggestions

    Reply
    • Mike says

      January 31, 2018 at 8:59 am

      Jason,

      I really don’t see that small rubble is a problem. I’d just back fill with the soil you removed from the holes.

      Reply
  3. Lara Pulkowski says

    July 2, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    I moved in 15 years ago and from the start a big area will not grow anything. Not even weeds. They had a patio in that area and maybe they dumped grass and weed killer into the soil? I did soil testing and the nitrogen is practically non existent and extremely high alkaline. I was thinking of getting some good soil and mixing it in with the bad. This soil does not get sunlight.

    Reply
    • Mike says

      July 3, 2017 at 7:47 am

      Lara,

      The lack of sunlight is an issue. Is this an area that you could just mulch? Topsoil will help but so will hardwood bark mulch over time.

      Reply
  4. Sue says

    April 22, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    I have moss in my flower garden. Is this a sign of bad soil? It started after my Roof got repaired

    Reply
    • Mike says

      April 23, 2017 at 10:28 am

      Sue,

      Just an indication that you soil mind need a touch of lime and some sunlight.

      Reply
  5. Yvonne Moss says

    June 30, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    Mike at an earlier viewing you were talking about weeds. AND GETTING RID OF THEM.
    This article was just after you said you had two miniature donkeys, following that the ground had a type of weed in it there were small rocks in this photo also. My question is. WHAT IS THAT WEED I HAVE IT AND CANNOT GET RID OF IT. IF A LEAF DROPS OFF ONTO THE GROUND IT WILL TAKE ROOT. I HAVE HAD THIS FOR ABOUT 7 YEARS. TRIED TO KILL IT OUT. PULLED THEM UP BUT STLL 2 DAYS LATER THERE ARE OTHERS COMING UP. I HAD NEVER SEEN THIS TYPE OF WEED BEFORE IN MY GARDEN AND HOW IT LATCHED ONTO MY SOIL AND WHERE IT CAME FROM I DO NOT KNOW. HELP. YVONNE MOSS

    Reply
    • Mike says

      July 1, 2015 at 8:04 am

      Yvonnne,

      I don’t know what the weed is called. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

      Reply
    • Jessica says

      May 19, 2016 at 1:08 pm

      Is it possible you have kikuyu grass? That stuff seems to be indestructible and even small segments of it will take root (and I’ve found roots several feet down under the soil). Some people thought kikuyu grass would make an excellent lawn, and in a way I can see their point. It requires next to no water and you virtually can’t kill it. And every time you mow, you are essentially creating thousands of new cuttings to take root. Our house has had it since before we moved in 15 years ago, and I’ve just learned to live with it 🙁 I try to keep it away from my veggies and I never add it to the compost pile.

      Reply

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