The importance of soil moisture
This may seem like a simple thing, however, moisture levels in soils are crucial to plant and soil health. Water can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Imagine how your land looks after the rain. Do you see any areas that drain well? Are there areas where puddles always seem to form and drain slowly? Do you notice that there are some areas where the water seems to roll off and not penetrate?
Most of the time, people tend to kill their plants with love. In other words, they water too much. Get a moisture meter, place it in the soil, and water as appropriate. Also, know the moisture needs of your plants. Some plants love water and some don’t. Moisture also helps materials break down further in the soil, helps microbes, worms, and insects survive during the hot summer months, and also helps fight erosion.
In addition to irrigation and rainfall, soil structure has a big impact on how water flows. You need to know what type of soil you have so that you can predict how the soil will react to water. Knowing this, you can plan accordingly. For example, roses and tomatoes do not like to sit in water. They need water, but they can’t bear to sit in it. Hydrangea, on the other hand, will thrive in very humid conditions, just like other types of plants.
Soils that tend to hold a lot of moisture to the point of puddling tend to have more clay. Heavy clay and sandy soils are fairly easy to identify. Clay particles tend to stick together so tightly that there is very little air space between these types of soil particles. When there are no gaps, the water has nowhere to travel, causing it to collect and form puddles. Puddles are bad because the soil will become saturated with water and become anaerobic. An anaerobic soil tends to have a much higher incidence of disease due to the bacteria it supports. Root penetration is also much more difficult in dense soil. If you notice a lot of puddles on your land and you know you have clayey soil, you should come up with a plan to amend the soil with organic matter to break it up. Both organic matter and the addition of many microbes will help to solve this problem.
Sandy soils lack organic matter and have less structure. Therefore, as water tends to drain very quickly, they tend to dry out faster than loamy or clayey soils. A moisture meter will help you determine the best time to water and how much water is needed.
Clay soils tend to retain a good amount of moisture, but drain well, keeping the soil hydrated and aerobic. Clay soil typically has slightly more organic matter than clay or sandy soil and will support a greater diversity of plants. Clay soils typically have good soil structure with high levels of polysaccharides that hold the soil particles together. Polysaccharides are long chains of carbohydrates, like sticky sugar. These chains will connect the soil particles, leaving air spaces between them. These air spaces will increase the water retention capacity of the soil during the rains. The water molecules will accumulate in the gaps and slowly drain away. When the water drains, the air comes back in, preventing the soil from going completely anaerobic.
A soil test will tell you what nutrients are in your soil. Over time, this information can be used to inform you about some nutrients that may be blocked, as well as some nutrients that may be in abundance. Different types of soil will exhibit higher or lower levels for certain nutrients. You can observe trends in the soil over time by running annual samples. For water requirements I suggest getting a moisture meter. This low-cost device will help you plan when to water and how much water you need. Knowing the types of soil you have will help you plan which plants to plant and which amendments to use to improve soil structure. When there is good soil structure, there is better tolerance to drought and less erosion. By taking notes, you can track water use and disease incidence over time. With the right approach, you should see that you can not only save water, but also grow healthier plants.
