We live in northeast Texas, so our soils are predominantly sand, with a little clay, and an acidic pH. The rainfall here is plentiful, and the winters are mostly mild, so we have fantastic conditions for growing blueberries and blackberries. However, the leaves on our blueberries looked funny and were not bright “spring” green. We went back to our Master Gardener training to find out what’s wrong with our blueberries and why that is happening right now.
Master Gardeners love plants but often focus on soil. When the soil structure, pH (a measure of acidity/ alkalinity), macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), and micronutrients (magnesium, molybdenum, zinc, and calcium) are appropriate for the plant, the plant will usually be very happy. We encourage participants, “Put a $1 plant in a $10 hole. Never put a $10 plant in a $1 hole.” We frequent the big box stores for their $1 plants that just need a little TLC (Tender Loving Care or Tough Love Conversations) and a good forever home in our soil. We then propagate the plant when it thrives, if legally permitted, to make many more plants for our use and to give away. Plant propagation is a wonderful topic…but for another time.
How can you know the condition of your soil? Do you have $10 soil, or you placing your expensive plants in $1 soil? You can easily test at home for the proportion of sand, silt, and clay to assess the structure and drainage. Simply place two cups of your soil in a clear quart jar, fill the jar with water, replace the lid, shake, and let it sit undisturbed for a day. The sand will go to the bottom, the silt will settle above the sand, and the clay will cover the silt. The water will rise to the very top, as in the picture from rootedrevival. com.
