Digging up - useful or rather harmful?
By digging the soil is not only loosened, but the upper soil layer gets down and the entire substrate is mixed up. However, this has not only advantages, but also a number of disadvantages:
also read
- Why you should dig up a vegetable garden - and when better not
- When to dig up the garden
- What tasks do you have to do in the vegetable patch in autumn?
Soil, on which vegetables have grown throughout the year, has created a lively soil life and structure, which is massively disrupted by this intervention. Bear in mind that around 200 earthworms and several billion bacteria and protozoa live in one square meter of healthy substrate.
What happens when digging up?
If you dig up now, the creatures from the upper layers will suddenly find themselves in the deep. Many die because the conditions no longer suit their way of life. This increases the metabolism of organic substances humus sensitively disturbed, which can reduce soil fertility.
Because of this disadvantage, more and more hobby gardeners are foregoing regular digging or plowing. Instead, the earth is carefully loosened with a digging fork and then worked with the sow tooth.
When should digging be done?
It is imperative that it be dug up if you re-create the vegetable garden. When digging up, weeds and roots can be easily removed and enrich the earth with humus and / or sand, depending on the structure.
It is recommended to do a Green manure to sow, because the roots of these plants, which protrude deep into the ground, loosen the layers of the earth very well. Alternatively, you can put potatoes, which also unlock the virgin soil.
Dig up heavy soils before winter
Loam and clay soils are dug up in autumn, as the so-called frost bake air penetrates the soil and improves the structure. When digging up, bring in plenty of humus and compost in order to permanently improve the soil structure.
How should the soil be loosened?
There are several ways to prepare the soil for the cold season and the next harvest season:
- You can use the harvested beds Mulch(€ 239.00 at Amazon *) cover.
- Alternatively, green manure is suitable.
The soil is only loosened in spring:
- Medium and heavy soils are loosened with a digging fork so that oxygen can penetrate into the deeper soil layers. Then work the surface again with the sow tooth.
- Light, sandy soils can only be loosened all over the place with the sow tooth.
- Finally with the Rake Work compost into the soil.
Tips
If you have to dig up a bed, you should do it afterwards cover with a layer of mulch. This protects the organisms in the soil so that they can reproduce quickly.
