Start with the potting soil for agave cultivation (2)

? The various particles used in the soil for breeding agave mentioned earlier, the origin, texture, acidity and alkalinity of these particles, etc., will not be described in detail here. These can be obtained from the Internet All can be found.

? Here we mainly talk about the differences in the soil-retaining, water-retaining and breathable properties of these particles. First of all, we need to understand that the purpose of using granular soil is to increase the ventilation and breathability of the pot soil. Because there are gaps between particles, air can flow in them, allowing the agave roots to breathe smoothly, thus increasing the water absorption rate of its roots.

The first is the famous red jade soil, which has very good water retention. Drinking water once can continue to provide water to the roots of the plants, and the air permeability is also good, but the hydrophobicity of this kind of soil is not very good. That is to say, if you grow in the open and encounter continuous rain and cloudy weather, there will be too much water in the pot soil, which will damage the root system of the plant. This situation is even worse after the red jade soil is powdered. However, Akadama soil has high water retention and good air permeability, so it is more suitable for greenhouse farming.

Of course, when we grow agave, we generally do not use a single type of soil. Instead, we usually mix various types of soil together to achieve the desired water-retaining and breathable effect.

Let’s talk about peat particles. Common ones include fine cylindrical peat particles produced by Alice, as well as domestic coarse cylindrical peat particles and spherical peat particles. Peat soil is rich in humus and will provide sufficient nitrogen to plant roots. In comparison, Alice's fine cylindrical peat soil has a denser texture than domestic granular peat soil and is less likely to pulverize. The water retention of granular peat soil is higher than that of akadama soil, and its hydrophobicity is slightly better than that of akadama soil.

Regarding the hydrophobicity of the plant material, apart from the size of the plant material particles (the larger the particles of the plant material, the better the hydrophobicity), there are two main determining factors: one is the plant material The draft rate, one is the smoothness of the surface of the plant material. For example, water-gray medical stone particles are almost never eaten because their hydrophobicity is very high. There is also a kind of golden medical stone, which is a weathered stone with a slightly higher draft and good hydrophobicity, slightly lower than the gray unweathered medical stone. Planting materials with good hydrophobicity include volcanic rocks, hard cinders, etc. Volcanic rocks and cinders reduce a certain degree of hydrophobicity due to surface roughness and internal porous characteristics, but improve the soil's air permeability.

? That’s all for today, to be continued...