Soil Conditioner
A soil conditioner is a product which is added to soil to improve its qualities, usually its fertility (ability to provide nutrition for plants) and sometimes its mechanics.
The most common use of soil conditioners is to improve soil structure. Soils tend to become compacted over time. This impedes root growth, decreasing the ability of plants to take up nutrients and water.
The addition of organic material can greatly improve water retention and fluff up the soil. A wide variety of materials can be used to improve soil quality, such as compost, manure, straw, lime, gypsum. Working these products into the soil can add more texture to keep the soil loose allowing roots to grow more effectively.
Commercial soil conditioners are usually made from seaweed, pulverized fish and manure. We use Seamungus which has all these products in its make-up. Other commercial products include Charley Carp, Hortico, Osmocote, Scotts Garden Soil Improver. They can come pelletised or in liquid form. There are also a range of probiotic products which add microbe cultures, enzymes, and amino acids. Go-go Juice is an example of this.
Fertiliser
Fertilisers are concentrated nutrient amounts added to the soil for direct plant growth influence. This nutrient addition does not help the soil’s texture. It has a balanced ratio of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) available to plants after application.
Commercial fertilisers always show the ratio of NPK on their packaging and these vary quite a bit. For comparison, Dynamic Lifter has an NPK of 3.7; 2; 1.8, where Sudden Impact for Roses has 9; 2; 12. Also shown are the percentages of trace elements – Calcium, Sulphur, Magnesium, Boron, Zinc, Copper, Iodine, Iron and Manganese. Liquid fertilisers are also commercially available for foliar feeding. Foliar feeding provides essential elements through spray on leaves taken up by the stomata and epidermis
Application
Pelletised soil conditioner and fertiliser should be applied to wet soil and watered in well after application. Keep the pellets away from the base of the plant to avoid burning the trunk. Soil conditioner should be applied during winter (immediately after pruning) and fertilizer during the growing periods of spring, summer and autumn. (Wal J Sep 2018)
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