Erosion removes surface soil, which often has the highest biological activity and greatest amount of soil organic matter. This causes a loss in nutrients and often creates a less favorable environment for plant growth.

Leaching – Plant nutrients are lost beyond the reach of plant roots. Usually caused by excessive rainfall washing nutrients deep down into sub-soil beyond new roots reach. Burning of vegetations –Destroys organic matter and soil structure. Nutrients are lost and soil exposed to erosion.

The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. It has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species. And degraded lands are also often less able to hold onto water, which can worsen flooding.

The value of soil is reduced when soil loses its fertility or when topsoil is lost due to erosion. Loss of Fertility: Soil can be damaged when it loses its fertility. This can happen through loss of nutrients. Wind erosion is most likely to occur in areas where farming methods are not suited to dry conditions.

Soil Tillage, Climate Change and Soil Carbon Sequestration Unsustainable agricultural techniques which cause erosion, such as excessive tillage, and which do not improve soil health (e.g., soil microbes and organic matter), hasten the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

This type of farming goes against any form of traditional crops and growing food. Reusing the exact same soil, instead of rotating three or four different crops following a pre-determined cycle, can lead to plant pathogens and diseases. …

How to Revitalize Your Old Potting Soil

1. 1 – Lay the Soil Out on a Tarp.
2. 2 – Clean with Water.
3. 3 – Make a 50/50 Mix.
4. 4 – Test the pH and Adjust as Required.
5. 5 – Add in a Slow-Release Fertilizer.
6. 6 – Let it Cure.

A mottled gray, as opposed to a uniform gray or blue-gray, suggests that the soil is waterlogged at times and fairly dry at other times. But in any case, gray soils are definitely a cause for concern, as they indicate a poor drainage situation and frequent saturation.

This, however, is not always true as, in high rainfall areas, dark soil colouring can be caused by poor drainage. In deeper horizons such as the B-horizon, a brown colour usually means that the soil has good natural drainage. A black or dark grey colour usually comes from an accumulation of organic matter.

Where soils are well draining or under dry conditions, iron forms red oxides imparting a red colour to the soil. Yet in waterlogged soil, with a lack of air, iron forms in a reduced state giving the soil grey/green/bluish-grey colours.

In well drained (and therefore oxygen rich) soils, red and brown colors caused by oxidation are more common, as opposed to in wet (low oxygen) soils where the soil usually appears grey or greenish by the presence of reduced (ferrous) iron oxide. The presence of other minerals can also affect soil color.

In general, the darker a soil, the more nutrient-rich it is. The darker color often indicates a high amount of humus.

Mottling (mottles, mottled) refers to secondary soil colors not associated with compositional properties. Redoximorphic features are a type of mottle associated with wetness. Lithochromic mottles are a type of mottling associated with variations of color due to weathering of parent materials.

The more organic material you have in your soil, the more nutrients you’ll have. Nutrients give good soil it’s rich dark color, so if your soil is very sandy, or very red, or black from clay. You can help your soil out by adding peat moss, pecan shells, or peanut husks, or even a little sand.

Whether you’re gardening with containers, in raised beds or digging holes in the ground, you can’t go wrong with organic potting soil. With its loamy texture, water-absorbing amendments, lots of nutrients and beneficial fungi, it mimics a healthy soil.