Capping of the soil is a major problem in the vegetable garden at sowing time. It happens when the soil particles on the surface melt together to form a hard cap or crust.
Effects of capping:
* the cap is so hard that the vegetable seedlings cannot break
through it and are unable to push the shoot above ground
* the cap shrinks when it dries, and forms a crazy paving effect of
hard soil lumps
capped soil
shrinking soil cap
capped soil wedge
Causes of capping:
* soil particles in the seed bed are too fine
* large droplets of water (heavy rain, or a coarse watering can)
* kitchen gardens with clay soils are particularly at risk from capping
Avoid capping by:
* keeping small crumbs of soil on the surface – do not overwork the
seedbed. Fine soil is needed around the seed, but the rest of the
soil between the vegetable rows should be made up of small crumbs
soil crumbs on seedbed
* watering with small droplets – do not water the seeds in with a
bucket, or strong hose. Use a gentle spray from a rose with small
holes
Renovate capped soil in the vegetable garden by:
* gently keeping the cap damp, to enable the vegetable seedlings to
push through
* carefully hoeing either side of each vegetable row, to break the
cap. Then the next lot of water will be able to drain into the
soil, & will not sit on the cap & spread the crust over a larger
area of the vegetable patch
breaking soil cap
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