Soils and layers
Topsoil
Plain garden soil. Dense and slow to drain.
What the simulation uses
- Holds water
- 32.5 % by volume
- Water it keeps after draining; the rest runs down to the drainage.
- Pore space
- 47.5 % by volume
- Room for air and water between grains; low means roots suffocate when wet.
- Weight
- 1160 g/L
- How heavy a litre is.
- pH
- 5 to 8.5 pH
- How acid it keeps the soil.
- Mould risk
- medium
- How much fresh food it gives white mould; high-risk soils fuzz over in the first weeks.
- Breaks down in
- 10 to 50 years
- How long it lasts before rotting down to fine soil.
- Nutrients
- medium
- Plant food it brings.
- Presses down to
- 72 % of its loose depth
- How far pressing can pack it, keeping its weight.
Description
Ordinary garden soil, mostly mineral with a little organic matter. It packs down tight, leaving little air for roots. Unless sterilised it brings in weed seeds, pests and disease.
Also called garden soil, loam.
Estimated, where sources were thin: water holding/AFP estimated for loam.