- soil
- 1. The top layer of the earth's surface, consisting primarily of clay, sand, silt, and organic matter. 2. Any natural or synthetic substance or medium in which plants may take root and grow.
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- soil amendment
- Substance added to soil to increase its nutritive value, friability, moisture retention, or some other aspect.
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- soil cuber (alt. soil blocker)
- Hand-held device into which moist soil is packed, then released in the form of a cube or block in which a single seed is planted.
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- soil fixation
- The conversion of a soluble substance such as phosphorus from the exchangeable form useful to plants, to a relatively insoluble form.
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- soil sampler
- A hollow tube with a T handle, which is pressed into the soil to get a core of the horizon.
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- soilless mix
- A potting soil that uses sand, bark, and/or other ingredients, but not any actual soil.
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- acid soil (adj. acidic)
- Soil with a pH level below 7 is considered acidic; also called sour.
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- alkaline soil (alt. alkali soil, syn. basic soil)
- Soil with a pH level above 7; also called sweet.
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- alluvial soil
- Soil deposits at the mouth of a stream or river, characterized by little or no modification of the original transported material by soil-forming processes.
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- bog soil
- A mucky or peaty surface horizon with a peat underlayment.
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- brown forest soils
- Those soils with dark brown surface horizons, but becoming lighter-colored beneath. They are rich in humus and are neutral to slightly acidic in composition, commonly appearing under deciduous forests that are quite rich in calcium or other bases. See also: brown soils.
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- brown podzolic soils
- Those soils with thin layers of partly decayed leaves over a gray-brown layer of mineral matter and humus that covers yellow or yellow-brown acid B horizons. These appear under deciduous or mixed forests in cool, humid, temperate regions.
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- brown soils
- Those soils with brown surface horizon, becoming lighter in color with depth. Calcium carbonate appears at one to three feet. These develop under grasslands and shrubs in temperate to cool semiarid climates. See also: brown forest soils.
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- buried soil
- One or more layers of soil, formerly at the surface, which have been covered by ash, sand, or other deposition.
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- chestnuts soils
- A zonal group of soils with dark brown surface horizons grading into lighter colored soil below, and a calcium carbonate layer at depths of one to four feet (30 to 120 cm.). These are associated with grasslands in temperate to cool, subhumid to semiarid climates; moister than brown soils, drier than chernozem.
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- clay soil (syn. clay loam)
- A soil, usually heavy and poorly drained, containing a preponderance of very fine particles.
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- effective soil depth (syn. working depth)
- The extent to which roots of plants penetrate readily to reach water and nutrients.
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- fine-textured soil
- A soil that consists mostly of silt and clay, with little or no sand or gravel.
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- heavy soil
- An imprecise term which refers to soil in which the particles are packed closely together with little air or water available to the roots of the plant.
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- loam (syn. loamy soil)
- 1. A generally fertile and well-drained soil, containing clay, sand, and a significant amount of decomposed organic matter. 2. Any soil.
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- neutral soil
- Soil having a pH of 7 and therefore neither acidic nor alkaline.
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- topsoil (alt. top soil)
- The upper layer of soil, usually richer than that below it.
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