What kind of soil and drainage does honeysuckle love?

Honeysuckle is grown not only for harvesting tasty and healthy fruits, but also for decorating personal plots. The success of growing a crop depends on the choice of the site for planting and the composition of the soil. Its physical and mechanical properties affect the productivity and appearance of the bushes. What soil is needed for edible and decorative honeysuckle, read our article.

Soil for ornamental and edible honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is famous for its unpretentiousness and ability to grow in any climate.... The crop prefers areas with loose, well-drained, nutritious soil. The optimal type for garden and edible honeysuckle is loam, fertilized with organic matter.

The plant does not grow well in wetlands with heavy, clogged soil, devoid of moisture. For planting, select places with a low groundwater table. Excess moisture leads to decay of the root system. Experienced gardeners recommend planting bushes not only on loam, but also on sandy loam soil and black soil. This type of soil contributes to the growth and development of honeysuckle, increasing its productivity.

Loam is loose, air permeable, which contributes to the saturation of the root system with oxygen and moisture. Such soil consists of 70% turf and 30% of coarse sand.

Sandy loam is composed of silt and sand, quickly passes moisture, warms up after melting snow and is considered an excellent alternative to loam. Chernozem contains organic matter and minerals that promote the growth and development of bushes. Every year, plant residues remain in the soil, saturating it with humus, phosphorus and calcium. Sandy soil dries quickly, nutrients are washed out of it, and water-soluble fertilizers seep into the lower layer, so it is not suitable for the cultivation of honeysuckle.

Gardeners of Siberia, the North-West region and the Far East do not pay attention to the composition of the soil when planting honeysuckle, and residents of the southern regions complain about poor crop growth on black soil. This is due to the peculiarities of the honeysuckle root system.

The plant has a taproot, but short - only 0.5 m, and there are many lateral roots. During dry periods, the hard, cracked earth literally tears apart the thin branches. During the rainy season or active irrigation, chernozem turns into a sticky, airtight mass. The solution to the problem is to improve the soil structure annually.

Optimal pH

Let's figure out which soil honeysuckle loves - acidic or alkaline.

Soil acidity is not the least important when growing a crop. She prefers soil with a neutral pH, does not like acidic and alkaline soil. The fruiting and appearance of the bush depends on the level of acidity.

The pH is measured on a scale from 1 to 14. The acidity of the soil is checked using litmus tests. These can be purchased at gardening stores. Before planting, they collect the soil in different places of the site, place it in cloth bags and immerse it in clean water for 5 minutes. The test strip is lowered there and the result is evaluated after 10 seconds.

An indicator in the range from 5 to 7 indicates neutral acidity, from 1 to 5 - for acidic, above 7 - for an alkaline reaction. The soil is brought to normal six months before planting the culture. To do this, dolomite flour is added to the ground: 0.5 kg per 1 m² - in acidic soil, 0.4 kg per 1 m² - in slightly acidic soil.

Reference. The optimal soil acidity index for honeysuckle is 5.5–6.5 units, the allowable one is 3.9–7.7 units.

The best soil for honeysuckle

In what land should honeysuckle be planted? The soil for decorative and edible honeysuckle should be structured, moisture and air permeable. To determine its composition by eye, dig in the earth with a shovel by at least 10 cm, throw it up and examine the layer:

• if the earth fell as a whole pancake, it contains a lot of clay;
• if the reservoir has completely crumbled, there is a lot of sand in the composition;
• if the top layer is scattered into lumps of different sizes, the structure is excellent.

Humus and peat, turf and river sand are added to the soil for honeysuckle. In alkaline soil - high peat of a red hue, in acidic - ash or slaked lime.

Read also:

When and how to plant honeysuckle in the fall.

Transplant the honeysuckle to a new location.

Preparing the soil for garden honeysuckle

Soil that does not meet the requirements for the growth of honeysuckle is corrected by introducing organic and mineral substances. The drainage method improves soil permeability and makes it lighter.

Mineral fertilizers

For the normal development of honeysuckle, minerals are needed: potassium, phosphorus, calcium. For every 10 kg of sand, take 300 g of ash and 50 g of superphosphate or nitrophosphate. The mixture is sufficient to fertilize 1 m² of peat soil. The sandy soil is fed with potassium - 30 g per 1 m².

When improving the soil structure, coarse river sand is used. Fine-grained adheres the soil and aggravates the situation. In the process of preparing the nutrient mixture, it is recommended not only to mix the components and fill the hole, but to sift through a coarse sieve and only then fill the hole. For sifting, use a net from an old armored bed. It is placed on a support and the components are dropped in turn. Large fractions are broken with a shovel, pebbles are removed manually.

Organic

First of all, sandy soil needs organic matter. In spring and late autumn, the plot is mulched with rotted manure, bark and foliage - 5 kg per 1 m².

Gardeners recommend planting horse manure in the soil when planting, and using bird droppings as a liquid fertilizer.

Drainage for honeysuckle

Drainage is laid in the planting holes when planting honeysuckle. Broken brick, crushed stone or shell rock is suitable for this purpose. This prevents the underflooding of the shrub by groundwater, allows it to grow on marshy and clayey soils.

Read also:

Frost-resistant early ripening variety of honeysuckle "Lakomka"

Frost-resistant variety of honeysuckle "Pavlovskaya"

High-yielding, frost-resistant variety Tomichka

Conclusion

The soil for honeysuckle, its acidity and composition are of great importance. The growth rate of the shrub, its decorative effect and productivity depends on this. Garden and edible honeysuckle prefer loose loamy soil or black soil and grows poorly in swampy areas and loam.

The root system needs oxygen and moisture, a sufficient amount of organic and mineral substances. They improve the composition of the soil by introducing the missing elements, laying drainage on the bottom of the pit, normalizing the pH and loosening with river sand, if necessary.