HORTICULTURE

Detailed explanation-1: -What is the texture of soils that have about equal parts of sand, clay and silt? The MOST desirable soil for non-container outdoor plant production is: A. Clay.

Detailed explanation-2: -Soil structure influences plant growth by affecting the movement of water, air and nutrients to plants. Sandy soils have little or no structure but are often free draining. With higher clay contents the soil structural strength increases, but its drainage ability often decreases.

Detailed explanation-3: -Standard soilless composition includes composite mixture of coco peat, vermiculite and perlite in 3:1:1 volume by volume ratio. In case of seedling nursery, coco peat alone may be used as a growing media after treating it with calcium nitrate (50 g/kg) to reduce the electrical conductivity and pH of the media.