The Importance of Soil In Our Crops

As we begin clearing and prepping additional land for this growing season, the topic of proper soil and soil amendments for best results has come to the fore. Here at Best Cali Hemp, the soil is rich and has been left to nature to work her magic for decades. While this ensures an absence of chemicals, there are other factors to consider that can be problematic when cultivating cannabis, which of course, hemp is. This area of Northern California is heavily informed by it’s geological history, wherein volcanic activity played a role. This means our soil does contain certain metals that occur naturally and also has a density to it that requires some attention. Area ranchers of more mainstream crops bring in large quantities of soil amendments and also practice crop rotation as a tool to maintain soil health, both normal farming practices. One of the benefits of growing hemp, is that the plant itself improves the soil by removing impurities.

We see this through the process of phytoregeneration as previously discussed, whereby industrial hemp is used to clean up environmental problems including nuclear sites. Thankfully, this is not a concern here. Also, it’s not particularly necessary to rotate crops with cannabis, and a field can be used many years without great concern as long as the soil is amenable to producing good yield. The perfect soil for growing hemp is well drained and falls within a pH range of 6.0 to 7.0. Soil testing can be conducted to determine the type of amendments one would want to use in order to create the best soil for optimal yield. A simple field test, where you squeeze a handful of soil and see how it feels. Hemp does grow well in soil that keeps its roots wet all day. This will cause root rot. Look for the soil to be well-drained, moist and have a sandy loam texture. Soil can be amended with compost, worm castings, manure, bat guano, bone meal, peat moss and more. There areas many approaches as there are farmers.

Perhaps an easier approach is to find a local or at least regional composting and organic soils company that specializes in creating blends that are crop specific, in this case hemp or marijuana, since both are basically the same plant with the same soil requirements. These business usually also provide soil testing or would know of a reputable lab to recommend. Typically, these experts will provide several blend choices and can advise growers as to what they

would recommend. Again, it can be helpful to have your soil tested, which businesses such as these can often provide. Once soil test results are in, custom blends created to meet your soil’s specific needs can be created, again depending on the types of services and knowledge the compositing and soil company you work with offer and have access to.

It’s best to begin this process very early in the year as soils are often mixed to meet demand and they don’t order a lot of extra material. Coming in at the last minute may mean you won’t have what you need for your soil amendments. Soil preparedness is its own science. The decision to purchase soil from an outside source is dictated by financial and time constraints of course. It may be more efficient to have the amendments brought in than to try inventing the wheel.