All about the composition and properties of chernozem

Chernozem soil is the richest in nutrients. In such a plot, there are always high yields of vegetables, berries, and ornamental plants pleased with violent growth and flowering.

Soil composition

Chernozems are different in composition, but the color is always dark, coal. Formed over thousands of years in places with high humidity and moderate air temperatures. The fertile layer is formed by the remains of vegetation, which has been processed by microorganisms and enzymes for hundreds of years.

Source: Depositphotos. Soil black earth is black and cloddy

Fertile soils are formed in forests, forest-steppe zones, meadows and even on loams. They differ in the content of useful substances, a high percentage of biohumus.

Composition of black soil:

humus up to 9%;
humic acids;
minerals (calcium, phosphorus, potassium);
other organic compounds.

For the percentage of humus, black soil is also called fat, implying nutritional value for plants. If you squeeze a lump of earth in your hand, it will leave a greasy trail. The best fertile lands are formed naturally in the southern regions, where for centuries there has been an abundance of vegetation.

Properties and characteristics

Nutritious soils are valued not only for the content of humus and other components valuable for plants. This is still the ideal consistency - granular-lumpy, which allows air to pass through and retains moisture without petrification.

Special soil properties:

neutral ph;
resistant to weathering, washing out and compaction;
optimal balance of living microorganisms;
suitable for growing most cultivated plants.

The only negative is the need for additional introduction of loosening mixtures to improve the structure and friability. Make sand, peat or vermiculite.

Nutritious dark soils are prone to depletion with prolonged use. Therefore, after a few years, fertilizers are required. The difficulty lies in determining the dose of nutrients. If black soil is brought to the site from another region, its fertility decreases in the new place, and life cycle microorganisms slows down to adaptation.

In crop production, biohumus-rich soil is considered ideal for high yields. Chernozem is carefully introduced into poor areas, dug up with a pitchfork from the existing soil, avoiding compaction. This procedure is carried out in the fall, in order to get the basis for the harvest by the new season.

What does black earth mean? Chernozem is a fertile landhaving a black tint of color, land endowed with a huge amount of humus and having a granular-cloddy structure. As a rule, chernozem soils are formed in the forest, as well as on loams and clays in a temperate continental climate.
Today, chernozem can rightly be considered the best soil for farmers, farmers and gardeners, the soil on which both flowers, trees and shrubs grow beautifully, as well as fruit crops, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. Therefore, chernozem is an excellent garden soil, excellent land for vegetable gardens, as well as for home indoor plants.
On the territory of our state, chernozem soils mostly prevail in Western Siberia, in the North Caucasus, in the Volga region, in the central black earth regions, and they can also be seen today in Ukraine, in North and South America, in China and a number of European countries .

Chernozem is a land saturated with humus, for the formation of which the following conditions are important:
- temperate climate or temperate continental;
- sequential alternation of drying and moistening;
- positive temperature regime.
As experts have established, the most favorable for the formation of chernozems is the temperature regime above +5 degrees and annual precipitation up to 600 mm, no more.
Chernozem lands lie, as a rule, on a wavy-flat relief, indented in some places by ravines, depressions and river terraces.

As for the vegetation on the chernozem soil, meadow-steppe and herbaceous plants. With appropriate climatic conditions there is a process of decomposition of such vegetation, as a result of which humus is formed, which over the years accumulates in the upper soil layer. Along with humus, chernozem soils also contain a number of other substances, such as mineral compounds and complex organic matter. It is thanks to them that such important nutrients for plants growing on chernozems as phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur and some others begin to form in the soil.

About the properties of chernozem

Chernozem differs not only in its granular-cloddy structure from other types of soils, but also in its excellent water-air qualities and a huge content of calcium in its composition. The last substance in chernozem soils contains up to 90%.
Among farmers, chernozem is very valuable and people appreciate it, first of all, for its increased fertility, which in this case is associated with intense natural humification and a very high level of humus in the upper soil layer. Humus in this case is contained in the soil about 15 percent.

Types of chernozem

Chernozem is divided by specialists into 5 main types.
1. Leached. This type of chernozem is formed in the forest-steppe zone in the process of dying off of forb-grass plants.
2. Podzolized. This type of chernozem is inherent in broad-leaved grassy forests.
3. Ordinary. This black soil can be found in the steppe zone. It is formed, as a rule, in the process of dying off of forb vegetation.
4. Typical. The formation of a typical chernozem occurs on loams, in meadow-steppe zones and in forest-steppe regions as a result of the decay of forb-cereal crops.
5. Southern. This type of chernozem can be seen in the steppe zones in their southern part, and it is formed as a result of the death of fescue-feather grass vegetation.
In view of the high content of humus in the chernozem, this type of soil is valued mainly for its high level of fertility and stable yields. Chernozem is sold, that is, garden soil in bags, as well as in packages weighing from 1 kilogram to several tens of kilograms.

It is worth noting that in addition to humus in the black soil there are other substances that are no less useful for fruit plants, such as phosphorus, nitrogen, iron and sulfur. In its immediate structure, the chernozem soil resembles small lumps of fertile land, and the chernozem soil of the southern zones is considered the most fertile. Experts also call this soil in another way “fat soil” or “fat black soil”.

Today, black soil is valued not only in our state, but also far beyond its borders, and all thanks to the increased fertility of such soil. At present, it is chernozem that is recognized as the best soil for growing berries, fruits, vegetables, fruit bushes and trees. At the same time, it is important to know that for some individual plant species, black soil alone in the soil will not be very useful and it is important to mix it with other useful components, for example, sand, peat or compost. These components help to make the chernozem looser, which will allow you to get the best fruits of certain types of fruit crops.

Chernozem application

As you know, the most best soil for growing vegetables, fruits, berries, as well as fruit and berry bushes and trees, this is black soil, and all because such soil is very fertile. Chernozem, as the name suggests, has a black color, and at the same time a dense composition.

Chernozem soils are used today in horticulture, horticulture and agriculture as a quality fruit land for planting various kinds of plants, shrubs, herbs and trees. Chernozem is used today when laying out lawns, as a special vegetable soil, when cultivating lands endowed with a large amount of clay, as well as for diluting lands with poor drainage system in order to create an air-water regime favorable for plant growth on such lands. Chernozem is also the best land for seedlings, it is in it that seedlings grow stronger in black soil and begin to grow at an unprecedented pace.
Fertile land is sold today in packages and in bags in any volume, you can buy black soil and all kinds of fertile mixtures from it personally from us at the most affordable price.

Chernozem characteristics

Chernozem is a soil that is enriched with a huge amount of humus, and the content of humus in the chernozem in its upper layer is especially pronounced. At the same time, chernozem soils contain a huge amount of nutrients and microorganisms useful for plants, and visually they are a lumpy or granular structure. It is endowed with black soil and excellent water and air qualities, which no other is endowed with today. natural origin the soil.
Chernozem, as experts have proven, contains up to 90% calcium, as well as humic acids, which today are the most valuable and simply irreplaceable fraction of humus, quickly absorbed by the roots of absolutely all plant species.
Meanwhile, even despite the fact that the chernozem soil has a number of such significant advantages, there is one drawback in it. Chernozem does not have friability, and therefore, planting plants with a weak root system in this soil, it is important to take care to give friability to the chernozem. This can be done very easily by adding a little sand, peat, or a special compost mixture to the soil, which can be bought at any gardening or hardware store. The most optimal proportion for creating natural friability of chernozem is three parts of the chernozem itself to one part of any of the above components, that is, peat, sand, or a compost mixture.

It is worth noting that chernozem soil is also very fatty soil, and this can be seen by simply picking up such soil and squeezing it. On any hand, after the above actions, a black greasy imprint will remain. It is precisely this that suggests that the chernozem is a fertile land with a sufficiently high content, as already noted, of humus. Due to its such qualities, properties and less porous structure than other types of soil, chernozem does not bake in the sun and does not rot under the influence of moisture, as clay soils do, for example.
Plants in the black soil feel quite cheerful and at ease, because here they are provided in abundance with all the elements and oxygen necessary for nutrition, which is so important for the growth of any living organism. In order to grow good fruits on chernozem soils, you do not need to fertilize the land with some kind of chemistry or bioadditives, the plants will bloom and delight you on it in natural conditions without any soil impurities.

Chernozem types

Today, chernozem is rightfully called by all farmers and gardeners the standard of soil, and this is not in vain, because it is he, the chernozem, consisting of half of humus, that endows plants and fruit crops with everything they need for their life and excellent growth. Therefore, chernozem is the most fertile land and this fact is indisputable.
Meanwhile, depending on where exactly the chernozem was formed, it differs markedly in its composition. So, chernozem soils are poured into the following types:

Typical black soil;
- drained black soil;
- leached chernozem;
- podzolized black soil;
- non-carbonate, etc.

At the same time, despite the difference in species, chernozem in any case remains the most fertile soil.
Chernozem is distinguished not only by the territory of formation, but also by the percentage of humus in it. In this case, scientists divide chernozem soils into the following types:

Low humus (contain up to 4% pure humus in their composition);
- low-humus (contain up to 5-6% pure humus in their composition);
- medium humus (contain from 6% to 9% pure humus in their composition);
- highly humus (contain over 9% pure humus in their composition).

Today, fertile land is sold in bags and packages of various sizes. So, for example, garden soil in packages (5,10,25,60 liters) can be purchased directly from us at a bargain price. Landscaping and landscaping of your homestead territory with such land will be quick and easy. Among other things, you can buy soil for seedlings and other compositions useful for the growth and development of plants.

Material prepared by: Yuri Zelikovich, teacher of the Department of Geoecology and Nature Management

Chernozem is famous not only for its phenomenal fertility; loess, red and red-brown soils of humid subtropics and tropics are almost as productive. An equally important advantage of chernozem is its stability as a soil ecosystem. Chernozem, under favorable conditions for it and with proper use, can withstand monoculture for decades without visible signs of depletion; recultivated relatively quickly and inexpensively. Other types of highly productive soils require quite complex and expensive agricultural techniques, irrigation/reclamation to maintain fertility, and/or take a long time to recover from depletion or, if used incorrectly, are depleted irrevocably. The latter in ancient times more than once led to the death of entire, highly developed civilizations for that time (for example, the Indus and Oxo-Bactrian), and the black soils that were then are still there.

Chernozem soil in the world occupies a small part of the land area (see map of soils of the world), and in the Southern Hemisphere there is no chernozem at all.

Of the world reserves of chernozem, the Russian Federation owns 52%, if we count in terms of productivity, or 48% in terms of area. Therefore, the interest of Russian readers in chernozem is quite justified. But dachas on chernozem have never been given, and land on it is very expensive. For this reason, this article aims to:

First, explain how to rationally use a piece of black soil, if you got it.
Secondly, is it necessary and in what cases to buy expensive black soil.
Thirdly, how to deal with soils related to chernozem (which Russia is also by no means poor) in order to fully realize their productive potential. This will increase the marketability of the economy, reduce the cost of its maintenance and will benefit the environment as a whole.

What's in it?

So what is black soil good for? What explains its record low ratio of agricultural costs to productivity and the stability of the latter? The "highlight" of chernozem is its micro, even nanostructure, due to which moisture is well retained. The lowest exchangeable moisture capacity of chernozems in the period after plowing (the so-called marginal field moisture capacity, FPV) is 270-380 mm per 1 m of the humus layer. Chernozem seems dense; clenched in the hand, leaves behind a greasy trail. But in fact, this "dirt" is well permeable to water and air. However, the capillaries of the chernozem are tortuous and not very long, so the evaporation of absorbed moisture from the chernozem is not very intense; in this respect, chernozem is not like a wick, but like felt. Simply put, black earth does not bake under the Sun.

The consequence of the optimal structure of chernozems, high FPV and the ability to retain moisture when heated is their close to neutral chemical reaction (pH = 6.5-7.5, depending on the type of chernozem). The consequence of the consequence is a favorable environment for useful soil microfauna and microflora. A consequence of the 3rd order is the accumulation of humus, which contains nutrients for plants in the most easily digestible form. Visible fertility is already the top of the "productivity pyramid".

The pyramid structure is stable. In table. the characteristics of the most common and accessible to private traders types of chernozems are given in comparison with associated soils, from which it can be seen that the score (characterizing soil fertility) in chernozems generally outstrips the accumulation of useful substances in them. That is, plants on the chernozem are fed not only fully, but also rationally, which also helps to increase the profitability of the economy and improve the quality of agricultural products.

However, the base of the pyramid cannot be undermined. With regard to chernozem, this means that deep plowing and, in general, rough methods machining land is not allowed. It is possible to point out more than one region where, after the collapse of the USSR, due to the desire to squeeze everything out of the ground and quickly, meter-long black soil was completely degraded and a crop of 15 centners per hectare is considered good where previously 60 centners per hectare was common. However, we will return to the rational use of black soil in our area.

How is black soil formed?

Fertile chernozem is formed when a number of natural conditions coincide, which is illustrated by the left part of Fig. below; on the right there are shown respectively. soil types. It is chernozems that are obtained if it is maintained:

Plus year - the average annual average temperature is above 0 (typically +3 - +8).
Precipitation is within 550-650 mm.
Small and moderate, up to 25%, excess of evaporation over precipitation.
The long-term average temperature in July is +20 - +22.
The parent rock is carbonate: limestone, dolomite.

Such conditions are favorable mainly for the development of herbaceous vegetation; herbage of cereals and legumes prevails. From autumn to spring, they rot, resulting in a kind of natural green manure, and very nutritious: legumes, as you know, are nitrogen fixers, and cereals are fed very sparingly. This is eluvium, the deposit of the source nutrients on the soil surface.

In spring, illuvium begins - the process of penetration of decomposed organic sediments into the soil. With the onset of real heat, due to the excess of evaporation over moisture, organic matter lingers in the upper layer, because. the average annual flow of soil water in this zone is generally directed upwards.

Soil salinization, in addition to a relatively small excess of evaporation over moisture, is also prevented by parent rocks. Limestones and dolomites have significant moisture absorption and give water reluctantly; the salt horizon either does not rise to humus at all, or lingers in the subsurface layer.

It is also very important that soil salts in this case are carbonates. They are known to be weak alkalis, and soil acids - humic and fulvic - are also weak. Both neutralize each other, and as a result, an almost neutral environment is obtained, favorable for the development of beneficial micro-animals and suppressing harmful ones. And soil bacteria, nematodes, worms, springtails, tardigrades and soil mites (which are microscopically small and not at all dangerous bloodsuckers) do not need to be taught how to structure the earth, it is in their genes. In addition, carbonate rocks are rich in microelements, which also saturate the humus layer. This is how black soil is formed.

What types of chernozems you can meet is shown on the left in fig. We will need its right part when it comes to the proper use of black soil. In any chernozem, 3 horizons (layers) are clearly distinguishable: illuvial A, transitional B, and parent rock C. In works on soil science, they can be divided into subhorizons and provided with indices, for example, A2B1, etc., but we do not have such subtleties will be needed.

However, you are unlikely to encounter the southern black soil. It stays under monoculture for a long time, but it degrades very quickly, in a few years, but recovers for centuries. In America, this was faced at the beginning of the last century, and in the post-Soviet space, literally before our eyes. The surviving spots of natural southern black soil in the USA and the Russian Federation are now under protection, they are not given for use, and even more so, they are not allocated for construction.

Chernozem in Russia - documentary

Where to get black earth?

Chernozem for the garden can be obtained in the following ways:

Buy;
Prepare a substitute;
Rehabilitate and properly use what is available;
Reclaim used land.

Purchase

Soil is a living formation, and black soil is no exception. Just buying a car or two black soils is possible, but irregular and expensive. The source of chernozem entering the market is mainly land allocated for non-agricultural purposes; their humus layer is a valuable commodity. There is no legal development of chernozem as a mineral; at least it shouldn't be.

Most often, ordinary chernozem from the Voronezh, Kursk and Tula regions and podzolized Ryazan, Lipetsk, etc. go on sale. The score of all types of fresh chernozem for sale is up to 85; stale year - 77-78. It is more profitable to use typical and leached chernozems for local agriculture, and there are almost no natural ones on sale.

However, the purchased black soil will give a tangible increase in productivity for no more than 2-3 years. Cut off from the conditions it needs, the chernozem will perish, the reserves of nutrients in it will be depleted, and the microstructure will be disturbed even faster. More or less rational would be an additive under vegetable crops 1/3-1/5 of purchased black soil to greenhouse land, provided that the greenhouse is marketable and generates income; in this case, a relatively small regular purchase of black soil for a greenhouse is most often cost-effective.

Another, perhaps justified, option is a one-time purchase of chernozem as a seed for the regradation and reclamation of the soil used, see below. However, before that, it is necessary to study local conditions and find out if this is possible at all.

Substitutes

The manufacture of chernozem (more precisely, its substitutes, since not all black earth is chernozem) is possible on the basis of low-lying peat (black, dense, viscous), humus or compost. The usual proportion is 1 part of peat (humus, compost) to 3 parts of sand and 10-12 parts of ordinary garden soil. The score of the latter increases from 55-60 to 68-75, but also for 2-3 years. In addition, humus and compost need to be made for 2-4 years, and lowland peat is only slightly cheaper than black soil.

Lowland peat, in principle, can be obtained with your own hands in a nearby swampy hollow, in such places it most often lies no deeper than half a meter. It is only necessary to open the turf and choose high-moor peat (brown, fibrous) quickly so that the water does not have time to fill the hole. However, remember the Law on the Subsoil of the Russian Federation! Individuals in Russia can develop minerals to a depth of up to 5 m without any permits and licenses, but only on their own site! That is, the same hole must be on the land you bought, and the deed of ownership is drawn up in accordance with all the rules. If she, a hole, is on your hard-earned 6 acres in a dacha partnership, then formally you are not the owner, and production will be a violation punishable by law. In addition, you run the risk of being extreme in case of any disruption of the water supply in the vicinity, because. with your excavations of the swamp, at least theoretically, you violate the natural subsoil flow.

Use and regradation

First of all, you need to make sure that you are really on a potential black soil, i.e. that the mainland rock is carbonate. Let's return to the right side of Fig. with types of chernozems: this is done by testing for boiling. From different depths, starting from the surface, after 20-40 cm, soil samples are taken. It is convenient to take samples with a garden drill, and take samples closer to its axis from the first turn from the tip. A test pinch is placed in glass jar or a glass and pour technical hydrochloric acid; from the admixture of carbonates, the sample begins to foam and bubble, this is the boiling of chernozem. And splash acid, so don't forget your safety precautions and PPE!

If samples from a depth of up to 180-200 cm do not boil or barely boil, your black soil is actually dark gray soil (to the north of black soil) or chestnut soil (to the south). What can be done with them, let's see below, and if you still have black soil, you need to check its pH (acidity) with indicator paper or in the laboratory. There are 3 possible cases: pH = (6.5-7.5), pH<6,5 и pH>7,5.

In the first case, your black soil has not yet degraded and is not very podzolized, just exhausted. It is necessary, firstly, to give him a neutral nitrogen supplement, except for those containing sodium; say, compost is 0.7-0.8 tons per hundred square meters, or half as much as cow manure. This is perhaps the only case when fertilization of the chernozem is really necessary. It would be even better to sow legumes or on, i.e. in autumn, do not harvest, but plow / bury withered vegetation in the ground. Secondly, to apply gentle agricultural practices, for example. dig not with a shovel, but with a pitchfork. Thirdly, if there is an opportunity and desire, start a vermiculture (see below), regularly give biohumus to the soil and add earthworms in the spring.

With the application of all these measures, regradation may take up to 5-7 years. You can speed it up, especially if, due to climate change, your evaporation has dropped and moisture has increased, you can by completely repartitioning the site. If it is new, then it is better to immediately plant trees not in a separate garden, but evenly over the area with wide row spacings, see the figure in which other crops will be grown. The next year, when the seedlings take root deep enough, it will be possible to buy black soil for adding trunk circles.

In the second case (the earth began to acidify), before applying these measures, it is necessary to carry out its liming. Regradation, as for neutral soil, should begin when the pH rises above 6.5. In the third case, give acidic nitrogen and potassium fertilizers (ammonium sulfate, potassium sulfate). Start regrading when the pH drops to 7.5. In both cases, within 2-3 years, it is possible to achieve an increase in the score from 55-58 to 78-80 or more.

Reclamation

About 20 years ago, the idea of turning your non-chernozem into black soil would have seemed like utter heresy. But let's remember climate change: favorable conditions for the formation of chernozems in the Russian Federation are gradually spreading to the north, there are many underlying carbonate rocks (why is Moscow white-stone?), And there are means to accelerate soil structuring modern science offers a lot. Some gardeners and gardeners have already understood this and are successfully using land with a score of more than 80 instead of the previous one of up to 70.

As mentioned above, the chernozem strip is framed from the north and south by gray forest and chestnut soils, respectively. Their structure is shown in Fig. on the right, and there it is clear that there is no fundamental difference between them. As for chestnut soils, they are already very fertile, you just need to help them save water, which is not enough in those parts. The best way for this - drip irrigation, especially since it can be done with your own hands. Drip irrigation will not only conserve moisture, but also reduce humus leaching; after 2-4 years, chestnut soil on drip irrigation begins to stain the hand, like real black soil.

With productive serozems, the matter is more complicated. Closer to the south, dark gray forest soils occur (on the left in the next figure), this is the so-called. forest chernozem, potentially highly productive, but poorly structured: it sinters on heating, which requires loosening (dry watering), and its WVV is up to 220-240. Recultivation of dark gray forest soil is possible, firstly, by rational division of the site, as for the regradation of chernozem. Secondly, also to produce its biostructuring using vermiculture (see below).

Note: in terms of humus and nitrogen reserves, dark gray forest soils approach rich chernozems. The composition of forest soils compared with chernozems, see Table. on right.

The gray forest soil (in the center of the figure) does not have a clearly defined horizon A, but in terms of humus and nitrogen it is still suitable for recultivation up to a score of 70-75, which is not bad against its natural 55-58. The TPV of gray forest soils is 180-220, but in conditions of excess moisture over evaporation, this is not a problem. You can help gray forest soil become more nutritious in the same way as forest black soil, but before that you need:

Plow it into the fall and let it rest under fallow for a year so that the small roots rot.
Plant legumes and feed with potassium humate NPK with trace elements.
Apply vermiculture for biostructuring.

And what to do with light gray (on the right in the figure) and soddy-podzolic soils? So far, unfortunately, there is no way to “pull” them to the chernozems. It is possible to conduct a profitable economy on them, but agricultural technology will be different.

Worms to the rescue

Vermiculture means breeding earthworms. It's on its own, by the way. profitable business: worms are willingly bought by anglers and pet stores for animal feed. There are even special breeds of worms for vermiculture: Grindale worm, California worm, Prospector worm, etc. In addition to biomass, vermiculture also provides a highly valuable fertilizer - biohumus, or vermichay, also known as concentrated soil solution (CPR).

For the purposes of soil reclamation/regradation, it is not necessary to purchase the mother material of exotic earthworms. On the contrary, our natives will do better. From late spring to the next spring, they are able to increase the biomass of the population by 300-500 times, then most of the brood is applied to the soil, and the accumulated CPR is used as humates.

Vermiculture is carried out in vermicomposters, a kind of hives for worms. The vermicomposter takes up no more space than a stool, requires almost no maintenance and does not stink. They feed the worms with food waste. About the principles of vermiculture and how to make a vermicomposter with your own hands, see the video:

Note: in all cases of using vermiculture to improve the soil, it is advisable to first cover the near-stem circles of trees with purchased black earth and add worms there. In the ecological niches between the roots, the worms will successfully multiply and spread throughout the site during the summer. CRC in this case feed the crops in the aisles.

And what about the environment?

Okay, let's make our garden soil look like black soil. But how will this affect the environment? What happens if everyone does this? First, the chernozem is not Chernobyl, not a coal mine, and not even a quarry. No harm from it, except for benefits, has not been noticed.

The second - in nature, chernozem also occurs in spots. Let's take, for example, the black earth Mecca - the Voronezh region, it was from here that Dokuchaev took the slices that received a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. Here is a field of fat, powerful black soil: humus 10.5%, layer A + B 90 cm. Across the road is an oak forest on gray forest soil. There are green glades in the forest; dig - and there is a typical black soil. The oak brava stretches from the highway for about 3 km, then a dirt road on the sand and cottages. A plot of 20 acres is divided diagonally in half: leached black soil and sandy loam.

In general, there are no legislative prohibitions on increasing soil fertility with one's own hands on one's own land, and there are no biological ones. So - good luck to high yields of environmentally friendly products!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR SOIL BUYERS!!!

MULTI-COMPONENT SOIL with a certificate of the Ministry of Economic Development at a price of 19,500 rubles / 15 m3 *

When buying in bulk, the cost of soil is from 1200 rubles / m3, seeded soil is from 1250 rubles / m3, depending on the place and method of delivery *.

The company Stroy Nerud DOES NOT OFFER to buy its customers REAL black soil from the Tula, Voronezh and Oryol regions.

Some not very decent suppliers call black primer - chernozem. At best, this is their delusion, in the usual case - craftiness. In color, chernozem and lowland peat are similar, but this color is due to completely different groups of organic compounds ... 95% of the "CHERNOSEM" offered in Moscow and the Moscow region is actually soil based on pure peat or peat mixtures, and this can be given several explanations.

1. Official booty black soil in our country PROHIBITED, so the companies selling it to you are breaking the law. Real black soil can be bought from private traders who simply steal it in the Tula, Voronezh or Lipetsk regions, cutting it off from the former collective farm fields. Thus, huge damage is done to agricultural land. After all, after that, "the earth dies" and nothing grows on it.

2. TRANSPORTATION or DELIVERY this type of soil is quite expensive at current prices for diesel fuel, because the nearest field is about 300 km + costs for unhindered travel with stolen goods. The nearest deposits are located in the south of the Tula and Ryazan regions.

3. Chernozem IS NOT certified product, is not subject to quality (safety) testing and therefore does not have all required documents for sale in Moscow and MO. Therefore, when buying, you need to think about the safety of using this material.

4. In accordance with the Decree of the Government of Moscow dated July 27, 2004 N 514-PP. "On improving the quality of soils in the city of Moscow" all supplied soils for landscaping are subject to mandatory certification by the Moscow Ecological Register, which guarantees their quality and safety of use. On the black soil IT IS FORBIDDEN receive a certificate due to its illegal mining.

5. When USE imported chernozem in Moscow and the Moscow region after a few years, it loses its properties and turns into a clay substrate, which cracks when dried, and after rain turns into impassable mud.

SO WHAT IS CHERNOZEM?

Chernozems are soils of the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the temperate zone, the richest in humus, the content of which is 6-9%, which is why these soils have an intense black or brown-black color.

This land was formed as a result of the close interaction of herbaceous vegetation, climate, terrain, parent rock and other factors of soil formation; the consequence of this process is the accumulation of humus.

Humus (from Latin humus - earth, soil) is humus, the organic part of the soil, formed as a result of the biochemical transformation of plant and animal residues. The composition of humus includes humic acids - the most important for soil fertility and fulvic acids (crenic acids). Humus contains the main plant nutrients, which, under the influence of microorganisms, become available to plants.

With a sufficient amount of moisture, chernozem soils are very fertile; are used for crops of grain, industrial, vegetable, fodder crops, orchards, vineyards.

Chernozem, unlike other types of soils, is a completely different natural material, as it is characterized by the highest natural fertility: a high content of nutrients, humus, has a loamy mechanical composition, a granular-cloddy soil structure, and a neutral reaction of the environment.

However, by purchasing real black soil for use on your site, you need to keep in mind that you cannot solve the problem of creating a fertile top layer once and for all. In a few years, a significant part of the nutrients will be washed out of it, due to the impact of low temperatures, the number of representatives of the soil fauna will decrease, the microbiological composition will change, and due to the lack of steppe vegetation, the supply of nutrients will decrease and soil aggregates will collapse. As a result, only a clay substrate will remain, which cracks when dry, and after rain turns into impassable mud.

Of course, when landscaping work, you should not completely abandon the black soil. You just need to use it in small quantities - to optimize water permeability, density, particle size distribution (particle ratio different sizes) soil. At the same time, the greatest effect is achieved on light sandy soils. On more clayey soils, peat and horse (cow) manure should be used.
Despite the vast area of black soil distribution, there are two main "deposits" - Tula and Voronezh. The chernozems of the north of the Tula, west of the Ryazan and north of the Lipetsk regions are among the poorest (leached), in terms of fertility they occupy an intermediate position between the soils of Moscow (soddy-podzolic) and the best chernozems of the Kursk and Voronezh regions. As a rule, leached chernozems are slightly acidic (pH=A.5 - 6.5), and are characterized by a low content of magnesium and phosphorus.

ADVIСE : How to distinguish real black soil from dark soil?

We all buy vegetable products from Kursk, Voronezh and other black earth regions. When you wash potatoes or carrots from real chernozem, do you have a feeling that this earth is similar to clay? Real chernozem is a "fatty", heavy soil of a dark almost anthracite color, which, when wet, is quite slippery (reminiscent of clay), and when it dries, it "turns" into stone and cracks in the sun. So this is the real black earth ....

Stroy Nerud is ready to offer its customers in Moscow and the Moscow region a universal alternative to chernozem - specially prepared vegetable soil and soil that are safe and completely ready for use on your sites, as well as having all the necessary quality certificates and test reports.

The first scientific provisions on the origin of chernozem are in the works of M.V. Lomonosov (mid-18th century), who believed that these soils were formed as a result of the decomposition of plant and animal organisms. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. P. Pallas and others put forward the hypothesis of the marine origin of chernozem and considered it as marine silt left after the retreat of the Caspian and Black Seas. This hypothesis is only of historical significance; it reflects the idea of the soil as a geological formation that existed at that time. The hypothesis of the marsh origin of the chernozem turned out to be untenable. Its supporters (E.I. Eichwald and others, mid-19th century) believed that in the past the zone of chernozem soils was a heavily swamped tundra area; the decomposition of swamp vegetation under the conditions of the subsequently established warm climate led to the formation of chernozem. The theory of the plant-terrestrial origin of chernozem (F.I. Ruprecht, V.V. Dokuchaev, and others) connects their formation with the settlement and development of meadow-steppe and steppe herbaceous vegetation. This theory is most fully described in the work of V.V. Dokuchaev's "Russian chernozem" (1883), which proved that chernozem was formed as a result of close interaction between herbaceous vegetation, climate, terrain, parent rock, and other factors of soil formation; the consequence of this process is the accumulation of humus.

Herbaceous vegetation annually leaves a large amount of litter in the soil - plant residues, 75-85% of which are roots. The hydrothermal conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones favor the process of humification, which results in the formation of complex humic compounds (mainly humic acids), giving the soil profile a dark color. Best conditions for the humification process are created in spring and early summer. At this time, the soil has a sufficient supply of moisture from autumn-winter precipitation and snowmelt, and a favorable temperature regime. During the period of summer desiccation, microbiological processes noticeably weaken, which protects humic substances from rapid mineralization. During the decomposition of plant residues rich in ash elements and nitrogen, bases are formed (especially a lot of calcium), with which humic substances are saturated. This contributes to their fixation in the soil in the form of humates and the preservation of a neutral or close reaction in the upper horizons of the chernozem.

Chernozem formation proceeds most intensively in the forest-steppe zone, where better moisture contributes to more strong development herbaceous vegetation, active humification of its remains. In the steppe zone, insufficient moisture determines a smaller depth of root penetration, a decrease in the amount of litter entering the soil, and its more complete decomposition.

2. Types of chernozem

Chernozem is divided into two gradations: according to the thickness of the humus layer and according to the content of humus. Let's consider each gradation in more detail.

According to the thickness of the humus layer, chernozem is divided into:

heavy-duty (power more than 120 cm);

powerful (120 - 80 cm);

medium-power (80 - 40 cm);

low-power (less than 40 cm).

obese (more than 9%) - color is black;

medium humus (6 - 9%) - black color;

low humus (6 - 4%) - dark gray color;

low humus (less than 4%) - gray color;

microhumus (less than 2%) - light gray color.

By type of black soil are:

podzolized chernozems;

· leached chernozems;

· typical chernozems;

ordinary chernozems;

southern black soils.

There are also micellar-carbonate chernozems (Priazovsky and Ciscaucasian), which are formed in areas with warm winters (the soil does not freeze through), and chernozems that develop under conditions of winter freezing. Depending on salinity, ordinary, carbonate, solonetzic, solonetzic-alkaline and others are distinguished.

3. Chernozem layers

As mentioned above, chernozem can be divided into several types - layers: depending on the thickness of the humus layer (A and B1) - thin (less than 40 cm), medium-thick (40-80 cm), powerful (80-120 cm) and heavy-duty (more than 120 cm). We present the characteristics of the chernozem layers in the form of a summary table (Table 1).

Table 1 - Comparative characteristics chernozem layers

4. Properties of chernozem

Chernozems have good water-air properties, are distinguished by a lumpy or granular structure, a content of 70 to 90% calcium in the soil absorbing complex, a neutral or almost neutral reaction, increased natural fertility, intense humification and a high, about 15%, content in the upper layers of humus .

Chernozem in its composition has the largest amount of humus, which determines its high fertile properties. Chernozem also contains a large amount of other useful substances necessary for plants: nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, iron. The chernozem has a dense cloddy structure, the most fertile southern chernozem is even called "fat".

Because of its fertility, black earth has always been highly valued throughout the world. And now the black earth - best view soil for growing vegetables, fruits, berries. For some plants, peat, sand or compost should be mixed into the black soil to loosen the soil, since the black soil itself is not very loose.

5. Areas of distribution

The area of chernozems on the globe is about 240 million hectares. They are confined to Eurasia, North and South America. In Eurasia, the black earth zone (the largest) covers Western and South-Eastern Europe (Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Yugoslavia, Romania), extends in a wide strip into Russian Federation and continues in Mongolia and China. In North America, chernozems occupy some states of the Western United States and the southern provinces of Canada; in South America, they are located in southern Argentina and in the southern foothills of Chile.

In Russia, chernozems are common in the central regions, in the North Caucasus, in the Volga region and Western Siberia. Very fertile and almost completely plowed. The black earth zone is the most important agricultural region, in which more than 50% (130 million hectares) of arable land in our country is located. Winter and spring wheat, sugar beet, sunflower, flax, buckwheat, beans are grown here, livestock breeding, fruit growing, vegetable growing and viticulture are developed.

6. The use of black soil

Chernozem is ideal for any kind of planting. It does not require additional processing and the use of organic and mineral fertilizers. In conditions of good moisture, chernozem is very fertile - it can be used for growing grain, vegetable and fodder crops, for growing orchards and vineyards, for landscaping in landscape design.

Most often, chernozem is used to form a certain backlog of soil fertility. The introduction of chernozem even into the most depleted soil leads to its improvement, restoration of all its characteristics, especially water permeability, and enrichment with nutrients. A particularly significant effect is noticeable when using chernozem on light sandy and sandy loamy soils.

Chernozem can be used alone or as part of soil mixtures. It should be said that a single use of black soil on the site does not solve the problem of fertility once and for all. Over time, the microbiological composition of the soil changes, and at the same time, the content of nutrients decreases.

1. Akhtyrtsev B.P., Akhtyrtsev A.B. Soil cover of the Central Russian Chernozem region. Ed. Voronezh University, 1993

2. Aderikhin P.G. Soils, their genesis, properties and a brief agricultural production characteristic. Ed. Voronezh University, 1993

3. Akhtyrtsev B.P., Efanova E.V. Humus of subtypes of Central Russian chernozems of different granulometric composition. Ed. VSU, 1999

5. Orlov D.S. Soil chemistry. M.: Ed. Moscow university 1992.

6. Shcheglov D.I. Chernozems of the center of the Russian plain and their evolution under the influence of natural anthropogenic factors. Ed. "The science", Russian Academy Sciences, 1999.

Aderikhin P.G. Soils, their genesis, properties and a brief agricultural production characteristic. Ed. Voronezh University, 1993

Shcheglov D.I. Chernozems of the center of the Russian plain and their evolution under the influence of natural anthropogenic factors. Ed. "Nauka", Russian Academy of Sciences, 1999.

Glazovskaya M.A., Soils of the world, part 1-2, M., 2002-73.

Orlov D.S. Soil chemistry. M.: Ed. Moscow university 1992.

Akhtyrtsev B.P., Efanova E.V. Humus of subtypes of Central Russian chernozems of different granulometric composition. Ed. VSU, 1999