What are Organic Soils?
Organic soils contain large amounts of organic material. They are relatively light but can hold up to four times their weight in water. They are soils that were originally formed in shallow lake bottoms, swampy areas or bogs. They tend to be very rich in terms of the major nutrients but they are often shy in terms of the micro-nutrients and particularly zinc, copper, and manganese. Organic soils are almost black when moist. Organic soils contain more than 20 percent organic material which is more than enough for general garden use. Take it easy in terms of adding manures and composts to organic soils except to improve drainage. Feeding with something like fish emulsion supplemented with materials containing trace micro-nutrients would be appropriate for organic soils.
