As we only see what’s above the ground, it’s understandable that what’s beneath the ground is literally out of sight and out of mind!

Yet what is (or isn’t) beneath the ground is just as crucial to your tree’s health as access to sunshine and water above the ground is.

Soil is an incredibly complex medium and understanding this complexity can go a long way to obtaining the best out of your jujube, or any other plant for that matter.

This Soil section of this blog aims to break down that complexity and increase your appreciation for what soil is and how big a role it plays in plant health.

Bear in mind there is no ‘good’ soil and no ‘bad’ soil — it all comes down to what is ‘ideal’ soil for a particular plant. There are many different soils throughout the world, and many more types of vegetation adapted to those soils. An ideal soil for cacti isn’t ideal soil for a rainforest tree. Some plants don’t even need soil to grow!

While this is a blog primarily about jujubes, many topics I intend to cover will be applicable to all plant species, and where better to start than the soil in which you plant them.

Posts in this section will cover such things as:

• pH (what it is and why it’s important to soil health),
• the significance of soil composition,
• the importance of organic matter,
• soil biology,
• and even some soil chemistry and physics along the way, covering subjects such as how water and nutrients move through soil and become available to plants

Next week we’ll delve into a bit of soil chemistry and cover those strangely written two letters — pH!

But this will be a discussion I’m yet to find in any gardening or plant-related book, none of which seem to go much further than “most plants like a pH slightly acid to neutral". Instead, I’ll be covering the very essence of what pH actually is and what it means, as a chemist or soil chemist would understand it.

Consider this entire Soil section as an introduction to soil science — but don’t worry, it will be baby steps all the way! And with that kind of understanding behind you, you will be much better placed to extract maximum performance out of your soil, and your trees.