Humus content in gray forest soils

Tell me, what is the humus content in gray forest soils? We rented land with this characteristic. We want to sow it with agricultural crops. The plot is of decent size, has not been cultivated for a long time, almost virgin land. Is it worth fertilizing or is the soil fertile enough?

For the agro-industrial region, gray forest soils are of great importance, especially with a shortage of black soil. At the same time, the humus content in gray forest soils plays an important role. After all, fertility depends on him. The yield indicators are influenced not only by the structure, but also by the composition of the soil, in particular, the content of humus in it. The increased amount of organic components makes gray soils suitable not only for use as pastures, pastures and hayfields. The fertility of such lands plays a huge role in agriculture and horticulture. Both agricultural and fruit crops are grown on them.

What are such soils

Lands are formed under a high mass of vegetation and under the influence of a certain temperature. Its average annual values ​​are from 7 ° C to 4 ° C. In addition, the amount of precipitation and the rate of their evaporation have an effect, which in general have equal proportions.

Gray soils are formed under forests and grasses. Leaves and herbaceous plants die off to form humus. Under the influence of moisture, it penetrates into the lower soil layers and increases their fertility. Gray soils are located in the forest-steppe zone, bordering on forest and steppe regions.

There are three types of soils:

• light gray.
• gray.
• dark gray.

Humus content in gray forest soils

Gray forest soils are second only to black soil in terms of fertility. However, the thickness of the humus layer depends on the thickness and location of the soil layer. The lower it is, the more organic matter it has. If translated into numbers, then for each type of gray soil its own percentage of humus:

1. Least fertile topmost layer, light gray soils. They contain only 2.34% humus (up to a depth of 13 cm).
2. The middle layer is slightly richer in humus, the gray soil is 4.13% (about 9 cm deep).
3. The most fertile is the bottom layer, the dark gray soil. It contains 6.43% humus up to 10 cm deep.

Gray forest soils - video