The clay soils They tend to be more capricious than sandy ones, although they have the great advantage of having greater fertility. As their name suggests, they are characterized by their high clay content. Clay particles are extremely fine, so they can be attacked by microorganisms in the soil, thus releasing the nutrients they contain more easily.
This is the first reason why a clay soil is more fertile, however, this small size of its particles also has a disadvantage: They are less porous, less permeable and slower to heat up. Because they also drain more slowly, they are less prone to drought.
For a soil of this type to be productive we must work on it and structure it. The ideal structure is the lumpy one and is obtained by periodic additions of compostproviding calcium to maintain a pH around 7. Finally, working the soil is an essential task to achieve the lumpy structure we want.
When we reach this stage, we should know that the clay soil should not be worked in the wet season, because in this way we would create too thick lumps that would later harden with the sun. It is best to do it in the dry season, so that we can control it better.
Once all this process is finished we will have our land prepared for cultivation. In this type of soil, very good results are obtained with tomatoes, cabbage, peppers and leeks, although any species can be cultivated in it successfully.
