What are the basic soil properties?
1. Texture Soil texture is the relative proportion of sand, silt and clay particles. The texture of a soil cannot be altered. In agriculture, soil texture is determined by measuring the size and distribution of particles less than 2.0 mm in diameter. Particles larger than 2.0 mm in diameter, such as gravel and stones, are included in the textural description only if present in significant amounts (e.g. gravelly sand (GrS)). • Sand (S) = 2.0 – 0.05 mm in diameter (coarse material) – referred to as “light” soils, since they are easily tilled (not because of the soil’s weight) • Silt (Si) = 0.05 – 0.002 mm (medium material) • Clay (C) = <0.002 mm (fine material) – referred to as "heavy" soils, because of their difficult workability • Loams (L) are medium textured soils made up of a mixture of sand, silt and clay • Gravel and stones are particles > 2.
