Soil Texture

Soil Texture

Soil Texture
Texture refers to size of the soil particles. Texture is the relative proportion of sand, silt and clay for each soil. Texture classes are:

Coarse texture Sands, loamy sand and sandy loams with less than 18% clay, and more than 65% sand.

Medium texture Sandy loams, loams, sandy clay loams, silt loams with less than 35 % clay and less than 65 % sand; the sand fractions may be as high as 82% if a minimum of 18 % clay is present

Fine texture Clays, silty clays, sandy clays, clay loams and silty clay loams with more than 35% clay.

Texture is a basic physical property of soil and is one of the major features for differentiating kinds of soils. The extremes of soil texture are not particularly desirable for most uses. Generally, soils of medium texture (loams) would be most desirable, especially for plant growth. Texture is an inherited property of soil and is not changed by agricultural cultivation except when the topsoil might be mixed in with the subsoil during deep ploughing or when some of the topsoil has been eroded away.

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