- Fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides (if to be applied) require careful measurement and very careful distribution over the soil prior to tilling. Thorough tilling will not assure uniform texture and mix unless the amendments are distributed uniformly over the surface of the soil. Failure to have uniform distribution of fertilizers can cause damage to your plants.
- Dividing a plot into several smaller parts and measuring the amount of fertilizer or pesticide to be distributed for each smaller part helps to achieve uniform distribution over the surface of the plot. Then when the soil and the various amendments are tilled to a depth of 10 inches, the resultant mix will be uniform throughout the bed.
Picking the time (or times).
- Do not till (by hand or with machine) when the soil is too wet or too dry. If a handful of soil when squeezed barely retains its shape after opening your hand and crumbles when touched, its water content is right for tilling. Tilling when the soil is too wet leaves clods that when dried become hard. Tilling the soil when it is dry also leaves clods because the clods are too hard to be pulverized.
- I like to till in amendments and fertilizers in the late fall. Then in the late winter or early spring I till again. Tilling disturbs insect larvae, aerates the soil, and promotes the health of micro organisms that improve the soil. If herbicides or insecticides are to be added to the soil, they should be added just prior to planting and raked or tilled into the soil following the instructions on the container.
