The Basics of Cultivating Soil with a Wheel Hoe
Author: Greg Baka
There are lots of definitions of cultivating. For the purpose of this article, cultivating is breaking up or stirring the top 1 to 2 inches of soil using a wheel hoe and their tines (aka teeth) or finger attachments.
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What is cultivating? Why is it important?
Cultivating is the process of loosening or stirring the top layer of soil. There are two basic reasons to cultivate; one is to prepare the ground for seeding, and two is to promote air circulation, water absorption, and nutrient availability. No matter why you are cultivating, it allows for better root growth and encourages the development of beneficial organisms. Additionally, it helps reduce weed growth by uprooting them before they have a chance to get established or to spread their seeds throughout the garden.
There are a lot of definitions of cultivating. For the purpose of this article, cultivating is the breaking up or stirring the top 1 to 2 inches of soil using a wheel hoe fitted with cultivator tines or teeth.
Using a cultivator attachment
A wheel hoe is a great tool for cultivating because it enables you to do more work in less time than if you were cultivating with hand tools. You can quickly walk behind a wheel hoe and simply push the machine through your rows of crops or over your garden bed to prepare it for planting. Additionally, it's easy to install cultivator attachments onto your wheel hoe. Wheel hoe brands offer different types of teeth and tines. You may choose to use a different attachment depending on what type of soil you are dealing with - sandy or clay-like soils may work better with different attachments than loamy soils.
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Summary
Cultivating is a crucial task for any gardener - whether you are growing vegetables for your family or running a market farm - but that doesn't mean it has to be difficult! With the help of a wheel hoe fitted with a cultivator teeth or tines, this process becomes much faster and easier than if done manually with a garden hoe or rake. Understanding how cultivating works and why it's important gives us even more motivation to make sure our gardens are properly cared for!
