Why Is My Dirt So Hard

Compaction is most likely to occur with heavier soils like clay and loam, but when heavy equipment is used, sandy soils can become compacted. These are soil particles that are packed closely together. The problem may be compounded by events that have happened to the soil over the course of years. The pore spaces are reduced to the point that air and water cannot move freely and plant roots cannot grow easily into the surrounding soil.

The soil could remain overly wet longer than is healthy for the plants growing there. Having a sandy soil is actually a lot less work than clay IF you know how to handle it. They are easier to work with, less effort to dig in and easier to adjust if problems occur.

Mulching – For sandy soils mulching is essential to get plants established. Because sandy soils have so much more air space than other types of soil, water evaporates from the surface of the soil at a much faster rate than clay soils. Applying a 2-3" layer of mulch composed of compost or other organic matter will stop water evaporation almost entirely. This helps keep the water where the plants need it, underground. Clay soil is often not aerated enough and is deficient in good structure which makes it more difficult for successful growing.

To get the most out of clay soil it's best to add large quantities of well-rotted organic matter in the fall and peat a few weeks before planting. Greensand can also be used to loosen heavy clay soils or bind sandy soils. Before we go into too much detail, a sandy soil will replace water with air more quickly, and this is why sandy soils dry out faster than clay soils. Compost is a great and fast way to get more organic matter into your soil. Using hand tools, work leaves, mulch or other organic materials into the top several inches of the soil.

Organic matter is softer than mineral matter, and it helps increase the amount of air and water space. In addition, it adds needed nutrients for plants to grow – and plant roots reduce compaction. Clay's potential as one of the best soil types for plant growth lies in its unique properties. Managed well, clay soil typically requires less irrigation and less fertilizer, and leads to healthier plants all around. Mulching – Clay soils can tend to speed water runoff because water isn't absorbed as quickly into clay soils as it is other soils. Clay soils also tends to stick to the bottoms of your shoes, which can make a mess when you go indoors.

By adding a layer of mulch to clay soil, you not only help keep the house clean, but can reduce the number of weeds that sprout. As mulch decomposes,it will enhance nutrition and water retention, which ultimately allows for better plant growth. Mulch will slow down water run-off allowing clay soil more time to absorb, and store, water. A layer of mulch is also cooler than exposed soil which helps to reduce temperatures overall in the garden. How to water clay soils most effectively – Watering is the biggest challenge most gardeners' face and most people over-water their plants. For clay soils, overwatering is the most common cause for plants dying.

Clay soil tends to hold water for long periods of time, therefore, if your garden soil is made up of clay, you should be watering less frequently. Spots in your yard that stay wet almost constantly are a sure sign you need to cut back on the amount of water you are applying. Check with your local county extension service to find the recommended watering rates for your area.

Lack of pore space means that clay soils are generally low in both organic matter and microbial activity. Plant roots are stunted because it is too hard for them to push their way through the soil. Foot traffic and garden equipment can cause compaction problems. Fortunately, most clay soils are rich in minerals which will become available to your plants once you improve the texture of the soil. Luckily if you have a sandy soil, you are not likely to be an over-watering statistic. Less frequent deeper watering will help develop deep root systems and frequent light watering encourage shallow roots which make plants less drought tolerant.

Check with your local county extension service to see what recommended watering rates are in your town. To fix compacted soil, which is soil that has little to no air space, break it up to make it hospitable for your plants again. Start by shifting livestock, machinery, vehicles, and foot traffic away from the compacted area to give the soil a rest. If you use the compacted area for farming or gardening, move your plants somewhere else for at least 1 growing cycle. Instead, plant a cover crop, like winter wheat or ryegrass, to allow the roots to break up the soil. For smaller, grassy areas that are compacted, use a small metal garden fork to poke holes in the soil so air, water, and roots can enter the area.

However, when tackling a larger area, use a rototiller with an aeration attachment. Gypsum is easily applied to the soil surface with a regular lawn spreader. It's an ideal amendment for improving soil structure and relieving compaction in existing lawns and gardens.

Walking on your lawn or garden when its wet is a common cause. Heavy, beating rains also drive clay particles together. Salts from fertilizers and winter de-icing solutions build up in heavy clay as well. The first sign of a nitrogen shortage is plants turning a yellowish green. The compost you add each year will also act as a slow release fertilizer and a as an additional way to hold water for your growing plants!

Cover the soil as much as possible with cover crops. Growing plants at the end of the season increases the amount of time that plants work their magic and convert sunlight into carbon-containing substances. Cover crop plant roots also create pores in the soil, biologically reducing compaction, and add to the organic portion of your soil. You can buy radish seeds and let them grow early in the season – nothing like large tap roots to naturally break up the soil! Or, plant them late, and leave them in place over the winter. About half of a healthy soil is made up of mineral particles like sand, silt and clay plus organic matter.

That is the room for air and water movement around the mineral particles. Pore space is required in order to have a healthy environment for plant roots and beneficial microorganisms and earthworms to break down plant residue into organic matter. A healthy soil will also contain about 25 percent water.

Why Is My Soil So Hard Water, like air, is held in the pore spaces between soil particles. Large pore spaces allow rain and irrigation water to move down to the root zone and into the subsoil. In sandy soils, the spaces between the soil particles are so large that gravity causes water to drain down and out very quickly. After a crop is harvested the soil needs to be renewed before planting a successive crop. These cover crops are tilled in before they go to seed, and break down quickly so a new harvestable crop can be planted without much delay.

Your soil test or extension agent can help you determine the right amount of organic matter for your soil. In following years, build on your efforts by adding 1 to 3 inches of organic mulch as a topdressing each year.1 As it decomposes, it continues to gradually improve clay soil. Chop organic material directly into the top 2 inches of soil with a heavy bladed hoe and cover with mulch. Ideally, add concentrated manures, mineral phosphorous and potassium fertilizers, and lime at the same time.

Adding these materials in the fall gives them time to break down for use when plants need them in the spring. For a large vegetable garden, another solution is to grow a cover crop at the end of the season, then mow and turn in the following spring before planting. The roots penetrate the compacted soil and loosen it. By mowing and turning the mowed tops in, the soil is additionally loosened.

Cover crops could include annual ryegrass, winter wheat, winter rye, buckwheat, oilseed radishes and hairy vetch. You can increase the amount of organic matter in your soil by adding compost, aged animal manures, green manures , mulches or peat moss. Because most soil life and plant roots are located in the top 6 inches of soil, concentrate on this upper layer. To learn more about making your own compost, read All About Composting.

Rock phosphate, or rock dust, is also a valued amendment to restore phosphorus levels needed for vigorous plant growth. Chop over-wintered cover crops directly into spring soils a few weeks before planting. During the growing season, sow a quick-growing cover crop, such as buckwheat, to fill the gap between spring and fall crops. When it's time to plant, pull the buckwheat cover and use it as a mulch for fall garden beds. First off what does it mean that you have clay soil?

It is difficult to know which kind of clay you have without doing a soil test. Usually your local county extension service can help you conduct a basic soil test. This test will let you know what particular type of clay soil you have. By taking steps to improve and maintain your heavy clay soil, you can enjoy all the benefits clay offers and reap the rewards of healthy soil and plants. Penningtonis here to help you overcome lawn and garden challenges and grow the best lawn and garden possible, in heavy clay and every other soil type.

Nowhere is this more important than with sandy soils. Farmers often cope with hardpan by using a chisel plow to cut and break up this dense layer of soil. Home gardeners can break up and mix the hardpan layer by "double digging" the soil. This involves removing 10 to 12 inches of topsoil, and then working organic matter into the 12-inch layer of material that lies below. If the hardpan layer is not too deep, you can use a digging fork to puncture it and open up passages for air and water. If your soil will be fallow for more than one growing season, you can plant perennial or biennial green manures, such as clover or alfalfa.

All cover crops should be tilled-in at least three weeks before the area is to be replanted, so the organic matter will already be partially decomposed at planting time. They tend to pack together so tightly that there is hardly any pore space at all. When clay soils are wet, they are sticky and practically unworkable. They drain slowly and can stay waterlogged well into the spring. Once they finally dry out, they often become hard and cloddy, and the surface cracks into flat plates. A sandy soil also has so much air in it that microbes consume organic matter very quickly.

Because sandy soils usually contain very little clay or organic matter, they don't have much of a crumb structure. The soil particles don't stick together, even when they're wet. Most heavy clay soils benefit from the addition of gypsum.

It adds some nutrients but, more importantly, it loosens clay soils and makes it more workable. Spread about 3 to 4 pounds of gypsum per 100 square feet over garden soil after it has been dug in the winter. Work it into the soil or allow it to be washed in by rain. First, things first, how do you know you have sandy soil? Does water quickly drain through your soil with puddles a rarity even after hard rains?

It these things are true then you probably have sandy soil. Sandy soils offer both benefits and disadvantages when compared to clay soils. They may require more water, more fertilizer and more amending, but they are much easier to work with and many plants prefer this type of soil.

If you have clay soils, click here to read about working with clay soils. Another solution to soften your soil and create oxygen space in your soil is by adding wool pellets. Wool Pellets not only provide water holding in your soil, but they create oxygen space for root expansion that will help your plants be hardy and strong. Wool Pellets are able to hold 20X their weight in water helping to reduce the times you water.

By holding water they can wick away extra water, protecting your plants from over watering. Wool pellets expand with water helping to increase porosity in the soil for optimal root growth. Without enough air space in soil, there's no room for water and nutrients to circulate, and the roots on your poor plants have nowhere to grow. The good news is that there are steps you can take to fix and prevent soil compaction. Below we'll walk you through how you can break up compacted soil, reintroduce air into it, and make it a welcoming home for your plants again.

If timely rains don't soften the compacted layers so roots can penetrate the soil, plants will be stunted, and have fewer fine roots and less overall root mass. Corn is most sensitive because it's one of the taller crops. By the end of the season, corn may be 6 inches to 2 feet shorter on compacted soil than on non-compacted soil . Loamy soil, a relatively even mix of sand, silt and clay, feels fine-textured and slightly damp.

It has ideal characteristics for gardening, lawns and shrubs. Loamy soils require replenishing with organic matter regularly, and tend to be acidic. For starters, fall mulching gives you the upper hand on spring weeds. Pull weeds that do emerge in the spring early and quickly, when they are small and easy to manage. Covering garden beds right from the start gives you the jump on garden weeds, while feeding the soil with organic material at the same time. Before planting every year, ensure sufficient nitrogen by counting all the sources you've added.

Organic fertilizers, such as blood, seed, or feather meal, are sources of concentrated nitrogen. Fall or spring legume cover crops transfer nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil. Manures or green grass clippings, incorporated as amendments, provide nitrogen as well. Compost, on the other hand, does not supply enough garden nitrogen. While compost is great for improving overall soil health, additional nitrogen sources are needed when using compost as an amendment. The basic categories are clay, silt, loam and sand with constant variation within each of these classes.

If you have silt or loam soils you are sitting pretty, gardening will be easy and you will love your soil. If you have clay or sandy soils it will take a bit more input from you before you love your soil. Trust me, you can love your clay or sandy soil, it just takes a bit of knowledge and a bit of elbow grease.

Minutes To Hours Conversion Chart

When using payroll software like Payentry you must first convert minutes to decimals. This page shows you the minutes to hours conversion chart which gives you the equivalent of minutes in hours. Minutes can be converted to hours like the same hours can be converted to minutes.

To be sure you're not over or underpaying your employees, you must convert minutes worked into decimals. To perform the conversion, you can use payroll software like Gusto, an online time calculator, free minute conversion chart or a Google Sheets Minute Conversion Template. To calculate the actual time worked, you need to total the hours and minutes between your employee's starting and ending times for each workday.

The timesheet below provides a good example of the information you'll start with before converting minutes to decimal form. If you are an employer with multiple hourly workers, it can be challenging to calculate pay if they work only a fraction of an hour. To pay employees working for partial hours, you need to know how to convert minutes for payroll. Failing to convert minutes when calculating pay causes errors and creates more work on the back-end. However, it's simple if you know how to express minutes as decimals. Once time worked is converted into decimal form, such as 4.35 hours, you can multiply by the pay rate and find total wages due.

Contrary to what some find difficult, converting minutes for payroll is easy. It just depends on whether you use rounded or actual hours worked, how you track working hours, and what tools you use to calculate. Your main goal is to translate time worked into decimal form, so you can multiply by your employee's pay rate and find how much you owe in wages. This is especially handy if you have large values of minutes to be converted to hours. Below on the webpage, you can find a minutes to hours conversion table. It can be used at any time as an offline tool, when you need to convert minutes to hours.

Use this simple Minutes to Decimals Conversion Chart to easily identify the correct decimal value for each unit of payroll time, a necessary step when processing payroll. When using payroll software, like Payentry, you must first convert minutes to decimals. Hours Calculator, This quick online calculator computes the number of hours and minutes between two times. In addition, a comprehensive version is included for calculating the Track employees worked hours with easy-to-use cloud time clock software. Manage worked hours, timesheets & stay organized. Time Calculator, This free time calculator can add or subtract time values in terms of number of days, hours, minutes, or seconds.

Learn more about different concepts of time, and Track employees worked hours with easy-to-use cloud time clock software. Converting minutes to decimals is as simple as dividing minutes by 60. The good news is you can skip that step if you use our minute conversion chart. In the chart, simply find the minutes worked, between one and 60, and the decimal equivalent will be to its immediate right. For instance, the decimal equivalent of 1 is 0.02.

Once you have the decimal, add it to the number of hours worked. A great way to track employee hours and convert minutes to decimals is by using payroll software. Online calculator to convert minutes to hours with formulas, examples, and tables. Our conversions provide a quick and easy way to convert between Time units. Converting minutes to decimals can be tedious work which is why weve included a payroll conversion chart in this article.

How to Convert Minutes to Decimal Hours There are 60 minutes in an hour or 60 minutes per hour. Convert inch fractions to mms rounded to 1 decimal place using the chart below. Are you interested in how time is properly converted from hours and minutes to decimal format for payroll? We'll review and compare these two common formats for displaying and expressing time. Time Conversion Calculator, Convert between time units. Convert decimal time to seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years.

Learn how to convert from one time unit into another. Well, once again, 10 times 60, 10 hours times 60 minutes per hour would get us to 600 minutes. Here are short and long conversion charts for minutes to decimal hours which can help people who are entering hours in hours and minutes. Therefore, in order to convert minutes to hours and minutes, divide the value in minutes by 60 and change the digits to UTC time standard format. Converting employee hours from minutes to decimals is one part of a very complex process. With so many considerations and regulations, payroll processing and payroll tax preparation are often outsourced to a payroll bureau.

Payroll Management, Inc. was founded in 1989 and now serves businesses across Maine and New England with local, personalized service. Maybe the time is right to talk with us about your payroll. Use the chart below to convert minutes worked into hundredths or quarters of an hour for entering hours worked information. For example, 8.38 would be the entry for a day during which an employee worked 8 hours and 23 minutes. The differences that arise with rounding your employees' working hours can add up over time. In our example, it was in the employee's favor, which meant you would be paying for more time than was actually worked.

Read on to learn all about converting minutes for payroll, including payroll conversion steps to follow and methods for tracking converted minutes. This is a very easy to use minutes to hours converter. Hours value will be converted automatically as you type.

If you need a way to convert minutes for payroll, you have a few options. You can use a spreadsheet, utilize payroll software, or convert minutes by hand. Instead, you need to follow certain steps for converting the minutes to a decimal.

Keep reading to find out the correct way to convert minutes for payroll. There's a right way and a wrong way to convert minutes for payroll. If you're not converting minutes, you might be overpaying and underpaying employees.

If you want to pay hourly employees for partial hours worked, you need to learn how to convert minutes for payroll. To show an example and how it works mathematically, let's say we want to convert 190 minutes to hours and minutes. The min unit cancels out and our result is in hr units. Now you're ready to use the time you converted into decimal form to calculate how much you need to pay your employee. Let's assume the employee's hourly wage is $14.25.

You owe $115.43 for the hours worked Tuesday. If you plan to convert minutes yourself, be sure to use the three steps above and take advantage of the payroll conversion chart. Say your employee worked 10 hours and 13 minutes. You multiply 10.13 by their hourly rate to get their gross wage.

This is the incorrect way to convert minutes for payroll. Units of time conversion chart are discussed here in hour, minute, second, day, week, month, and year. The military time minutes conversion chart below is an ultra-fast tool for this type of calculation.

Hour Conversion Table Minutes To Hours Chart You can also skip right to the payroll time conversion chart. Conversion Chart - Minutes to Hundredths of an Hour Enter time in Oracle Self Service as hundredths of an hour. Converting minutes to decimals for payroll is simple. All you need to do is divide your minutes by 60. To calculate actual hours worked, you need the total hours and minutes for each employee for the pay period.

You can also check the minutes to hours conversion chart below, or go back to minutes to hours converter to top. The decimals value is the number of digits to be calculated or rounded of the result of minutes to hours conversion. A minute is a unit of time, used widely around the world beyond just the time measuring purposes (i.e. for defying time standards, time zones, etc.). According to the standards, a minute is equal to 60 seconds, or 1/60th of an hour. A minute is also used as a unit of measuring angle widely used in geometry, astronomy, and other branches of science.

Please enter minutes value of time unit to convert minutes to hours. For quick reference purposes, below is a conversion table that you can use to convert from minutes to hours. To show an example and how it works mathematically, let's say we want to convert 195 minutes to hours.

Next, add the converted minutes to your total hours. Your employee worked 41 hours and 7 minutes this week. Use the three steps below to convert minutes for payroll. Hour is a common time measurement unit equal to 60 minutes. The unit is used and recognized by SI and has the symbol of h. To convert minutes to hours, divide the minutes by 60.

This tutorial will demonstrate how to convert minutes to hours or hours to minutes in Excel & Google Sheets. Time Duration Calculator, Free calculator to get the number of hours, minutes, and seconds between two times. In addition, a comprehensive version is included for calculating the time Use this calculator to add or subtract time from a starting time and date. The result will be the new time and date based on the subtracted or added period of time. To calculate the amount of time between times on two different dates, use the Time Duration Calculator. What is the formula to convert from minutes to hours?

Software calculates and converts for you so you don't have to worry about doing it yourself. Plus, most payroll software can integrate with time and attendance software to automatically import employee hours. Before you begin converting minutes, determine whether to use actual hours worked or to round hours to the nearest quarter. If you're calculating employee pay, you need to know how to convert payroll hours. If you don't convert minutes, it can cause a lot of payroll problems down the road. Luckily there is a trick to this to make it easy.

To make this calculation yourself you can refer to the table below for quick conversion of standard minutes to military minutes. Metric conversions between minutes and hours. Enter a number into the box and the results will be calculated automatically. 5 hours and 35 minutes is not 5.35 hours, but don't worry. We'll explain here with a handy conversion chart. Military time is based on a 24-hour clock beginning at midnight and ends at 2359 hours.

Military time format eliminates the need for using A.M. Designations as regular time uses numbers 1 to 12 to identify the hours in a day. Is 1300 hours up until 11 P.M where it is 2300 hours. Minutes can be converted to hours by multiplying the minutes with a fraction of 160 here 1 denotes one hour and 60 denotes 60mins.

You can also convert 6 minutes to hours and minutes. With the following tool, you can generate and print the minutes to hours reference table based on your own needs. You can find a dynamic tool at minutes to hours table chart or hours to minutes table chart . Gusto tracks employee time and attendance and automatically processes payroll without performing any manual calculations.

Employees can clock in and out from their mobile devices and even monitor hours spent on projects to get a detailed cost report of wages, taxes, and more. After you convert your employee's time, you can calculate how much you need to pay your employee. To find your employee's gross pay, multiply their wage rate by their time in decimal time.

For example, say your employee worked 20 hours and 15 minutes during the week. Divide your total minutes by 60 to get your decimal. To calculate total hours worked, add up the total hours. Add the total minutes together separately from the hours. An hour is one of the commonly used units of measuring time, along with a second and a day. One hour is equal to 60 minutes, however, it will not be true to assume that an hour is equal to 3,600 seconds .

An hour is a unit accepted and widely used by all countries of the world, and it has got a symbol of h. Minute is a unit of time measurement that is equal to 1/60 of an hour. Minute is also a unit used in geometry for measuring angle, as well as for defining latitude and longitude of a point on the surface of earth. To convert hours into minutes by multiplying number of minutes with 60 and then add minutes into it. First, convert hours into minutes by multiplying number of hours with 60 and then add minutes into it.

For example, here's how to convert 90 minutes to hours using the formula above. The time in hours is equal to the time in minutes divided by 60. Since there are 60 minutes in one hour, that's the conversion ratio used in the formula. Converting civilian minutes to military time is most commonly needed when calculating payroll. Convert time of minute and hours (hr - h) units in reverse from hours into minutes.

If you like doing things old school and are comfortable doing your own calculations, consider converting minutes by hand. Next, let's look at an example showing the work and calculations that are involved in converting from minutes to hours . The following is a list of definitions relating to conversions between minutes and hours. Enter the time in minutes below to get the value converted to hours. We also have a time card calculator that allows you to enter an entire week of in and out times. It then auto calculates the hours, including lunch and overtime.