What is the Difference Between Sandy Soil and Loamy Soil

The key difference between sandy soil and loamy soil is that sandy soil is less fertile due to the low content of nutrients, moisture, and humus, whereas loamy soil has more nutrients, moisture, and humus and is more fertile.

There are different types of soil in nature. Therefore, there are different classifications as well. Since soil is a natural resource, it is important to know the characteristics of the soil to improve it for better crop growth. Sandy soil and loamy soil are two common types of soil.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Sandy Soil 
3. What is Loamy Soil
4. Sandy Soil vs Loamy Soil  in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Sandy Soil vs Loamy Soil

What is Sandy Soil?

Sandy soil is a type of soil that contains comparatively large soil particles and is light, warm, dry, and acidic. Moreover, it has a low nutrient content. Often, this type of soil is known as light soil because of the high proportion of sand and little amount of clay. Typically, clay weighs more than sand. Sandy soil also shows high water drainage due to large pore spaces, and thus, it is easy to work with.

Moreover, sandy soil can quickly warm up in springtime compared to clay soil. However, it tends to dry out in summer and suffers from low nutrient levels due to washing away by the rain. However, the addition of organic matter can help in giving plants an additional boost of nutrients by improving the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.

What is Loamy Soil?

Loamy soil or loam soil is a type of soil that contains a mixture of sand, silt, and clay particles. These particle types are combined with each other to avoid the negative effects of each type. Typically, loamy soil is highly fertile and is easy to work with as well. Loamy soil typically provides proper drainage. There are some subtypes of loamy soil, including sandy loam, clay loam, silt loam, and clay loam.

Based on the predominant composition of the loamy soil, it can be either sandy or clay loam. This soil is a perfect balance of soil particles, so we can consider it a gardener’s best friend. However, it can be made still beneficial by topping it up with the different organic matter.

The particle sizes in loamy soil can vary according to the composition of sand, silt, and clay in the loamy soil. For example, sand particle size is more than 63 micrometers; silt particle size is more than 2 micrometers whereas clay particles are less than 2 micrometers in diameter.

What is the Difference Between Sandy Soil and Loamy Soil?

Soil is a mixture of organic matter and other particles along with some organisms. There are different types of soil, such as sandy soil and loamy soil. The key difference between sandy soil and loamy soil is their fertility; sandy soil is less fertile than loamy soil. This is because it contains a low amount of nutrients, moisture, and humus. Due to this difference in fertility, loamy soil is ideal for most crops while sandy soil is not.

The below infographic presents the differences between sandy soil and loamy soil in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Sandy Soil vs Loamy Soil

The major types of soil include sandy soil, loamy soil, silty soil, chalky soil, and peaty soil. However, there are some subcategories of soil types as well. The key difference between sandy soil and loamy soil is that sandy soil is less fertile due to the low amount of nutrients, moisture, and humus, whereas loamy soil has more nutrients, moisture, and humus.

Reference:

1. “Soil Types.” Boughton, 15 Oct. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Soil Texture USDA” By cmglee, Mikenorton, United States Department of Agriculture – SoilTexture USDA.pngand (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Lancashire Loam – geograph.org.uk – 999357” By Alan Murray-Rust (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia