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by Cindy Foster If you're the nurturing type and want to improve the quality of your lawn, garden, or houseplants by developing the health and diversity of the food web in their soil, there are a few steps you'll want to take. You can literally start with steps. Walk through the area you want to improve--unless of course you're focusing on potted plants--and observe what's happening. Does the soil have good tilth, or texture? Ideally it should look like rich chocolate cake crumbs so air, water, and root systems can infiltrate the soil. If water either pools on top or leaches through too quickly, this is a sure sign that the tilth of the soil needs work. In order to improve the tilth, first make sure your soil contains enough organic material. "Soil composed of 5% organic matter can hold almost twice its weight in water," Klamath Falls (OR) ecosystems consultant Jim Carpenter points out. That is essential because plants and organisms alike need water to survive. Different organic materials such as manures, kelps, and leaves decompose at different rates and release various nutrients in the process, so choosing the right organic matter is important. Also, since certain species of bacteria and fungi do the work of decomposition, these organisms must be present to get things going. According to soil scientist Dr. Eileen Ingham of Corvallis, OR, if you discover that material you've added in the past has not fully decomposed, that is a warning that part of the organisms needed for a healthy food web are either not present or not performing. Adding compost or a "tea" made from compost are good ways to get missing organisms back into the soil. True compost contains a plethora of organisms as well as nutrients, but Jude Hobbs of Agro-Ecology Northwest in Eugene, OR, warns that people should not assume that all products touted as "compost" are the same. For example, many of the products derived from woody wastes are beneficial for fungi but are not nearly as helpful if a person wants to use them in a vegetable garden where bacteria are essential. Making your own compost may be the best way to assure that you get what you need, assuming of course you know what you need. Clues to help you diagnose your soil's shortcomings can be found using your computer. The website for Ingham's business (www.soilfoodweb.com) contains information you can use to judge soil conditions. "If people read the website, they will find a lot of hints about what may have gone wrong with their soil," Ingham says. "They can remember what things they have done to the soil and ask if those management practices had more gas than by-gosh." If you'd prefer a quick answer to playing detective, Ingham's company will analyze your soil sample and tell you not only what you do and don't have, but also what you need. The website also contains information on sending samples to her lab. Soil amendments may also assist in both the introduction of healthy organisms and the nourishment and proliferation of organisms you already have on hand. These products can be added directly to soils or used in building nutritious compost. Eugene's Down to Earth Distributors' "Root Growth Enhancer" contains beneficial fungi that protect and feed roots, and Grape Pomace products contain bacteria and yeasts. Additives that stimulate fungi tend to be more beneficial to orchard crops, while vegetable gardens have higher bacterial needs. According to Ingham, in addition to the big three macronutrients--nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium--plants need over 140 other nutrients. Adding rock dust products to your soil may both boost the availability of these nutrients and stimulate fungi. There are richer and poorer sources of rock dust, maintains Hobbs. "Glacial dust is definitely higher in minerals," she points out, but it is also more expensive. "Algae also have trace elements and minerals that plants need," Hobbs says. These can be the "missing link for plant health." Several products that contain kelp or other kinds of algae to stimulate bacterial growth are available from garden supply stores. PLANeT Food, a product developed by Carpenter, combines enzymatically active algae from Upper Klamath Lake, OR, and high quality volcanic rock dust from an ancient sea bed in Colorado. As an environmental consultant and wetlands expert, Carpenter has seen firsthand some of the damage caused by chemical fertilizers; therefore, the word-play in the name of the product he developed for Simplexity Health is intentional. Not only does the amendment assist plants but it supports the health of the planet. Several products utilize algae because the algae's position at the bottom of the food chain makes it particularly beneficial as a ready source of nutrients for both soil organisms and plants; but an observation Carpenter made while hiking led him to come up with the unique idea to team the little dynamos with rock. He explains that, as he hiked closer to a summit, trees gave way to shrubs, then to grasses then to no plant life--no life that is except for the lichens that grew on the rocks. Lichens consist of an algae and a fungus in a symbiotic partnership. Carpenter says that as he thought about the lichens breaking down the boulders to begin the formation of topsoil, it struck him that nature designed algae to support life at both ends of the spectrum, from the mountaintop to the ocean floor. "Algae jump-starts the connection between the rock dust and the roots," Carpenter says in explaining the synergistic effect people report experiencing when they use PLANeT Food. "I've noticed a big difference," Joan Chadd, a 77-year-old gardener from Eugene, says. "I used to use commercial fertilizers, but when I started using PLANeT Food, the plants I started from seeds came up bigger and healthier. Those I began with starts took hold immediately after I put them into the earth. I've also noticed that for some reason my plants never have very many bugs." Chadd also says she likes using PLANeT Food because it is natural and she enjoys the convenience of having it appear at her door after she orders it from Simplexity Health using either their toll-free number or website. You can get more "bang for your buck," according to Carpenter if you work PLANeT Food through your compost. If you choose to nurture the beneficial organisms in your soil, your plants will thank you for it. SOURCES:
Dr. Eileen Ingham
Jim Carpenter
Jude Hobbs | ||
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