Garden Soil

[JMJones0424]

I do use Miracle Grow and osmocote in Pots as I feel it is such an artificial situation to start with. I use a very weak solution. Yes I have read that nitrogenous fertilisers kill the 'wee beasties' that make nitrogen. At least osmocote mimics the slow release pattern of natural soil fertiliser. i do use manures in Pots too- but you do have to be careful. I usually put them at the bottom of the pot with my potting mix on top to initially insulate plant roots from touching too fresh manures. With big established pots I add it to the top as the potting mix disappears.

 

There is a lot wrong with this statement, but here's an overview.

 

Your view of small containers as being an unnatural environment, and therefor ok to use synthetic fertilizer salts is fine IF you are unconcerned about fostering soil microbiology. The point you are missing is that even a quart size pot could potentially contain countless millions of organism, and using fertilizer salts is an excellent way to seriously inhibit both population and diversification.

 

This has nothing to do with just nitrogenous fertilizers, this includes all fertilizer salts. I do not understand how people who see the value of a highly active soil could even consider using fertilizer salts. Osmocote mimics the slow release of natural fertilizer just as mercury poisoning mimics the slow onset of age related disease. My point is that the use of fertilizer salts if you are concerned about microbial life in the soil, and it appears that you are, is not just unnecessary, but close to the worst thing you can possibly use.

 

There is a huge difference between manures and composts. Raw manures (except worm castings, rabbit pellets, and maybe a few others) have no place in the planting media, as it is far too strong for roots. I do use raw manure when "fallowing" a planting bed, but I place it ON TOP of the soil at two or three inches deep and cover with six inches of straw, and let this sit for at least six months before planting anything in that bed again. A more common alternative is to till in the manure in the fall.

 

It would appear that you are coming at this with a laboratory chemist's view. I made that mistake a few decades ago. Plants take up ionic compounds in an aqueous solution. Soil is not even needed to produce very healthy, robust plants. In fact, if vegetative growth alone were the only determining factor, I would still be growing everything hydroponically, as it is far easier to maintain optimum dissolved oxygen content in the root zone if you get rid of that troublesome soil. However, one can approach the high yields of hydroponics if you foster a well aerated, biologically diverse planting medium, where so many mutually beneficial relationships exist between root and microbe. I do believe this produces a plant with more nutritional benefits, and we are just beginning to understand why this is so.

 

Biochar should not be viewed as a magic bullet that allows you to ignore all the other aspects of organic gardening, if you are truly interested in ending up with terra preta. Biochar can be an excellent soil amendment that helps in water retention and CEC. With a heavy clay soil, I am not interested in supplementing either of these properties. I need aeration, and I can find no study or anecdotal evidence as to long term benefits of biochar in this regard. You have been looking at this far more than I, can you point me in the right direction?

[JMJones0424]

... and what does added humic acids exactly mean? or 'wetting agent'(=soap/detergent?).

One day we might see a detailed list of ingredients on Potting Mix as we do food for us.

 

Humic acids are a natural byproduct of fungal degradation of lignin. They have a high CEC, are very persistent, and are natural chelators used often in potting mixes to help make iron and other micronutrients available to plants. Humic acids, along with fulvic acids and humins, are the major constituents of humic substances.

 

A wetting agent is anything that breaks the surface tension of water. These are very useful in mixes with high proportions of peat, as they counteract peat's natural hydrophobic properties. Dish washing soap is a commonly used wetting agent, and it helps foliar sprays adhere to leaf surfaces.

 

I doubt seriously we will ever see ingredient lists in potting soils, as it is impractical. Companies that produce potting soils use various different feedstocks, that are usually only seasonally available, and mix in different proportions to end up with a uniform end product.

[JMJones0424]

The more I think about it, I think the role of clay pottery shards in terra preta may be in providing a relatively large particle to aid aeration / drainage in what would otherwise end up being too heavy of a planting medium. If your soil is largely sandy, then this is unnecessary. If your soil is largely silt or clay, then this is imperative, and a modern alternative would be perlite, expanded shale, lava sand, crushed hydroton rocks, etc.

[Ahmabeliever]

Peat Moss is NOT sterile. Nowhere near it. An atomic assay found 50 000 species of bacteria and 20 000 species of fungi in one sample of alaska humus (peat).

 

Get some peat, add molasses and water, brew it with a bubbler - two days later get thee hence to your microscopes and observe!

[Essay]

Biochar can be an excellent soil amendment that helps in water retention and CEC.

 

With a heavy clay soil, I am not interested in supplementing either of these properties. I need aeration, and I can find no study or anecdotal evidence as to long term benefits of biochar in this regard. You have been looking at this far more than I, can you point me in the right direction?

Maybe I can find a source (or sombody else can--now) but I think biochar can be thought of as a CEC & water-retention buffer.

In marginal soils it will increase both CEC & retention qualities.....

 

But in high CEC soils it will serve to bind high ion concentrations as microbes flourish within and around the char--creating more of a "slow release" conditioning.

And in highly compact, dense soils, char would areate and promote the migration of water--bridging areas of slightly different potentials, preventing micro-stagnation.

 

Though I think your clay sherds ideas are also valid....

 

~ :)

[Essay]

Peat Moss is NOT sterile. Nowhere near it. An atomic assay found 50 000 species of bacteria and 20 000 species of fungi in one sample of alaska humus (peat).

 

Get some peat, add molasses and water, brew it with a bubbler - two days later get thee hence to your microscopes and observe!

 

But many of the wee beasties in Peat Moss secrete antimicrobial chemicals as a defense mechanism--to prevent colonization by other beasties-- hence its amphi-microbial nature?

 

Simple humic acid is antimicrobial toward most skin bacteria, isn't it?

 

~ :)

[JMJones0424]

Peat Moss is NOT sterile. Nowhere near it. An atomic assay found 50 000 species of bacteria and 20 000 species of fungi in one sample of alaska humus (peat).

 

Get some peat, add molasses and water, brew it with a bubbler - two days later get thee hence to your microscopes and observe!

 

First, I never said peat moss was sterile. Second, I haven't heard of Alaska humus, it looks like good stuff, I will have to find some and try it out.

 

Here is a description from a company that sells it here: (I cannot post links yet, remove the "!")

 

h!t!t!p!://w!w!w!.denaligold.us/

 

The origin of Alaskan humus has been reliably traced back tens of thousands of years, and has slowly matured by Alaska’s long winters and short intense summers. This maturation combined with the interaction of volcanic ash and glacial silt has made Denali Gold™ Alaskan Humus one of natures finest products for all of your gardening and horticultural needs.

 

This sounds nothing at all like peat moss.

 

Here is a small excerpt from wikipedia's description of peat moss

 

Sphagnum and the peat formed from it do not decay readily because of the phenolic compounds embedded in the moss's cell walls. An additional reason is that the bogs in which Sphagnum grows are submerged, deoxygenated, and favor slower anaerobic decay rather than aerobic microbial action.

...

Sphagnum moss has also been used for centuries as a dressing for wounds, including both World Wars. It is absorptive and extremely acidic, inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi.

 

I have observed the difference between peat moss based planting mixes and compost based planting mixes under the microscope, I suggest you take your own advice. Even after a year, there is a remarkable difference between the two. Thank you for bringing up Alaska humus though, it looks like remarkable stuff.