How Does Your Garden Grow?

by Craig Witt |

The soil in a productive garden needs to be in “BALANCE” in order to grow an abundance of nutritious produce.

If you look at the following circles, you can visualize the three basic aspects of soil and how they interact to create a well-balanced mixture.

Most gardeners and landscapers spend the majority of their time, working on the physical aspects of their gardens. Conventional gardeners and landscapers rely on man made chemical fertilizers for the nutrition in their soil. Organic gardeners and landscapers rely on compost for the nutrition in their soil. Most gardeners and landscapers do not realize the importance of the biological side of their soils.

“I believe a plant can consume only what the bacteria will release,” the world record tomato grower, Charles H. Wilber states in his book How to Grow World Record Tomatoes.

This biology, which is responsible for delivering nutrients to the plants, can best be described as the soils “digestive capacity”.

Due to Nevada’s dry climate most of our soils have the digestive system of an infant. As we all know we do not feed infants like an adult. Just like babies cannot eat a steak dinner with salad and a baked potato, our soils cannot digest the woody composts sold in the area until they develop the correct digestive capacity.

An infantile soil needs to be fed humus. Humus can be defined as organic matter that has gone through the stomach of a microbe, where the correct recipe and composting process has been followed. This humus serves as a huge microbial and nutrient bank account. Humus is responsible for promoting the positive aspects of each of the individual aspects of a balanced soil.

Plants expend 30 percent of their energy pumping root exudates into the soil. This feeds the soil biology in order to satisfy the plants nutrient needs. If you know the nutritional content of your soil, you can add the deficient minerals. This facilitates the bacteria’s ability to make a nutritional withdrawal to satisfy the plants needs. If the minerals are not found in the soil the bacteria’s credit card is rejected and no deposits are made into the plants nutritional bank accounts.

Humus is responsible for promoting the positive characteristics of each of the individual aspects of a balanced soil. Therefore, it is best for your gardens to add the proper amount of humus, along with the nutrients that Northern Nevada soils are deficient in. The most deficient nutrients are humus, available Calcium, phosphorus and organic matter. It is important to identify a local source for compost and soil amendments that know what nutrients are missing in local soils.

References:

1.  “ADDING BIOLOGY In Soils and Hydroponic Systems” Elaine R. Ingham Carole Ann Rollins
2. “How to Grow World Record Tomatoes” Charles H Wilber
3.  www.midwestbiosystems.com

For more info, contact President of Full Circle Compost, Craig Witt at (775) 267-5305 or visit www.fullcirclecompost.com