Soil is built in the nutrient cycling between the atmosphere, plants, the invisible life below and above ground, small creatures like arthropods, worms and insects and bigger creatures like grazing animals, predators and birds.
Each one essential to a functioning ecosystem.
SOIL COMPOSITION TEST (in a jar)
The ideal ratio of the three mineral components of soil is about
Sand - 40%
Silt - 40%
Clay - 20%
Fill a 1 litre, straight sided jar, to 1/3-1/2 full, with soil dug down to 20cm. Discard stones, organic matter.
Add water to 90% fill jar
Add 1/2 teas dishwashing liq.
Put lid on and shake for 3 minutes
Leave undisturbed for a day or so
Check out the layers from top to bottom
- Organic matter
- Dirty water
- Clay
- Silt
- Sand
With a ruler measure total volume then depth of each layer & convert to a %. eg. In 10 cm of settled soil silt is 4.5cm
4.5 divided by 10 x 100 = 45% silt
See http://tinycurl.com/soilcalc
Regardless of ratios, soil life is fundamental, & a gardener’s main goal.
FERTILISERS
Organic Life pelletised fertiliser certified organic $28.50 Enfield Produce
Ocean to Earth
Curly’s compost
Nutrisoil foliar spray use fortnightly
Seasol 3 tab/9L at planting
Compost & worm castings help build a healthy soil food web. Plant Biochar see Terra preta
Comfrey Tea - It contains the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
When plants are 60cm tall cut down to allow regrowth. Place 1kg of comfrey leaves, not stalks, with water in a 15L bucket with a lid. Leave for 4-6 weeks. When stinky take mushy leaves out. Use as a side dressing for tomatoes or potatoes or put into the compost bin.
Strain, dilute 1:10 and use as a foliar spray especially at the time flowers and fruit are beginning to form. Don’t use on young seedlings.
Weeds heal the soil, colonising the soil because there is a vacancy in the ecosystem for them. They are fixing the subterranean communities.
SOIL FOOD WEB RULES
Vegetables prefer soils dominated by bacteria.
Fresh green organic materials support bacteria
When mulching wet it & gently work it into the soil to speed up bacterial colonisation
Sugars help bacteria grow
Always mix endomycorrhizal fungi with vegetable seeds and seedlings at planting time
A Simple Soil Food Web Garden Calender
Ref Teaming with Microbes by J Lowenfels & W Lewis
Balance the chemical inputs Carbon (brown autumn leaves) and Nitrogen (green veggies) in a ratio of 30:1 to create humus. As compost matures this ratio declines to 10-15:1 as microbes convert the carbohydrates into living energy, giving off heat and CO2.
Keep moist and aerate by turning.
Amendments Manure, Blood & Bone, Rock Dust
Some advocate a mix of 20%
biochar
80% compost is an ideal supplement to enhance soil fertility
Lowenfels & Lewis in Teaming with Microbes recommend vegetables prefer a bacterially dominant balanced compost.
Recipe:
25% alfalfa meal
50% green matter (veggies or grass clippings which provide sugars & nitrogen)
25% brown matter ( autumn leaves which provide lignin, cellulose & tanin)
Size of materials matters. Too fine = compresses & becomes anaerobic. Too big = air causes it to heat too quickly & it won’t decompose enough for bacteria to populate.
Moisture matters. Too wet encourages anaerobic activity & it won’t heat enough to destroy pathogens.
Air matters. Turn to allow air to enter.
What is good compost? It smells like clean fresh soil.
Test for pH aiming for 6-7 at which point plants are able to best process nutrients
Coffee grounds can raise acidity
Dolomite lime can lower acidity
In the compost bin the nitrogen fixation & recycling of carbon is a biological process requiring the intervention of living organisms such as bacteria, fungi & archaea, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, earthworms & gastropods.
As organic matter is composting turn regularly to aerate to prevent build up of anaerobic bacteria, containing methane chemicals. These foster pathogenic bacteria & kill off aerobic bacteria such as actinomycetes which produce enzymes, containing volatile chemicals which give soil its fresh earthy small. Actinomycetes eat cellulose & chitin & live in wide range of pH.
Soil fungi, such as mycorrhizal fungi, have a symbiotic relationship with plants. Once in the soil mobile fungi, work in conjunction with bacteria, & settle in plant root zones where they trade crucial mineral & nutrients & water for carbon in plant exudates.
There are also above ground fungi which are pathogenic & parasitic affecting health of plants.
To inoculate soil a layer up to 2.5cm deep around plants is enough.
VERMICOMPOST
Is almost always bacterially dominant.
Just out of the bin VC castings are coated with a polysaccharide as well as carbohydrates and simple proteins, perfect for supporting good bacterial populations.
Feed the soil to feed the plants & increase nutritional content of vegetables
Nutrisoil - stimulates microbiology. Garden needs well composted soil for microorganisms and fungi to feed on.
Alternate vegetable crops with a 12 seed cover crop which is crimped at 4 weeks, then drenched with a brew made with dechlorinated water, teabag of compost & worm castings.
Soak seeds in such a brew & use Charlie’s Carp when transplanting seedlings.
Use Nutrisoil or Seasol as a regular foliar spray
Mulches excel when used to cover compost laid onto soil.
Pouring protozoa soup (soak lucerne hay in dechlorinated water, aerate with an aquarium pump for four days) on mulches will increase nutrient cycling power.
Eco-seaweed: super concentrated seaweed powder 1t/9 litres
Water using dechlorinated water