Fertilizing, Mulching, Water, and the Replant Syndrome
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
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Thank you, Gary. These weekly lessons are great and very helpful.
Hello, I just started watching your videos. I’ve learned so much and agree with your soil theory. I’m 55 and remember in the 70’s when the Super Soil came out. Things never grew that well when my parents started using it. I’m going to start using more sand & DG in my pots. Thanks.
The problem with these short/frequent irrigation methods, center-pivot, or any of the other "highly-efficient" irrigation methods is that, over time, they deplete the water tables. Just scan the map for all the center-pivot farms or look closer at what is happening in the Central Valley of California, the Ogallala Aquifer, the Colorado River, and on and on and you'll see how these "efficient" irrigation methods lead to higher evaporation rates and more rain run-off which translates to depleted aquifers and ground water tables. Flood irrigation, for all of its seemingly evident faultiness, actually returns about half of the water used to the ground water systems, which is more inline to what should be happening during the rainy season. It also forces root systems to expand, allows for more natural REDOX fluctuations, and creates a less hydrophobic soil environment.
When you combine these hyper-efficient irrigation methods with tilling and heavy machinery you create a hydrophobic environment in the soil that keeps the water from soaking into the deeper ground levels, exacerbating the depletion of ground water, leaching nutrients, weakening plants, and creating a greater need for more frequent irrigation and more chemical input dependence. It's a vicious cycle that is destroying and desertifying once-fertile and abundant farmland.
Can you explain how 'highly-efficient' methods lead to more rain run-off? Or post a link to someplace with an explanation? thx
@@WebSurfingIsMyPastime Highly efficient irrigation methods generally entail watering small amounts frequently throughout the day or they have to do with water delivery such as with Center Pivot Irrigation or strategically watering small amounts to specified areas around the plant. These methods are designed to water plants more efficiently and more precisely---which they do. However, plants don't hold the water, the soil (and soil organic matter) does. So, by focusing on irrigating plants, you end up neglecting the soil, the soil organic matter, and the water tables beneath the soil to some extent. Healthy plants have roots that broaden and deepen to better access water, nutrients, etc. When you water plants so "efficiently" and precisely you weaken root systems and microbial communities similarly to how spoiled children become less capable adults. Look up hormesis in plants or xenohormesis for further explanation.
Soils which support most plant life are meant to cycle between REDOX states, not remain in a constant state which is what begins to happen with highly-efficient irrigation methods. Flood irrigation more accurately depicts natural watering methods which fluctuate between dry periods and moist or flooded conditions while returning much of the water back to the water tables through soil absorption. The water absorbed in soil is the best aspect of the hydrological cycle when it comes to the health of the plants and the soil. So, these efficient irrigation methods, by weakening plants and soil (microbial environments also), lead to landscapes more prone to erosion and oxidation over time because water isn't allowed to absorb as thoroughly and be returned to water tables. That is why regions littered with Center Pivot irrigation fields or massive acreages of irrigated crops are invariably depleting their water tables (look up how these farming methods have depleted some of the most expansive and plentiful aquifers and water resources in the world e.g. Saudi Arabia, American Midwest/Ogallala, Colorado River, etc) to critical and near-critical levels. If water doesn't return to the water tables, it is evaporating and eroding through the landscape which depletes the land and strips the topsoil over time.
When you combine those methods with the industrial agricultural methods of heavy machinery tilling, herbicides, synthetic fertilization, and so on, you end up with lifeless, hydrophobic soils that cannot absorb water properly leading to chemical leaching, massive erosion, loss of topsoil, etc. Just read about the Dead Zones in the Gulf of Mexico caused by agricultural erosion to gain further context.
We need to gain a better understanding of how water moves through the world and how our actions affect our ecosystems and the natural hydrological cycles. Currently, the most practiced and accepted methods of agriculture are to prepare the soil to mimic conditions in the Sahara desert yet irrigate them with methods mimicking a rain forest. It's actually pretty ridiculous and probably helps explains how agriculture has become one of the most (if not THE most) ecologically destructive forces in the world. Efficiency in one aspect of the hydrological cycle can be disasterous to the broader process.
@@selectbrands got it! thx, will read more about this
Can i mix bigger sand (gravel) particles 3 mm to 7 mm in a soil? Are these particles too big? Thank you.
A lot of science. A lot of real world experience. My yard is still terrible.
why all the negativity against compost? Compost in itself isn't cause anaerobic conditions (sewer gas) comment. It's overwatering. Placing OM too deeply in the soil is of course is an issue but adding some compost in the upper 6 inches can be very beneficial.
Overwatering doesn't cause anaerobic conditions. Any plant can be grown in water if it is oxygenated. In fact, almost all plants will grow fastest in hydroponics with a bubbler providing oxygenation. Stagnant water in a pot will eventually become depleted of oxygen because of the microbial life and roots consuming the oxygen in the mix. Compost provides a food source for microbes, which increases microbial life, therefore accelerating the rate of oxygen depletion. Gary has always recommended top dressing with compost as it will have adequate access to oxygen at the top of the container to prevent depletion. By the time the compost works its way down deeper into the mix it will be mostly finished compost, by which point microbes will be digesting it at a fraction of the rate.
overwatering especially in mineral soils high in silt and clay causes anaerobic conditions. Poor watering practices is the main reason for plant decline in the landscape plus overwatering favors water borne fungi. Microbial life is always at capacity pending the physical situation of the soil.
@@davedzwilewski5195 Soils high in silt and clay lack air filled porosity, which is why overwatering causes anaerobic conditions. In a container plant, where the soil mixture can be controlled, a proper mixture that has a minimum AFP of 15%, ideally 20-25%, will not turn anaerobic with heavy watering. Compost in a container will reduce AFP while providing food for oxygen consuming microbes, which is a double whammy for anaerobic conditions. All of my container plants are in a 50:50 mixture of peat moss and pumice, and they are watered 2-3 times per day in the summer. The soil never dries out between waterings and plant growth is vigorous. I've tried doing the same in pre made potting mixes consisting of bark and compost, and the plants are dead within a few months. The key is, this mixture provides and AFP of ~20%, which is ideal for rapid growth, and it doesn't break down overtime. I suggest reading UC Agriculture & Natural Resource's research on AFP and it's affects of plant growth. It's important to note that Gary's teachings about compost and watering apply to containerized plants which is a completely different environment to in ground.
ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=29450
All the negativity comes from company's selling us compost and calling it potting soil when its up to 80% ground up " forest product " when you water plants in ground up trees it begins to compost and suffocates your plants but since the company's know this they lie and say don't overwater even when they know a plant only only needs to last 5-6 months before they die by fall, and its $$ for them and a loss for us.
This is the problem, they lie to us and say " dont over water " when there's no such thing as overwatering, unless your growing in a green and yellow bag of compost potting soil. Gary can't mention the leading offender company by name, bit its a well known green and yellow bag. Gary loves compost there's no negativity when used correctly ON TOP ON THE SOIL.