How To Soil | Scientific Name: Dirt
What is Soil? It consists of four primary parts mineral matter, organic matter or humus, air and water, there are also living organisms in the soil which decompose the humus and produce available nutrients for plants to grow.
Basic Soil Structure
- Organic
- Surface
- Subsoil
- Substratum
- Bedrock
Five Fundamental Soil Forming Factors
Climate | Organisms | Relief | Parent Material | Time
Climate – The climate in an area can greatly affect the characteristics of soil formation. Temperature and precipitation patterns shape the ecosystem
Organisms – Plants, Animals and microorganisms all play vital roles in the formation
Relief – Relief is the short form to describe topography and drainage characteristics of and area.
Parent Material – The Material that the soil has developed from. This could be river sand, shoreline deposits, glacial deposits and various types of bedrock
Time – Generally a soil profile tends to become thicker or deeper and more altered over time. Extreme cases can of course break this general rule as well as scenarios with human factors such as the dust bowl being greatly contributed to by new farming methods in the area.
Soil Components Essential for Healthy Plant Growth
Balanced concentration of available macronutrients and micronutrients feeds healthy plants but can be detrimental if concentrations in the soil solution is either to high causing toxicity or limiting if too low.
Macronutrients | These elements are required by plants in significant quantities
- (C) Carbon
- (H) Hydrogen
- (O) Oxygen
- (N) Nitrogen
- (P) Phosphorus
- (K) Potassium
- (Ca) Calcium
- (Mg) Magnesium
- (S) Sulfur
Micronutrients | These elements are needed by plants in small quantities
- (Fe) iron
- (Mn) manganese
- (B) boron
- (Mo) molybdenum
- (Cl) chlorine
- (Zn) zinc
- (Cu) copper
Soil Ecology – The Study of Living Soil
Ecologists study the interaction and effects of living things and soil, particularly how they interact with each other.
How to Grow Healthy Soil Organisms?
A clean healthy environment and the right conditions can quickly grow new soil. Yes that’s right you can grow dirt, it might sound a bit ridiculous at first however as you become more familiar with the process of remediation you soon notice a peculiar little tidbit. As you move through the cycle of plants that thrive in a particular condition and see how they affect the soil condition a pattern emerges revealing that there are various “fixing” plants and organisms. They thrive in damaged or “poor soil conditions” and interestingly they commonly leave behind fixing materials as they die off or somewhere in the growing cycle that serve to fix the deficiency of our “poor soil”. Everything has its’ own idea of the perfect environment to thrive, just like everyone has their own idea of the perfect home.
Plant Life Cycle
A Plants life cycle is to pull soil up from below at a microscopic level, grow organic matter above the ground and then turn back into soil. Plants are either eaten by a grazing animal and pooped out as manure or die off and decompose as in a composting environment. Either way the plant ends up forming a new layer of earth on top of the ground it grew out of.
The benefits of biodiversity and their Role in Nutrient Cycling
- Animals – From Grazers to Bug Eaters Animals are Crucial to Keeping the Natural Balance.
- Plants – Plants are the Bridge Between the Earth and the Animal World … that includes us humans too!
- Worms – Worms are incredibly effective decomposers/ nutrient builders from the perspective of cultivated crops especially!
- Nematodes – Adapted to nearly every ecosystem these little worms are found in every part of the Earth’s lithosphere
- Termites – Little teeth of the forest termites feed on dead plant material and cellulose generally wood, leaf litter and animal dung.
- Gophers, Moles etc. – Natures rototillers these critters loosen the soil.
- Organic Matter or Humus – This is all the plant matter ready to feed things like worms and the soils microorganisms
- Bacteria – Bacteria exists in many forms, in Soil bacteria particularly heterotrophs species decompose living matter and make nutrients available to plants.
- Mycelium – The vegetative part of fungus, A network of fungal threads called hyphae known for being the communication network of the forest floor
- Microorganisms – Organisms of microscopic size, a single microorganism is also called a microbe.
- Enzymes – Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts know as biocatalysts.
- Insects – The most diverse group of animals with more than a million species insects represent over half of all known living organisms.
- Fungi – The plural of a fungus most commonly recognized as mushrooms also include microorganisms like yeasts and molds.
- Protozoa – Historically known as single celled animals protozoans feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms, organic tissue and debris.
Soils Role in the Ecosystem
Earth not surprisingly plays a key role as the foundation for living things. All forms of life ultimately rely on the nutritious building blocks that healthy soil provides. Just add air and water and you will find some form of life that can start to grow and become another piece of the Nutrient Cycle.
Soil Conditions
- PH 0 – 14 Acidic -> Neutral -> Alkaline – lower numbers are more acidic higher numbers more alkaline neutral is in the middle.
- Temperature range – hardiness zones can greatly effect the living organisms in a region.
- Moisture Content / Humidity
- Soil Type – Loam – Sandy – Clay – Rocky
- NPK – Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potassium these three elements are the most commonly used amendments in modern day plant cultivation and agriculture.
Types of Soil
- Loam
- Sandy
- Clay
- Rocky