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The Carbon Effect in Building Soil and Plant Health

The Carbon Effect in Building Soil and Plant Health

by | May 28, 2019 | Gardening

The link between soil health, carbon and healthy plants

We’ve always stressed how important soil health is to plant health, but our friends at Madumbi are the experts so we asked them to give us a more in-depth understanding of carbon.

Fact: The nutrient content of a plant’s tissues is directly related to the nutrient content of the soil, and its ability to exchange nutrients and water with plant roots. (FAO – Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations fao.org/ soils-2015)

In simpler terms, plant health and soil health go hand-in-hand. South African gardens are made up of a wide range of different soil types, each with their own properties, benefits and challenges. Soil is the foundation of a good garden and as our understanding of soil health grows so too does the priority of building soil.

What do we mean by building soil?

To build a house you need bricks, cement and a team of builders. We all understand that – but how do we as gardeners go about building soil?

At Madumbi, our reference point starts with nature, where soil is formed primarily in two ways:

  • Physical and chemical: The weathering of rocks, into smaller and smaller fragments that ultimately lead to soil formation.
  • Biological: The decay of dead plant and animal material to form organic matter.

These processes have been taking place for millions of years, and will continue to do so. However, as the global population grows, so does the pressure for healthy food production and healthy soils. The natural soil-forming processes simply cannot sustain our growing planet – we need to do our bit by protecting our soils and building soil in our individual capacities, whether in the garden, on the farm or in nature.

carbon cycle

The importance of carbon in soil

The carbon cycle is a fundamental part of life on earth. See above.

CO2 is probably the form of carbon we are most familiar with, but this only makes up a small portion of the gases in our atmosphere (0.04%). Significantly more carbon is stored in soils as ‘soil organic carbon’ (SOC), which is more commonly understood by gardeners as soil organic matter (plant and animal matter in various stages of decay).

Soil carbon is the backbone of soil fertility. The more carbon in the soil, the healthier the soil, and as a result the healthier the plant growth will be.

What are humates and humic substances?

EcoBuz HumiGro is a carbon-based soil conditioner made from humate granules. Humic substances make up the major organic component of the Earth’s soils and sediments, created from decayed biomatter. After plants die, their organic biomatter is degraded by microorganisms in soil to eventually produce humus. Humus-rich soils form the basis of healthy plant growth. Humates are the active ingredient in humic substances.

Adding humates to the soil adds carbon to the soil. In nature, nothing happens in isolation, and the additional carbon promotes existing microbes, enhancing microbial population growth, which results in improved microbial activity and decay (supporting the biological processes needed to build soil).

EcoBuz HumiGro Carbon

Humates have the following key benefits:

  • Feed beneficial micro-organisms (provides energy and nutrition).
  • Increase root respiration and formation.
  • Enhance nutrient absorption.
  • Improve soil aeration and water retention.
  • Decrease water loss and reduce leaching.
  • Enhance the performance of fertilisers.
  • Act as a buffer to harmful substances in the soil.

Think of humates as a concentrated version of compost that forms part of a holistic approach to soil health management.

Humates and compost contribute to the building of soil but because HumiGro is a more concentrated version it has a significant impact on the rate that soil and organic matter is improved.

Soils need to be viewed as a living, symbiotic ecosystem. While this article focuses on the importance of carbon, the basis of soil fertility, it is important to remember that carbon is just one cog in a highly complex system.

How to Build and Improve Your Soil

How to Build and Improve Your Soil

by | Apr 25, 2019 | Gardening

The science of soil

By understanding how soil works, we can see the benefits of understanding that soil is an ecosystem that needs as much attention as the plants planted in it.

Think of soil as the ocean. You can’t see much on the surface, but once you go below, as you would in an aquarium, you see all sorts of life teaming beneath the waves. These soils are alive with billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes as well as macrobial organisms like earthworms and insects. All play an important role in enriching and aerating the soil, processing organic matter and feeding the plants.

Advantages:

  • Anchors plants and promotes strong root growth;
  • Holds water and makes it accessible to plant roots;
  • Holds air so that roots and soil microbes can breathe;
  • Holds nutrients and makes these available to the roots.

Tests to find out your soil type Before planting up a new bed, garden or veggie patch, make time to get to ‘know’ your soil. There are many different soil types, and there may be great variation between different areas of your garden. Soil is broadly classified into loam, clay and sandy soils. There are two simple tests that can be done to help you determine what is what:

1. The sausage test

Wet an area of soil, then collect a handful and roll it into a sausage shape and gently bend.

  • If it is very crumbly and breaks before bending it means your soil is sandy.
  • If it holds its shape and then breaks slightly when bending then it’s loamy soil (ideal).
  • If it bends and holds its shape (without breaking), it means your soil is clay.

2. The ball test

Wet an area of soil, collect a handful and roll it into a ball.

  • If the soil particles won’t bind together, the soil is sandy.
  • If the soil moulds to a loose ball but breaks easily then its loamy soil (ideal).
  • If the soil retains its shape after moulding, it’s a clay soil.

Working with your soil type

Once you have established what soil type you have, you will be able to implement a suitable plan of action for its improvement or sustainable management. Even loamy soil needs continuous enhancement and nutrition to support optimal root and plant growth. The EcoBuz range offers a holistic, balanced approach to soil health.

Loam soil

This soil consists of a combination of clay and sand particles that results in:

  • A workable soil with good colour that holds its shape.
  • A balance of large and small soil particles, with mixed pore spaces.
  • Good water-holding capacity.
  • Medium porosity – allowing water and nutrients to be absorbed while the excess can drain away.
  • Good aeration – allowing oxygen to penetrate into the soil to sustain life.
  • A soil that can hold onto nutrients for use by plants and keep the soil pH balanced.

Sandy soil

The problem:

Sandy soil has the following characteristics:

  • Coarse and gritty to touch.
  • Has large particle sizes with large pore spaces.
  • Has a low water-holding capacity.
  • Drains easily.
  • Well-aerated.
  • Poor in nutrients.

The solution:

Start building the soil to negate the problematic characteristics as discussed above. By adding compost, you promote soil aggregation and improve water-holding capacity, while also adding nutrients. Other good practices like mulching, planting cover crops that can be used as green manures, and adding plenty of organic material into the soil will eventually turn the soil around and give you and your plants the benefits of a healthier soil.

Clay soil

The problem:

Clay soils are not ideal for gardening, as the small clay particles prevent the free flow of water, oxygen and nutrients. These soils are prone to water-logging and crusting, and are easily compacted.

Clay soil has the following characteristics:

  • Soft and powdery to touch.
  • Very fine particle size with minimal pore spaces.
  • High water-holding capacity.
  • Poor drainage.
  • Poor aeration.
  • Nutrient content is usually pretty high, but unavailable for uptake.

The solution:

Start building the soil as with sandy soil. Adding compost to clay soil makes it easier to work, and over time compost improves soil aggregation, aeration and enhances nutrient uptake. Compost builds and contributes to soil structure. A healthy soil is the key to a healthy garden. The journey to garden wellness starts with soil that’s healthy and HumiGro, a carbon-based soil conditioner with a complex list of nutritional elements that form the basis of soil fertility. Think of it as a highly concentrated form of compost. Adding HumiGro:

  • Feeds beneficial microorganisms

  • Promotes soil structure;
  • Buffers against any harmful substances;
  • Releases nutrients for plant growth.