Soil organisms provide numerous essential services, most notably decomposition and mineralization – processes known as “nutrient cycling.”
Living soil practices offer an eco-friendly solution to farming that can boost soil health while supporting the cultivation of different types of crops. They’re an effective alternative to industrial methods which often rely on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides which have adverse environmental impacts and degrade soil health further.
Increased Nutrient Absorption
Soils contain an intricate web of organisms that play critical roles in decomposing soil organic matter (SOM) and recycling plant nutrients, both vital for crop production. Such ecosystem services directly contribute to production success as they rely on belowground biodiversity.
Bacteria are among the most essential organisms found in soil, as they play an essential role in breaking down residues and increasing plant nutrient availability. Furthermore, bacteria convert ammonium nitrogen to nitrate which promotes healthy root development while decreasing chemical fertilizer requirements.
Other microorganisms help break down and remineralize organic matter found in all living soils, particularly complex carbon. They include bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi; all playing an essential part in providing plants with nourishment naturally over time without needing artificial supplements from bottles.
Balanced food chains produce numerous positive side-effects, such as being able to regulate soil parameters such as water holding capacity and pH levels. Since natural systems are difficult to recreate in laboratory settings, research aims at finding practices which foster healthier soils with beneficial microorganisms present within them.
These organisms thrive under optimal conditions, such as low levels of soil disturbance, cover crops, maintaining sufficient soil moisture levels and using organic sources of slow-release nutrients. It’s important to remember that soil’s ability to supply specific nutrients to crops may depend both on its microbial diversity as well as abiotic factors like its relative intensity of substituted aliphatic carbon over aliphatic carbon content in its makeup.
Improved Plant Growth
Living soil provides plants with more of the essential nutrients they require than traditional media can, on their own schedule. Kultiva living soil bed dolly system provides more natural balance of nutrients for greater plant wellbeing. Furthermore, plants can choose what and when it wishes to take in nutrients from living soil.
Due to soil microbes, your plants can benefit from being fed an abundance of nutrient rich food sources that allow them to focus more on growing roots, flowers and fruit rather than just surviving.
Soil microbes can be added to your planting medium via compost and products like Oregonism XL, which are designed to promote healthy soil organisms while also providing oxygen-breathing mycorrhizae that aid in healthy root development. Furthermore, Oregonism XL also increases water and nutrient availability within plants which in turn can result in better blooms as well as stronger, more productive fruits and vegetables.
Soil health can be compromised by overuse of certain chemicals and methods of agricultural production, including plowing or overgrazing of croplands, which reduces organic matter levels significantly and affects its structure, nutrients availability and biodiversity (Coleman et al 2004).
Living soil as your planting medium allows you to avoid using chemicals while still giving plants all the essential nutrients they require for healthy growth. Furthermore, this approach may reduce the number of bottle additives needed, saving money over time.
Reduced Erosion
Healthy soil is home to numerous organisms, such as fungi and bacteria. They play an integral part in its ecosystem by providing essential nutrients needed by plants for their growth. A well-balanced system of nutrients and moisture exists within such healthy soil.
Erosion is one of the biggest challenges farmers and landscapers face today, from flooding, mudslides, landslides and natural disasters to polluted air quality contaminating drinking water sources. But there are ways you can minimize erosion to preserve the health of your garden.
One effective method of soil erosion prevention is planting shrubs and grass in your yard. This will help hold down the soil in place while also decreasing raindrop impact on it, and reduce erosion by slowing its impact. Another great way is applying mulch layers on top of soil layers which retain moisture levels in soil while slowing erosion down.
Landscaping techniques can also be employed to combat erosion, including installing drains and gutters to drain away excess water from your soil, installing retaining walls to hold back soil erosion, planting plants that naturally move water away from areas, etc.
An additional way to prevent erosion is through sediment control treatments like sediment traps or weirs. These solutions help collect any sediments carried away by the water and can be applied for construction, stormwater management, fire remediation projects and more.
Reduced Watering Needs
Many people underestimate the crucial role soil plays in global ecosystems. Even small patches of dirt contain interconnected systems essential to food production, such as:
Soil microorganisms do more than recycle dead organic matter; they draw in or fix nitrogen from the air and cycle it back into the system, as well as form aggregates to support healthy water storage capacity and provide structure that supports it. Economists have estimated the value of these “ecosystem services” as being in the thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per hectare.
Traditional soil-based agriculture uses organic ingredients, such as compost, peat moss, coco coir, aged manure and worm castings, to meet plant growth needs. These materials boast diverse microorganisms that help limit erosion while improving aeration.
Most living soils center around compost as the cornerstone of their ecosystem and an optimal source of nutrition for their plants. Compost is filled with an array of essential minerals that will nourish your plant throughout its entire growth cycle without the risk of overfeeding and subsequent nutrient burn.
Living soil should also include other organic materials, like wood ash, green manure, kelp meal, biochar and so on. These ingredients help adjust pH levels while providing essential elements such as calcium, iron, zinc, manganese, sulfur and copper – essential elements for an healthy soil ecosystem. Those who regularly utilize living soils report robust growth with decreased need for pesticides or fungicides due to consistent nourishment from living soils.
Reduced Soil Erosion
Soil organisms play an enormous role in biogeochemical cycling of organic matter and nutrients in soil, helping reduce erosion while creating a healthy environment. By feeding on crop residues, organic matter, microorganisms in the soil, creating mutually beneficial relationships (known as symbiotic relationships ) with plants; they also bind the soil together creating a fluffy sponge-like structure capable of holding both water and nutrients.
As soon as bare soil is exposed to rainwater, its structure loosens and becomes more vulnerable to wind and water erosion. If allowed to continue unchecked, erosion can carry soil downstream, where it can clog streams, erode banks or pollute nearby rivers and lakes. In order to prevent erosion, methods include terracing, contour cropping patterns or grassed riverbanks as a form of protection.
Grassed fields can help reduce erosion by providing protection from wind and rain. Grasses help prevent soil from blowing away while they also slow water flow during heavy downpours.
Bank stabilization techniques such as gabion baskets, re-vegetation or rip rap are an excellent way to combat erosion by keeping sediment out of disturbed regions and protecting local waterways from pollution while helping them reestablish their natural functions.
Cover crops are another excellent way to combat soil erosion. Cover crops are plant species grown during periods of fallow between harvests, protecting the soil from environmental forces by aerating, breaking up compacted layers and hardpans, controlling weeds and absorbing rainfall while trapping sediment in their roots – not to mention improving quality by lowering temperatures and increasing organic matter content of the soil.
