The Sun is the Driving Force

Green chlorophyll in leaves, algae and some bacteria use energy from the sun to split Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the air into Oxygen (O2) and Carbon (C). The oxygen is released back to the air while the Carbon is combined with water and minerals from the soil to produce sugars, fats, oils and other compounds such as vitamins and proteins. These fats, oils and compounds differ between plant species.

Some of the sugar is used by the plant to grow, and some is transported to the roots and exuded into the soil and feeds parts of the soil biology. How much is exuded depends on the plant species and the plant’s stage of development. Under good conditions, half may be exuded during the life of the plant.

The Soil Builders

Some of the countless organisms of the soil biology use the sugars to combine soil particles such as clay and loam into complex soil structures. Others decompose dead plants and animals and recycle the minerals in them. Still others put minerals in forms that plants can absorb, and create many of the compounds that plants (and humans) need for protection against diseases and insects.

Fungi play a big role in building carbon structures. Some (mycorrhizal fungi) can find and transport minerals from a distance and exchange this for sugars in special root cells. These fungi function as extensions of the plant’s root-system.

More diversity in plants and their exudates leads to a more diverse soil biology and more resistance in the symbiotic system.

Restoring and Feeding the Soil Biology

Many modern farming practices damage or kill the soil biology and have weakened the plant-soil symbiosis. This has led to increasing cost and problems in agriculture, and is also a major contributing factor in many current human-health problems. Fortunately, new knowledge has shown nature’s ability to recover once we stop disrupting this symbiosis and start looking after it.

Our experiments with high-fungal teas have shown that changes in management can strengthen the plant-soil symbiosis quickly and profitably, and that it is not difficult to do. Feeding the soil biology with the widest range of minerals available, Sea minerals, is one effective way to do that.

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Holes were dug, the trees placed, and they were irrigated and mulched with wood chips — all standard procedure. From there on, they received the same treatment as the rest of the gardens.

In May 2021, two had died, and the others were not doing well, mainly due to wind and soil conditions. Topsoil was basically not present, and the silty loam subsoil was very compact and dense. On 10 May 2021, two of the surviving nine trees were treated with Bio-Booster and some minerals. Nothing else was changed.

On 30 August 2021, 112 days after treatment, they were inspected again. Another three untreated ones had died, and the remaining four were not doing well.

The contrast with the treated ones could not be starker. (The same white board was used in all photos.)

In May, the trees had shown leaf chlorosis and a small amount of growth. This was taken into account in the treatment. The soil into which they were planted showed no crumb structure or softening, which indicates an almost complete lack of soil-biology.

The treatment consisted of:

• Bio-Booster (1l per tree)
• Calcium (10 g/tree of very fine lime)
• Zinc (10 g/tree of zinc sulphate heptahydrate)
• Humic acid (10 ml/tree)
• Sea Minerals (10 ml/tree)

The Bio-Booster and minerals were watered-in with a watering can up to 0.5m around the tree.

112 days after treatment, the treated trees showed two to four times the growth of what they had been and had healthy leaves. Most importantly, the top 10 mm of soil showed crumb structure and more roots. This indicates that the introduced soil-biology had started to function.

The experiment confirms our view that to get healthy trees, we need to increase, balance and feed the soil biology. This requires a much wider range of minerals than has been realised until recently. And where the biology is not present, it can be re-introduced in a much shorter time than is currently believed.

To give a human perspective how fast that can happen, the tree below grew about one metre in 112 days, from being a stunted one about knee-high to what the photo shows.

Summary

• More than double the growth
• No yellow leaf deficiency
• Softening soil.

All that in 112 days and in lifeless, compact subsoil — and after 13 months of no growth whatsoever. It shows the awesome power of Nature when given the right ingredients.

The post Saving Macadamia Trees, the deadly cost of transplanting trees without their soil biology appeared first on Healthy Plants - Healthy People.

If you know something we don’t, we would appreciate it if you get in contact with us!

Information sourced and compiled from:

• Sea Minerals Reduce Dysbiosis, Improve Pasture Productivity and Plant Morphometrics in Pasture Dieback Affected Soils
• Teaming with nutrients – Jeff Lowenfels

The post Known Functions of Sea Minerals appeared first on Healthy Plants - Healthy People.

Sea minerals are being harvested as a left-over product after winning table salt from seawater. It contains 32 minerals known to be needed, some in minuscule amounts but still vital for some soil organisms. The list of those elements can be found at Known Functions of Sea Minerals

Soil biology is already established in existing orchards, otherwise it would not produce much. But has this biome all it requires for optimum tree health and productivity? To find out, a test was carried out on an Avocado farm in Childers.

The treatment consisted of applying Humic Acid at the rate of 15L/ha and Sea Minerals at the rate of 5L/ha to three rows of the Sheppard variety. The application was by injecting the liquids into the under-tree irrigation. The first application was on 3 October 2018, a second on 29 November and a third on 26 February 2019. The treated rows were in the centre of a field and the rest of the field was the control.

The results were excellent.

The results were excellent.

By 8 May, the soil in the treated area was softer and held more water. This was assessed by feel by two farmworkers and two trained agricultural consultants, who all agreed.

At harvest, the average bin weights in the control rows, each side of the treated rows, was 416 kg. The 10 bins from the 3 treated rows averaged 460 kg, an 11% increase in weight. This indicates more sugars and minerals in the fruit.

Sugars are produced in leaves through photosynthesis. This is the complex process in which plants combine sunlight with water from the soil and carbon from the air into sugars. It needs many minerals to work well.

Leaf sugars were measured with a refractometer¹ on 2nd April and 8th May 2019. On both occasions, the results, measured using Brix² readings, were 10% higher in the treated rows compared with adjacent control rows. Higher Brix readings mean healthier plants and the healthier a plant is, the less attractive it is to insects and the more resistant to diseases.

An increase in sugars also indicates an increase in the minerals that gives fruit its distinctive taste. It means that plants have more sugar to feed the soil biology, so it in turn can increase soil carbon levels and structure and provide more minerals back to the plant in exchange for the sugars. This starts a virtuous upward cycle of improvements.

Increased Gross Margins

Avocados are sold in trays of 5.5 kg, and bigger fruit means more trays. An important test is if extra trays mean more dollars, as well as improving the soil and giving better taste.

Working that out in detail is beyond this article. But a rough calculation suggests that the per hectare extra income from more trays can be $600/ha or more. It means that investing pretty small amount of dollars in biology will pay itself back in one harvest, as was also shown in our trial on improving soybean yield by 9% with Bio-Booster and humic acid.

Farmers do not have to wait years before getting their money back, as is commonly believed. The next harvest will pay for it handsomely.

Worth Doing More Tests?

Is it worth doing more tests of giving the soil-biology what it needs so it can perform better? That is up to the growers.

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