Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by Tom Gibson
www.camaspermaculture.org
This definition, however, may be a little too simple. Here’s a better one:
SOIL—a living, dynamic system at the interface between air and rock.
Soil forms in response to forces of climate and organisms that act on
parent material in a specific landscape over a long period of time.
Pore Space
Mineral Matter
Organic
Matter
Making a poor garden better often begins with the soil. If your
garden soil is poor, consider giving it some help. Adding organic
materials to sandy soils improves their nutrient- and water-holding
capacity. Adding organic materials to clay soil improves drainage
and aeration, and helps the soil dry out and warm up more quickly
in the spring.
“Conventional”
Agriculture
Intensive tillage, soil erosion and insufficient
added residues
Soil organic matter decreases
Surface becomes compacted, crust forms
Most soil organic matter is lost
Crop yields decline
Aggregates break down
Erosion by wind and water increases
Less soil water storage, less diversity of soil
organism, fewer nutrients for plants
The soil
ecosystem
Residue decomposition
Nutrient cycling
Aggregation and porosity
Enhance plant growth
Break down contaminants
Soil Organisms
Many plants develop a beneficial relationship with fungi that increases the contact
of roots with the soil. Fungi infect the roots and send out root like structures called
hyphae. The hyphae of these mycorrhizal fungi take up water and nutrients that
can then feed the plant. This is especially important for phosphorus nutrition of
plants in low-phosphorus soils. The hyphae help the plant absorb water and
nutrients and in return the fungi receive energy in the form of sugars, which the
plant produces in its leaves and sends down to the roots.
Soil air and water
Water Movement
How quickly water moves through soil
Water Holding Capacity
How much water a soil can hold
available for plant growth
The plow is one of the most ancient and
most valuable of man’s inventions; but long
before he existed the land was in fact
regularly ploughed, and continues to
be thus ploughed by earthworms.
—CHARLES DARWIN, 1881
Pore space and air-
water relations
Soil acts like a sponge
Macro pores control infiltration and drainage
Capillary pores control water holding capacity
Micro pores hold unavailable water
1 gram samples
Coarse sand Half Dollar
The soil-fist test can be used to determine soil type. Compact wet soil in your fist to
determine whether it is sandy, loam, or clay/silt. If it is sandy soil, it will refuse to form
itself into a ball in your fist. If it is loamy, it will form itself into a ball, but remain friable
so that it will crumble when poked with your finger. Clay/silty soil will form into a ball
that has sufficient plasticity that it will remain a ball when poked with a finger. The more
clay you have in your soil the longer the ribbon you can squeeze out.
Texture
Structure
Compaction
Organic
matter
The depletion of the soil humus supply is apt to be
a fundamental cause of lowered crop yields.
—J.H. HILLS, C.H. JONES, AND C. CUTLER, 1908
Aggregation of sand, silt, and clay particles
Structure affects:
Macro porosity
Infiltration
Aeration
Formation of soil structure
Growth of roots and movement of organisms create pores
and aggregates
Soil organisms break down organic residues, producing
glues that stabilize aggregates
Fungi provide structural support to aggregates
Physical, chemical processes also involved
Moisture, warmth, and aeration; soil texture; soil fitness; soil organisms; its tillage,
drainage and irrigation; all these are quite as important factors in the make up
and maintenance of the fertility of the soil as are manures, fertilizers, and soil
amendments. —J.L. HILLS, C.H. JONES, AND C. CUTLER, 1908
Structure Factors
Texture
Structure
Compaction
Organic matter
Because organic matter is lost from the soil through decay, washing, and leaching,
and because large amounts are required every year for crop production, the necessity
of maintaining the active organic-matter content of the soil, to say nothing of the
desirability of increasing it on many depleted soils, is a difficult problem.
-- A. F. GUSTAFSON, 1941
Human compaction:
Natural compaction: Clearing
Basal glacial till Construction
Very compact.
Nearly
Traffic
impermeable. Livestock
Improving Soils
Texture
Structure
Compaction
Organic
matter
Where no kind of manure is to be had, I think the cultivation of lupines will be found
the readiest and best substitute. If they are sown about the middle of September in
a poor soil, and then plowed in, they will answer as well as the best manure.
—COLUMELLA, 1st Century, Rome
Using animal manure
safely
Incorporate manure into
soil before planting.
Wait AT LEAST 120 days
between application of
fresh manure and harvest.
Well aged (>six months)
and thoroughly composted
manure do not have
pathogen risk.
Don’t use cat, dog or swine
manure.
Why is organic
matter important?
Structure and
macropores
Water holding
capacity
Infiltration
Nutrient supply
Biological activity
… generally, the type of soil management that gives the greatest immediate
return leads to a deterioration of soil productivity, whereas the type that
provides the highest income over the period of a generation leads to the
maintenance or improvement of productivity.
—CHARLES KELLOGG, 1936
Plant Nutrients
Major Nutrients Micronutrients
Nitrogen Boron
Phosphorus Iron
Potassium Manganese
Calcium Zinc
Magnesium Copper
Sulfur Chloride
Molybdenum
Amino Acid
Organic Matter
Nutrient N
K s P
Ca Mg Generall S
yNot Organic Matter
Mineral Matter availabl
e
Not N P
available
S
Weathering
K
Ca Mg
K+ Ca++
soluble,
available
Not N
Weathering available P
K S
Ca Mg
Biological release
K +
Ca
++ NH4+ SO4-2
soluble, available
Fertilizer Labels
5- 10 - 10
% N - % phosphate -% potash
Phosphate = units of P
1 lb P = 2.3 lb phosphate (P2O5)
Potash = units of K
1 lb K = 1.2 lb potash (K2O)
How much fertilizer do I use?
Fertilizer should be added after determining
what the available amount of nutrition is.
The available amount is often less than the
total amount.
Available phosphorous in the spring is often
higher than the input amount after adding
manure in the fall. Manure increases the
biological activity in soil which liberates
phosphate and other minerals that are
“locked up”.
Soil pH
Indicates relative acidity or
alkalinity
pH 7 = neutral; less than 7 = acid;
more than 7 = alkaline or basic
Logarithmic scale
Drip or weep hose irrigation will maximize delivery of water and nutrients to
the root zone while minimizing splashing and watering that causes disease.
You can build simple effective systems with off the shelf components from
hardware stores. A typical drip system can easily recapture the entire cost in a
single season by limiting excessive watering while ensuring plants get the
needed resources.
Best results will occur with the use of some kind of mechanical or electronic
control system that measures the water or the amount of time the water is
allowed to run.
Thank You
Material provided by:
Dr. Craig Cogger-WSU/NRCS, Puyallup
Dr. Charles Brun-WSU Extension Clark County
Kinsey Agricultural Services
National Center for Appropriate Technology
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Additional Resources
USDA National Agricultural Library
http://www.nal.usda.gov/
Building Soils for Better Crops
http://www.sare.org/publications/bsbc/bsbc.pdf
Additional Resources
Soil Survey of Clark County
http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/Manuscripts/WA011/0/wa011_text.pdf
NRCS Soil Survey Explorer
http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx
Guide to Soil Survey Reports
http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Soil_survey_brochure.pdf
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
http://www.sare.org/index.htm
Clay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
http://attra.ncat.org/soils.html
OSU Extension Service-Improving Garden Soil
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/grow/grow/soil.html
Soil and Health Library
http://www.soilandhealth.org