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Don\'t Guess, Soil Test
Nitrogen is transit in soil, that is it moves through the soil quickly and levels change at a rapid pace.One last note, soil tests will also give you the amount of organic material in your soil.
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Biochar: Good for your garden AND your carbon footprint!
Soil scientists noticed the dark soil was fertile where identical soil adjacent to it was poor at best. This carbon does 2 main things: it greatly aids soils for plant nutrition, and it holds (sequesters) carbon, creating a negative carbon footprint.
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El Segundo
Composting, on the not-so-grand scale
You have to keep the pile turned, so that the little critters don't smother and die. Go ahead and put your kitchen scraps, handfuls of fall leaves, garden trimmings and coffee grounds into the hole.
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Worms! How they Romance (all the details, here!)
Surface-dwelling species tend to produce many more cocoons. Worms mature in 10 - 55 weeks, depending on the species. The presence of the clitellum is the sign of a sexually mature worm.Here is more interesting information about the common earthworm.Earthworms...
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El Segundo
A podium for potassium
If the potassium deficiency is really bad, the leaves will become lace-like, then die and fall off. Potassium, the "K" of "NPK", is an essential plant growth nutrient used for transpiration (movement of water vapor) and regulation of carbon dioxide levels...
California
El Segundo
Mycorrhizae - Optimizing the Roots of Your Plants
Inoculating an outie plant with an innie mycorrhizal fungus will give you little or no results. Our response to those is often the application of toxic pesticides. For those whose primary interest is vegetable crops, an endomycorrhizal blend will be optimal.
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El Segundo
Magnesium: Essential for a plant\'s health, and ours
All living organisms depend on magnesium in all types of cells, body tissues and organs for a variety of functions. Http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/ff/CEC_BpH_and_percent_sat.htm)Click on these to take you to my other articles on soil...
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El Segundo
A Further Look at Mycorrhizas
Heath plants generally represent the more common - ie. EcM plants include the rose, pine, eucalyptus & oak familes. These cultures associate with a variety of deciduous trees such as beech, oak, hazel & poplar.
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El Segundo
Plants need calcium, too, just like teeth and bones!
To understand calcium and its role in healthy plants, here's a look at some sources of calcium, and how calcium affects plants. Calcium is essential for all living organisms including plants; most soils contain enough calcium but not in a form plants...
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El Segundo
Fungi As Your Garden Partners - Enlisting the T-22 to Terminate Root Pathogens
A tentacle is seen extending furtively towards an unprotected root, intent on infecting, dissolving, digesting and destroying it. You want the entire root system to be protected and a plant in vigorous growth can outstrip the ability of the fungus to...
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El Segundo
Why do plants need SULFUR??
Sulfur is necessary for all living cells, but humans and animals only get it from plants. In plants, sulfur is essential for nitrogen-fixing nodules on legumes, and necessary in the formation of chlorophyll.
California
El Segundo
Symbolic Soils: I pledge allegiance to the DIRT!
The V-shapes may represent something different in each culture, but a few are mother, female, and creation.Over the last few decades, "soil" has been added to the ever-increasing list of state symbols along with the state flag, motto, song, flower, bird,...
California
El Segundo
Compost confessions: How low can I go?
But as my corrals move around, perhaps it will give me the motivation to take back the areas that I really want for other plants even if it means a massacre of the self-sowers with the mass of a new compost pile.As I live & learn, one change that it is...
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El Segundo
Micronutrients: missing pieces of the plant nutrition puzzle
Once I really got down to business about learning plant nutrition over the past several years, I learned two things that work best for my garden are available calcium, and micronutrients.The more common of the micronutrients are iron (Fe), molybdenum...
California
El Segundo
Music to your plants - Using microbes in concert to protect against pathogens
Any disruption of that balance can result in one or more of the microbes gaining an upper hand over the others. Natural soil is a veritable cornucopia of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other small organisms, all living together in a delicate balance.
California
El Segundo
Winter Composting: Retaining the Heat When the Temperatures Drop
Leaves are available in great supply in the autumn, and you may find that your neighbors have very kindly collected and bagged them up for convenient removal. Alternately, click on the Guides and Information tab at the top of your homepage, scroll down...
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El Segundo
Clay Soil: A Real Challenge
The following partial list of clay-tolerant plants will enrich your landscape, giving you depth and color without many complaints. Be sure to keep mulch material well away from the stem or trunk, since the decomposition process produces heat and can cause...
California
El Segundo
Gardeners Wash Your Hands- Pets, Wildlife and Parasites in the Soil
Some people love the feel of the garden dirt in their hands as they weed or work the soil.Do you always know what's in the soil, or who's been there before you?Pets and wild animals often find garden soil a perfect ‘litter pan' and will deposit their...
California
El Segundo
No-till Gardening: Sustainable Alternative to the Rototiller
The A horizon is the topsoil consisting of humus and minerals. The origin of no-dig gardening is sometimes attributed to Australian writer and conservationist, Esther Deans [2] who outlined a method of piling mulch over newspaper to prepare garden beds...
California
El Segundo
Happy, Hunting Grounds
The composting process frees up the nitrogen in the coffee grounds and converts it into a form that plant roots can readily absorb.However, many gardeners do apply uncomposted coffee grounds around the base of plants without incurring any problems.
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El Segundo
Got Mulch?
If you live in a region where the temperatures stay cold, or the rainfall is heavy in early spring, put off mulching until May or June.In areas where winter comes long and hard, apply a second application of mulch in the autumn, especially on new plants...
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El Segundo
The Importance of Microbes in Soil
In all cases, foliar sprays are not enough; there must also be organic matter continually available in the soil for the microbes to eat. Jump-starting the reproduction of microbes by adding beneficial microbes along with organic matter is an option depending...
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El Segundo
Rock Dust... DUH!!
Another example is provided by E.I. Steifel, Science, 996, vol. We as gardeners attempt to add nutrients back to the soil by means of fertilizers, compost and/or other amendments that we purchase and apply in vast and expensive quantities.
California
El Segundo
Vermicomposting: Worm Composting Indoors, Part Two
Worms are flexible in terms of temperature, withstanding occasional temperatures of 38F to 95F. If the top layer dries out from time to time, spritz with water. Best is a range of 60F to 80F, with cool room temperature ideal.
California
El Segundo
Soldier Flies in Backyard Composting and Worm Bin Management
Pupae can overwinter.Curious composters who don't seem to have a population of soldier flies can attract them easily using coffee. The waste these larvae make is very moist. Soldier fly larvae eat for about two weeks.
California
El Segundo
Woody Plants for Acidic Soils
If planted in the root-bound condition, the plants will be very slow to become established.To plant, add about 15 cm of prepared soil into the planting hole. If the shrub does not seem to be thriving, the application of a general fertilizer such as 5-10-5,...
California
El Segundo
Phosphorus, a key element in all plant (and animal) life
The work of phosphorus begins early in the development of plant tissues, as younger plants have a greater requirement for phosphorus. Phosphorus, the "P" in NPK, is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth.
California
El Segundo