Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden Soil · Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden...

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Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden Soil Karen A. Plumley, Ph.D. Soils Instructor, Rutgers Golf School Research Director, A-LIST

Transcript of Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden Soil · Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden...

Dirty Little Secrets: 10 Tips to Great Garden Soil

Karen A. Plumley, Ph.D. Soils Instructor, Rutgers Golf School Research Director, A-LIST

USDA

What is Soil?

1. Rome wasn’t built in a day…..

What kind of soil do you want?

• Sufficient supply of nutrients • Good tilth • Well drained • Free of toxins • Low populations of pathogens • Resilient (resist degradation)

Soil Quality Enhancing Soil Quality Degrading organic material additions overharvesting plant growth bare fallow fibrous root systems of plants fire cool, humid climate hot, arid climate vegetative cover exposed soil minimal tillage operations intense tillage

erosion

Cultural and Environmental Factors Which Enhance/Degrade Soil Quality

How do you build healthy soil?

Nurturing process: • Practices to add OM • Practices to minimize OM loss • Maintain good structure • Minimize tillage • Provide soil cover

2. Test Your Soil. Don’t Guess!

Why Soil Test? • To evaluate

nutrient levels

• To determine soil pH

• To receive most appropriate recommendation for fertilizer & lime

• Economically prudent

• Environmentally responsible

Plant Nutrients

Brady & Weil, 1999

♦Affects nutrient availability (solubility)

♦Aluminum toxicity damages roots at low pH

♦Direct damage also possible at high pH

Effects of Soil pH

Plants have preferred pH ranges

Choosing Appropriate Fertilizer(s) • Should be based on soil test levels and plant needs

– Ratio of required nutrients will determine recommended grade

– May have to apply single-nutrient fertilizers

– Don’t rely on marketing (“Rose food”, “lawn fertilizer”)

• Read labels – Weed & Feed fertilizers have herbicide;

apply only to grass • Organic fertilizers

3. Get the Nitrogen Right

Soil Test Fertilizer Recommendations include nitrogen requirements of your crop.

Nitrogen content is not part of the standard soil test.

The form of nitrogen that is available to plants, is short-lived in soil

Nitrogen recommendations are based primarily on seasonal crop requirements rather than on the actual nitrogen soil level

4. Start a compost pile

SOIL ORGANIC MATTER

Soil Organic Matter Effects

5. Respect the underworld!

In one teaspoon of “healthy” soil there should be: – 600 million bacteria – three miles of fungal hyphae – 10,000 protozoa – 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes in a teaspoon of soil

Dr. Elaine R. Ingham, Soil Food Web

Soil Ecology and Plant Nutrition

Selman Waksman • Waksman coined the term

antibiotics • It was at Rutgers that

Waksman's team discovered streptomycin and eomycin

• streptomycin being the first antibiotic to cure tuberculosis

• Dr. Waksman received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of streptomycin

6. Mulch more. Dig Less!

EXCESSIVE TILLAGE Aggregates break down

Increase erosion

Less water storage Less soil organisms

Fewer nutrients

Soil OM decreases

Surface compaction

More soil OM lost

Crop yield reduction

7. Avoid traffic in growing areas.

Consequences of Compaction

8. Plant a cover crop.

What are Cover Crops? Cover crops are plants grown strictly to improve soil fertility and structure. Cover crops also provide insulation that keeps the soil cool in summer and warm in winter.’ What are Green Manures? Green manure is created when fresh cover crops are incorporated into the soil. Like cover crops, green manure increases the level of nutrients and organic matter in the soil. Cover Crops vs. Green Manure Cover crops are the actual plants Green manure is created when the green plants are plowed into the soil

Which Cover Crop is Right for You? Nutrient Scavengers

• Annual Ryegrass • Radish • Winter Cereal Rye • Oats

Nitrogen Producers

• Crimson Clover • Hairy Vetch • Austrian Winter Pea

9. Crop Rotation!

Have A Plan

10. Caveat emptor.

Where does ‘Topsoil’ come from?

Sustainability

Sustainable Agriculture Research Education

Download a free copy at:

http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/ Building-Soils-for-Better-Crops-3rd-Edition

WEB RESOURCES

WEB RESOURCES Soil Testing for Home Lawns and Gardens http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/fs797/ Soil Sampling Instructions http://njaes.rutgers.edu/soiltestinglab/pdfs/home/Home_and_Landscape_-_Soil_Sampling_Instructions.pdf Soil Testing Questionnaire http://njaes.rutgers.edu/soiltestinglab/pdfs/home/Home_and_Landscape_-_Soil_Test_Questionnaire.pdf Nitrogen Basics http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet2.pdf

WEB RESOURCES Home Composting http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS811 Soil Organic Matter http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS1135 Improving Soil Quality By Increasing Organic Matter Content http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS1137 Cover Crops and Green Manure Crops: Benefits, Selection, and Use http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS849 Topsoil Suitable for Landscape Use http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS901