How to Build Great Soil - A Soil Science Masterclass with Dr. Elaine Ingham (Part 4 of 4) 

Mizoram state

How do you deal with that?

@@hosoiarchives4858 We first grow nitrogen fixing trees that are salt resistant to open the soil. We collect and spread weed seeds. We water with compost tea made from weeds to booster life in the soil. Gradually we can grow grasses. by mowing the weeds. After we can grow our fruit and nut trees by sacrificing some nitrogen fixers. We continually add compost and compost tea and sawdust on the surface of tree wells to reduce evaporation. Gradually we can grow vegetables in the tree wells. It all depends on the bacterial and fungal ratios in the soil. This talk gives the clues of how to get deep roots.

@@annburge291 amazing! Where do you live? That sounds challenging

Chihuahua Mexico on a site that had a metre of top soil removed because they used it to level the ground in nearby orchards. We were left with clay and caliche. They sold it because it was seen as useless. They had the idea of using it as a fish farm but this project was rejected because the pecan flowers paralyse fish and we had a thirteen year drought and water was too scarce. We found an underground stream by observing which tree in the neighbours windbreak survived when they stopped watering and lining it up with a large mezquite on another neighbours block. We dug two wells on that line.

@@annburge291 very impressive and what dedication!

I loled reading your comment. However.... I think early in the lecture (part 1?) She eluded to weeds living in the anarobic environment and not (nearly as much) the arobic environment.

It means taking a different direction , aeay from chemicals and i to biology , day by day your soil will be better and more nutritious for whatever you are planting , your plants become more resistant to pests and disease

@Ahmed Charfeddine Quite the opposite, get the life and it will build the structure (and solubilize[?] the nutrients) so plants will thrive. I am now going to other videos of hers to learn more about compost and inoculums to kickstart the "good guys".

Produce as much good compost made from as many possible organic materials as you can find with as many organisms as you can get and make sure that the compost pile does not go anaerobic. Then spread that compost over your land where you want to grow food. You want fungal dominated soil (slightly acidic) for trees and shrubs and bacteria dominated soil for brassicas, but an even mix of bacteria, fungal for all other vegetables (neutral to slightly alkaline.) Get a microscope and look at the microbes that are in your soil/compost to determine what type of organisms are growing in it and what changes you need to make, which is determined by what plants you intend to grow with the compost. If you cannot make enough compost, make a compost tea and apply it as necessary. If you want to increase bacteria in your soil/compost, add sugar. If you want to increase fungus in your soil/compost, add carbohydrates (wheat flour.) Do not use chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers as they are unnecessary and will only mess up your soil ecology which will have a detrimental impact on your plants. All the minerals you need are already in your soil, they are just not plant available due to your present soil ecology. That about sums it up.

The simple answer is: Get or make good compost, and spread the compost on top of the soil. Disturb the soil as little as possible. Allow the life-web to do all the work. You don't need to dig anything into the soil. Just keep spreading quality compost on top!

Just cover the soil with mulch, mostly hay, and nature will do all the work for you. Read Ruth Stout book

I would highly recommend Charles Dowding’s videos on compost making.

Even out your soil biology and you won’t be growing weeds. Add some fungal compost teas and maybe do a Protozoa infusion if the soil is lacking

@@caseyjones8733 I totally agree but here in New England it seems anything and everything grows on open soil. Actually have very few weeds in my raised beds but for instance I have a native strawberry that will take over, as well as wild mint(not sure if its native). I'm going to try mulch instead of weed block this year and diving into my biology!

@@caazimiw the only difference between your weed block and deep mulch is the temperature and humidity of the soil. With deep mulch you insulate the ground, decrease evaporation and even out the temperature swings in top soil.

I would be scared with the plastic cover that the soil would become anaerobic and bad things would breed

Sow in modules, use a dibber to poke a hole, transfer module. Or make a 1 inch deep line and direct sow. Check out Charles Dowding's videos, he practices no dig and has a wealth of knowledge that he shares.

Exactly the question I wanted to ask: I would LOVE to hear the entire description of how she/they tackled the Non-Compost! Was it recoverable? Or was it completely destroyed, after which she/they trained them how to do it correctly?

Omax Microscopes

Or you could go back to the previous video and rewatch it. It is on YT. Stop being lazy....

@@ABplusOriginal I'm sorry the video I was able to find of her talk was posted by a third party and the links she mentioned were not listed. Anyway thank you for helping.

@@ABplusOriginal on second thought how bout you shut the fuck up. If you wanna help , help. If not shut up.

The soil will aerate itself with the addition of good bacteria and fungi moving its way through it.

Maybe vermicomposting?

Johnson Su Bioreactor

Who owns those industries? There’s not the amount of money in this system as there is with the current system

actino thrive in low oxygen conditions. aerate the pile, exposing all pieces to oxygen and the actino should start to go dormant

@@sig124 by applying it to the soil it gets aerated , is that enough?

@@VanillaAttila I am not an expert, (one university course in microbiology and following along with this series) but I think the idea is that you don't want to introduce them in the first place. So you want to eliminate the actinobacteria before applying.

@@SuperDamncat how long does it take for them to die from oxidizing? What do I do if I already applied a 6 inch thick layer in my food forest?

Get the Jab...

Covid trauma

Open your eyes man

I'll debate with you if you really want it

Wow good luck in your entire life with that kind of brain power. That has to be one of the most ignorant comments I have come across through all the comments I have seen.

Your something else....

Snowflake. I learned some of this from my koi pond and aquarium. Principals are much the same whether applied to soil or water. They want to sell us chemicals for everything. 26 yrs ago experts said I couldn’t keep koi or angelfish in my high alkaline water and that I must always adjust it. Never did. Lost one koi of my 31 and none of my angels. Nature always had it right with her compost making.