Sei sulla pagina 1di 57

Ecological Soil Management:

The Key to Successful


Gardening

Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.


Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance
Advisor
Northeast Organic Farming Association of
Vermont
www.nofavt.org
Soil: the Foundation of
the Garden

WSH
Today’s Presentation
• Ecological Soil Management of
– Organic Matter

– Soil Tilth

– Bio-diversity
• To achieve healthy soil, healthy plants,
and ecological balance.
A Plant & Soil
Ecosystem Light
Air
Water, etc

Moisture Pollutants
Temperature
Nutrients
Air
Texture pH

Structure CEC
Microbes,
Earthworms, etc
OM = Organic Matter
Mi Nutrients Moisture
c ro
be
s

CEC

tter
ic Ma
an
Org
Soil Air

ure
uct
tr
S
Pollutants
ture
Tex pH
A Simplified Soil Ecosystem
A Good Loam Soil:

50% Solids
45% Mineral
5% Organic Matter

25% Water 25% Air


50% Pores
Small Pores Big Pores

So why is this important?


Soil Fertility is
The ability of a soil to provide a physical,
chemical, and biological environment for
the plant that is health sustaining.

This is a long-term ecosystem based or


ecological agriculture perspective!
Seven Principles to Maintain Soil
Fertility

1. Maintain a Proper Air to Water Balance


2. Maintain Soil Tilth
3. Prevent Erosion
4. Maintain Soil Organic Matter Levels
5. Maintain Biological Diversity
6. Maintain a Proper Soil pH
7. Maintain a Balance of Nutrients
A systems approach means you gotta do them all.
Each alone will not make a fertile soil.
Maintain Soil OM

Versus

Organic matter makes structure and feeds the biology!


Why Add Soil OM to Make Humus:
1. Source of Nutrients - N P S & micronutrients
2. Acts as a chelating (binding) agent for the micronutrients
3. Has high CEC; holds cations in soil (ex. K+, Ca2+, Mg2+)
4. Chelates potentially toxic elements (ex. Al3+, Cd2+, Zn2+)
5. Extracts “base” nutrient cations from minerals
6. Buffers soil pH reaction
7. High water holding capacity
8. Promotes aggregation & improves structure
9. Improves drainage (less erosion) & aeration
10. Affects soil temperature w/ dark color
11. Provides food, energy & nutrients for organisms
12. Stimulates plant root growth
13. Active OM helps maintain a diverse group of soil
organisms = less pests and diseases
Soil Organic Matter Profoundly Influences Soil Fertility
Soil Solution:
The Thin Skins of Water that Coat
Everything.

RAIN

r
ai
H
ot
Ro
Cation Cations
Exchange +++ We are
positive!
Capacity +
++

pH near neutral Acid pH

K+ Mg2+ Ca2+ H+ Al3+

NO3-
How Can You Get OM Into
Your Soils?
Animal Manures

Composts

Cover Crops
Mulches

Peat Moss
Others?

Any Cautions? ……C:N Ratio or Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio


Compost:
Aerobic Methods

• Small piles and bins

• Windrows

• Passive aeration

On-Farm Compost Handbook


Mulch Gardening - 1998

WSH
Cover Crops in the Garden 2008

WSH
Cover Crops:
• Cover Crops: Covers soil when normally bare preventing Johnny’s
Selected
erosion. Seeds

– Either survive winter (rye) or die and provide a mulch


(oats).
– Can build OM—mature plants with lots of biomass
turned under build soil OM best.
• Green Manures: Grown and turned in while still green;
generally immature.
– Legumes can build soil fertility—provide nitrogen.
– Can build Soil OM and reduce weeds.
• Catch Crops: Grasses mop up and holds nutrients that would
otherwise leach—nitrates scavenger.
– Holding nitrogen protect water quality and helps
harden-off perennial plants.

All from
Johnny’s
Selected
Seeds
Cover Crops Qualities for
Gardening
• Cover Crops Uses
– Cover crops, green manures, and catch crops
• Some Types
– Legumes: clovers, field peas, vetch, etc.
– Grasses: winter rye, oats, annual rye, etc
– Others: buckwheat, mustards, sorghum-sudangrass
• Winter Survival
– Winter-killed: buckwheat, oats, sorghum-sudangrass
– Might winter-kill: annual rye
– Survives winter: winter rye, perennial ryegrass, hairy vetch,
white clover, winter wheat
• Will Re-grow after Cutting
– Can be cut repeatedly: annual rye, rye, vetch
– Can be cut at some stages: oats, buckwheat,
Cover Crops in the Garden
Serial planting after onions

WSH

Oats

Buckwheat

Annual Ryegrass Rye-Vetch


Cover Crops in the Garden

WSH Rye-Vetch Annual Ryegrass WSH

Biomass Production
Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening

WSH WSH

Buckwheat and Oats Biomass—Past Cutting


Cover Crops in the Garden

WSH

Before and
After Cutting

WSH
N-P-K?? ??
pH?? O M
DO YOU KNOW %
What’s In Your Dirt?

Hea
How Much OM Should You
vy
M Add? s??
etal e nt
s?? u t ri
r o n
Mic
Take a Soil Test and Use Soil Test Recommendations
Don’t Fly Blindfolded!
ht
tp
://
ps
s.u
vm
.ed
u/
ag
_t
es
tin
g/
fo
rm
s.h
tm
l
Soil Test
Report
• Soil Test Results
• Recommendation
– Limestone
– Nitrogen
– Phosphorus
– Potassium
• Management Info
• Who to call
Create Great Soil Tilth
Make and Maintain Soil Structure

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Ohio State University

Think about being a root. Which soil


can you grow through best! Get your
air and water from best!
What Structure Does for You
• Drainage in clay soils (macropores)
• Water holding capacity in sandy soils
(micropores)

*Building structure with OM Creates the


Pores You Ain’t Got!*

Macropore hold air and drain (in-between)


Micropores hold water (inside)

OM = Drought Prevention Insurance


Pores Are Different!
In-between Inside
Aggregates Aggregates

Cornell University

After water drains, Water is stored


air is stored

No inside space =no water; no in-between space= no air.


How to Identify Compaction
• Compaction densely packs the soil
together, destroying tilth, structure and
increasing bulk density.

• Compaction:
– Surface crusting
– Surface compaction
• Symptoms Purdue University
– Standing water
– Stressed plants
– Erosion
Making Soil Structure:
• Improves: drainage, air exchange, moisture
holding capacity, root penetration and seed
germination!
• Lowers bulk density and reduces erosion!
• It ameliorates natural textural properties!

¾ Don’t Destroy Your Structure


¾ Wait and work your soil when it has dried out
enough—no mud patties
¾ Add OM to improve soil structure
¾ Keep soil covered to protect soil structure
¾ Treat soil gently
Create Great Biodiversity
SMB

In Soil Organisms:
‘ Decompose plant and animal residues SMB
releasing nutrients and making humus
’ Change nutrients to plant available forms
“ Improve soil structure and tilth (thru 1)
” Improve plant nutrition (thru 1,2, & 3)
• Diverse populations increase biological
stability and balance
• resistance to system degradation
• resilience or “the bounce back” factor
– Create self-sufficiency (Emergent
properties)
– internal system nutrient cycling
– beneficial mutualistic organism relationships
SMB
– internal system pest population management
and disease suppression
Disease Suppression Mechanisms
• The process of OM breakdown from OM additions: compost,
cover crops, manures, etc.
• Antagonists
– Bacillus, Entrobacter, Trichoderma, Streptomyces,
Pseudomonas, and more!
– Single strains are not as effective as mixtures of microbes!
– Antibiosis
– Nutrient competition
– Parasitism
– Induced systematic resistant- plant vaccination (less
common)
• Doesn’t suppress all diseases: some easy, some
hard
• Lasts about 6 months
This Is Who!
SMB

fungal-jungle.blogspot.com

SMB

www.profileproducts.com
& SOIL

DFW
Interesting Relationships!
Population control for nematodes and fungi
SMB SMB

SMB

DFW Captured
Nematodes
DFW

Parasitized
Nematode

Interesting Relationships and


Fungal Population Checks and Balances.
Hyphae
Nooses
More Interesting
Relationships!! Phoresy:
Detritivore Hitchhikers

DFW

Sucker Disc

DFW

DFW
Immature
Mites
Phoretic
Nematodes
DFW
Plant - Microbial Relationships
Rhizobium and Legumes: Mutualism

SMB
Plant - Microbial Relationships
Ectomycorrhizae Mycorrhizal Fungi Endomycorrhizae
www.profileproducts.com

Brady
and
Weil, SMB
2002. Brady
and
Weil,
2002.

SMB

fungal-jungle.blogspot.com
SMB
Plant to Plant
Mutualistic
Relationships

Brady
and
Weil,
2002.
& SOIL

DFW

The Foundation of Food Web is FOOD.


That Means….
• Soil OM Î Biodiversity Î
• Ecological Balance
– Efficiency of Soil Processes
– Resistance: System’s Resistance to Degradation
– Resilience: System’s Ability to Bounce Back
– Self-Regulation or Self-Sufficiency (Emergent Properties)
• Nutrient Cycling
• Mutualistic Organism Relationships
• Pest Checks and Balances(Disease Suppression)

• Stability
Create Functional Biodiversity
Provide Diverse Food: Organic Matter
Add Organic Residues
Add Manure or Compost
Grow Cover Crops
Provide Diverse Habitat
Rotate Crops
Grow Cover Crops
Plant Mixtures of Species
Interplant, Under-sow, Companion Plant, Polyculture
Add Compost
Use Mulches
Plant Biological or Ecological Islands; Habitat and Food For
Beneficial Organisms
Bio-strips, Flower Strips, Beetle Banks, Strip Insectary
Intercropping, Vegetative Corridors, Hedge Rows
Selective Weeding
Reduce Tillage, Bare Land, and Chemical Inputs
Change Tolerance Levels for Pest
Use Integrated Pest Management
Rotate Crops
• To breaking pest cycles: insects, weeds, diseases
• To manage nutrients
• To reduce erosion
• To build Soil OM
• To improve yields

ATTRA
Biological or Ecological Islands www.sare.org

www.attra.org
www.sare.org

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Syrphid Fly Parasitic Wasp

www.sare.org
NCSU-IPM

NCSU-IPM

Lacewings NCSU-IPM
Refugia or Conservation Head Lands

www.ukagriculture.com

www.sare.org

University of Minnesota Extension www.sare.org

NCSU-IPM
Hedge Rows as Habitat
www.sare.org

University of Idaho

USDA/NRCS/NAC

Vegetative Corridors
Wind Shelter Belt
National Corn Growers Association
Spined Soldier Bug

Texas A&M University

Vegetation Barriers Praying Mantis


Mulch as Habitat
Spiders

DFW

WSH

Ground Beetles

DFW
WSH
Beetle Banks: Britain

http://www.orc.govt.nz/

www.snh.org.uk/

Ground Beetles
and other
Predatory Beetles

Oregon State University Extension

DFW
Intercropping: Living Mulches

www.sare.org

www.omafra.gov.on.ca/
www.dereila.ca NCSU-IPM
Bigeyed Bug Minute Pirate Bug
Rover Beetle
Resources
™ Start with the Soil.1993. G. Gershuny. Rodale Press.
™ Building Soils for Better Crops. 2000. F.R. Magdoff
and H. van Es. Sustainable Agriculture Network.
Handbook Series Book 4.
™ Managing cover Crops Profitably. 2007. Sustainable
Agriculture Network. Handbook Series Book 9.
™ Manage Insects on your Farm: A guide to ecological
strategies. 2005. M.A. Altieri and C.I. Nicholls with
M.A. Fritz. Sustainable Agriculture Network.
Handbook Series Book 7.
™ The Rodale Book of Composting. 1992. D.L. Martin &
G. Gershuny. Rodale Press.
™ Tales From The Underground. 2001. D. Wolfe.
Perseus Pub

SARE
Resources
Î A Whole-Farm approach to Managing Pests.
Sustainable Agriculture Network.
SARE
Î Farmscaping To Enhance Biological Control. 2000.
R. Dufour. Appropriate Technology Transfer for
Rural Areas.

¾ Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture.


2004. F.R. Magdoff and R.R. Weil. CRC Press.
¾ The Nature and Properties of Soils. 2008. N.C.
Brady & R.R. Weil. Prentice Hall.

‰ ATTRA: <http://attra.org/> (Soils and Composting)


‰ NE-SARE: <http://sare.org/>
Biological Slide References
• DFW: The Decomposer Food Web:
Ecology of organisms of compost and
soil litter by
Dr. Daniel Dindal, Professor Emertius,
Soil Ecologist, SUNY-Syracuse

• SMB: Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry


from Soil Science Society of America

• WSH: Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.


More Questions on Soils or
Compost?

WSH
WSH

WSH
WSH

WSH
The End

Potrebbero piacerti anche