Geo Growers Blog

RETURN TO THE CARBON CYCLE

Posted by Administrator | Filed under Soil Selection

Turf Grass Production and Stewardship

1. Turf grass is generally grown within a monoculture system, and

as such, has a delicately balanced ecosystem.

2. All too often, lawns have way too much phosphorus (P) and

potassium (K), and not nearly enough nitrogen (N).

3. Carbon-depleted soils cannot effectively hold nitrogen for the

length of time it takes roots to absorb it; thus, it runs off, dissolved in

water, or floats off in the wind as it gasifies.

4. Fertilizer programs worsen soil conditions because they do not

put back carbon, which feed microorganisms and keeps soil fluffy

and gas-permeable. Soils that are fluffy are said to have loft. Soils

that have loft are said to be gas-permeable. Gas-permeable simply

means that soils have an air exchange rate between the atmosphere

and the soil that is great enough to sustain microbial life below the

surface.

5. How well a soil breathes, i.e., how deeply and how thoroughly, is

a function of how much and what types of carbon are present.

Types of Carbon Present in Healthy Soils

1. Sugars created by plants through photosynthesis and exuded

through their roots feed the microbial life colonizing the roots of the

same plant. These are the “heart-pounding, thrill-a-minute,

makes-life-worth-living” forms of carbon that sustain the relationship

between plants and the beneficial microbes on their roots.

2. Carbohydrates, starches, and cellulose, which come from plants

or parts of plants that have died and fallen into the soil, are more

complex and enduring forms of carbon that not only serve as food

for the soil food web, but also provide structure.

3. Polysaccharides and lignins, the most durable of all the carbon

structures, along with other features of the soil, form the

foundation for “soil horizons.”

4. These soil horizons represent different “divisions of labor,”

organizing themselves into different horizontal layers.

5. All the forms of carbon within the soil layers serve multiple

functions:

* They provide loft so that soil breathes and microorganisms get

oxygen.

* They attract, absorb, and hold water for plants and

microorganisms.

* They attract, absorb, provide, and disperse minerals and

nutrients for microorganisms and plants.

* They provide surface area and structure for microbial activity

and plant root development.

6. The life of the soil is dependent on these four factors:

* Oxygen

* Water

* Food-sugars, carbohydrates, amino acids, and other raw

materials

* Structure and shelter

Comments (0) | January 29th, 2010