The particular make-up of your soil determines its color, texture, and nutrient storage capacity. Knowing about your soil’s texture and nutrient storage capacity is important when deciding how much and how often to feed and water your plants. Some nutrients are more easily stored and attached to soil particles compared to others due to the strength of their electrostatic bond.
Your soil is a unique mixture of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter. The particular make-up of your soil determines its color, texture, and nutrient storage capacity. Knowing your soil’s texture and nutrient storage capacity is important when deciding how much and how often to feed and water your plants. Some nutrients are more easily stored and attached to soil particles compared to others due to the strength of their electrostatic bond. As the famous saying goes, opposites attract – and this holds true in soil as well.
Mineral nutrients such as calcium, potassium, ammonium, and magnesium are called cations because they have positively charged ions. The ability to attract and hold onto these positive cations comes from negatively charged soil particles, called colloids, found in organic matter and clay. It’s important for these nutrient cations to attach to the soil colloids so that they can be supplied to the plant when needed. If the nutrient cations don’t attach, they’ll easily leach out during a time of rain.
However, like in most fair economic systems, the plant can’t just take these nutrients from the soil without giving something in return. For example, if a plant needs some potassium, it will have to exchange one of its cations for the soil’s potassium cation. Thankfully, plants produce hydrogen cations that they can use for this exchange. The soil accepts these hydrogen cations because they’ll be used in photosynthesis and respiration.
This exchange is easier than others because both hydrogen and potassium have a positive charge of +1. Calcium, on the other hand, has a positive charge of +2 and therefore requires two hydrogen cations for its exchange, making the process a bit harder. The higher the positive charge on the cation, the harder it becomes to exchange between the soil and plant. However, the bond between the higher charged cations and the soil is stronger than that of the lower charged cations. This exchange process occurs on the plant’s root hairs, which is why it’s important to have a strong, healthy root system for your plants. The amount of cations that can be retained within the soil is called Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) Source: Jagdish Patel.
Understanding the CEC of your soil is important due to its strong influence on nutrient and water retention and availability, soil structure stability, and soil pH and fertility. Adding organic matter to your soil is one of the most effective ways of increasing your soil’s CEC and increasing the amount of exchange sites. The more exchange sites, the greater the ability for nutrients to be retained within the soil. Having a high CEC not only reduces leaching of nutrients, but also helps buffer your soil against pH changes.
While it’s very beneficial to have a high CEC in your soil, soils with a low CEC can still be managed successfully – they just have different requirements than soils with a high CEC. Low CEC soils need small, but frequent intakes of nutrients and water, rather than large, infrequent intakes due to their fewer exchange sites. Less exchange sites means less space to hold onto the incoming nutrients. And as microbes are actively involved in transforming nutrients to plant-available forms, it’s imperative to maintain suitable soil conditions for optimal microbial activity.
Many soil testing labs will provide you with your CEC levels which are reported in units of milli-equivalents per 100 grams of soil (meq/100 g). Average levels range from less than 10 for sandy soils and 50-100 for organic rich soils. Pure organic matter has a level of 200-400. Generally, 1-10 is considered low while 10-50 is considered moderate to high.
Our long-time customer and soil health partner, Matthew Slaughter of Earthfort Lab has recently teamed up with Michael Neuman at Partners in Progress.
Partners in Progress is a non-profit organization responsible for providing Earthfort’s Field Lab Kit as well as training for the farmers in Uganda and Haiti. The Field Lab Kit includes microBIOMETER®’s microbial biomass and fungal to bacterial ratio data in addition to a moisture analysis and EC and pH readings.
Increasing the health of our soil is a top priority. After decades of chemical and pesticide usage, our soil is in poor shape. And since we depend on the soil to feed our world’s population, it is imperative that we change course. Due to this, universities and soil scientists around the world are studying the best ways in which we can increase the health of our soil. One proven way to accomplish this goal is to protect and increase the microbes that live in our soil. Research studies show microbial biomass is the leading indicator of soil health. Living soil fixes nutrients, improves plant immunity, stores water more efficiently, and builds soil structure.
The microBIOMETER, a rapid, on-site soil test for microbial biomass and fungal to bacterial ratio, is leading the way in this important research. Compared to microscopy or other expensive lab-based tests for soil biology, microBIOMETER’s cost-effectiveness and speed make it ideal for academic and university studies and research. Furthermore, all soil testing data is stored in the microBIOMETER app which enables users to easily analyze the data collected. The microBIOMETER soil test kit contains all the supplies needed for these studies. The low cost makes testing supplies attainable for institutions. The testing kits offered include the microBIOMETER soil test Starter Kit as well as kits designed specifically for academic research testing. Below are a few of the many microBIOMETER studies that have been performed:
The microBIOMETER reviews on its use in academic study environments have been extremely positive. However, the microBIOMETER work is not yet complete. The company looks forward to working with more students, professors, and researchers. Along with soil science enthusiasts worldwide, microBIOMETER will continue researching, studying, and gathering data. In collaboration with academia, they will work towards determining the best ways to increase the health of our soil. Our planet is depending on us!
Microbes are vital to attaining healthy, nutrient dense soil. With the degradation of our soils becoming more and more alarming, scientists all over the world are researching to learn more about these living creatures and how they work in our soils. In lieu of the important role soil microbes play in the ecosystem, they have been the subject of numerous microbiology research topics for undergraduates, graduate students, and professors. Microbiome research studies caution that we do not have much time left to correct the damage that has been done to our earth’s soil.
To address this environmental crisis, the microBIOMETER research team worked tirelessly to get their patented, groundbreaking soil test ready for market. The microBIOMETER test was developed with the need in mind to deliver a device that could be manufactured very reasonably so that it could service the whole world. For over 50 years, soil microbiome studies have shown that microbes are the best indicator of soil health. There are over two million articles in various microbiological research journals that have reported this. There are many soil testing methods out there but a common one used by researchers is Chloroform Fumigation Extraction (CFE). This soil test is performed in a lab setting and is quite expensive, therefore, an unattainable option for most growers. However, there are numerous microbiome news reports showing that CFE correlates very well with soil health, soil nitrogen and soil carbon. Another soil microbial testing method people use to assess soil microbial life is microscopy. However, in addition to the limited accessibility and high cost of obtaining a microscope, microscopy detects only a fraction of what can be detected with microBIOMETER.
microBIOMETER allows users to quickly determine if they are achieving the improvements they are looking for. They can track soil microbial activity over time and determine how it varies with practice to assess what is working and what is not. With an innovative, yet inexpensive soil biological test like microBIOMETER, growers can sample more per acre allowing them to acquire a detailed understanding of their crops. With the ease of multiple sampling combined with data storage, users can view year over year or season over season results to see if their soil microbiology is increasing and if their soil health is increasing as a result. It is important that the microbiology increases because there’s an incredibly high correlation between soil biology and soil health.
Currently, microBIOMETER soil testing kits are being sold all over the world and being used in numerous microBIOMETER studies by farmers and academics alike. Customers begin with the 10-Test microBIOMETER Starter Kit which contains all the supplies necessary to perform ten soil tests. If they require additional testing supplies, they can purchase a microBIOMETER refill kit.
As our knowledge about the soil microbiome increases and evolves over time, new techniques in microbiome research and soil biological testing are sure to surface. Learning is continuous and soil scientists are working diligently to discover the most effective ways to reverse what has been done to our planet and our soils. The microBIOMETER work is not done yet either. We are always looking for new ways to improve our soil test by adding exciting and useful features to our app and soil testing methods.
In June 2022, Foodshed launched San Diego’s first[ Carbon Sink Incentive Program. With this pilot program, Foodshed is incentivizing at the point of purchase the adoption and/or ongoing carbon farming practices in 15 soil-based farms for food production in their network. Farmers receive a higher premium payment (5% to 15%) for their produce based on their level of engagement in the program.
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