Turf Pro USA News Letter - Volume #1 issue #3

The part soil biology plays in healthy soil

What is soil biology?

Soil biology and the Soil FoodWeb include an incredible diversity of organisms. They range in size from the tiniest one-celled bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoa, to the more complex nematodes and micro-arthropods, to the visible earthworms, insects, small vertebrates, and plants.

1000 square feet of living topsoil contains approximately 21 pounds of earthworms, 55 pounds of fungi, 35 pounds of bacteria, 3 pounds of protozoa, 20 pounds of arthropods and algae,and even small mammals in some cases. Therefore, the soil can be viewed as a living community rather than an inert body.  Soil organic matter also contains dead organisms, plant matter, and other organic materials in various phases of decomposition. Humus, the dark-colored organic material in the final stages of decomposition, is relatively stable. Both organic matter and humus serve as reservoirs of plant nutrients; they also help to build soil structure and provide other benefits.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soilmgmt.html#introduction

http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/sitemap.html

What does soil biology do for the healthy soil:

Soil biology is the engine that continually keeps renewing your soil making it sound and healthy. It takes the organic material placed on it, breaks it down by using it for food thus transforming it into a form plants can use.  Nutrients (elements) needed by plants need to be broken down into a form that plants can use, this process is call chelation, is one of the functions soil biology plays. What the biology does is take these elements or nutrients and changes them from a mineral form to a water soluble form that the roots and beneficial fungi can move into the plant as food.

Some of the beneficial biology fights plant disease and pests. Some naturally fight pathogens while others devour things like harmful nematodes.   Healthy soil has good biology in abundance giving bad ones little room to grow and damage plant life.

Soil biology plays a big roll in keeping your soil open enough so that air flows through it for the plant roots use. In breaking down organic matter it allows the soil to hold and store moisture for plants roots thus requiring less water and causing less runoff.

Soil biology feeds plants in several ways. One is the waste products it puts through its digestive system and the other is their bodies when the die. Another is when they become food for higher levels of biology and animals and come back as waste from them. This is all part of the "Soil Food Web" as described in the USDA web site shown above.

What do I need to provide soil biology to keep it healthy:

A steady source of new raw organic material that it can feed on to replace the nutrients used in plant growth. As soil temperatures increase soil biology activity increases accelerating the decomposition of new organic matter. The more warm soil temperature hours you have the more new organic matter you have to add to the soil to keep minimum levels.  All organic matter can be added to the soil but the rate of decomposition will vary and what in the way of nutrients it adds vary widely. If possible have a soil sample taken and let it tell you what is the best organic materials to add to keep a balance of helpful soil biology working for you.

What kills soil biology:

There are a number of ways to quickly kill soil biology. Pesticides, Herbicides and even fertilizer can kill your soil biology create major imbalances that will make your soil ineffective.

Chemical pesticides do major damage to all phases of the soil foodweb from killing the microbiology in thesoil to the wild birds and animals that feed on them. Here it can take years to rid the soil of the harmful chemical compounds. TurfPro USA products can help shorten this rejuvenation period by binding these compounds in lignin that over time breaks them down into harmless compounds thus ridding us of another pollutant.

Over fertilization is a major factor in reduced soil biology. Studies have shown a consistent decrease in functional diversity of soil microbiology populations with the continuous application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

High quality organic fertilizers like MegaGreen mixed with Turf & Garden Pro at a 4 to 1 ration can give you all of the nutrients your plants need as well as increasing the helpful soil biology and giving it the food it needs while getting established.