This blog is for gardeners above, beyond, and below the surface. For those interested in botanical names, inventories, collection and else.

Not recommended for gardeners depending only on nurseries for the practice.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

SOIL POST I

I HAVE seen  lots of blogs/posts about many things above the ground, except pests, diseases and the great absentee in the tittle.  It is the one making or breaking any garden.  Perhaps it is the jargon what keeps most people away from it.

When I began my studies for the certificate in the NY Botanical, soil science was one of the most difficult classes, it covers a whole universe. If it seems too much of text book information, you are right.  If you know a lot about the subject, go ahead, skip it.  Stick around or buy the book. Keep it as a reference, it will be useful for your gardening life.

Soil is a living creature with lots of secrets. Forgotten and ignored for a simple reason, when bare, is not so attractive except for geologists and archeologists.   

              MICROORGANISMS 

Bacteria, simple one-celled organisms are the most abundant inhabitants in the soil.  Up to 100 million organisms may live in one
teaspoon of soil.  Common soil bacteria are rod-shaped, though many assume other  shapes. Bacteria usually grow as small colonies
on the surface of soil particles and smaller pores. They are most dominant in nonacid soils. 

Bacteria are the most variable of soil organisms. While most are aerobic, many thrive in anaerobic soil.  Most are heterothropic, yet many obtain energy autothropically from chemical reactions with certain soil substances.

Most soil bacteria are saphrophytic.  They comprise one of the groups most responsible for breaking down organic matter in the soil.  A few species are parasites, causing plant diseases such as crown gall (Agrobacterium tunfasciens) which causes a tumorlike 
growth on roots of many plants. 

Soil Science & Management
by 
Edward J. Plaster
page 113

One of the issues that  keep  yours truly motivated  to keep a blog, was the destruction of 5 hectares in the town of Trujillo Alto, by a Phd and his wife. Alberto Areces Mallea and Gabriella Ocampo, the culprits. http://antigonumcajaneveningpost.blogspot.com/2011/06/parque-dona-ines-alberto-areces-mallea.html,                             there is a whole series of articles on that scam if you are interested.


BONUS

Our second pumpkin is hanging it there, our first Malpighia glabra, arrived after 3 years in the south garden. 

the soil series 
has begun

that is that



 


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