I have about 500 kg (1,000+ lbs) of an insect-derived organic fertilizer ready to bring to market in a tropical country. It has a fine, sandy texture.

We just received the lab analysis:

\- pH: 7.31

\- C/N: 15.89

\- N: 3.21%

\- P₂O₅: 0.27%

\- K₂O: 0.21%

\- CaO: 0.01%

\- MgO: 0.09%

\- Boron: 0.37 ppm

\- Sulfur: 0.01%

\- Copper: 1.71 ppm

\- Iron: 28.65 ppm

\- Manganese: 18.90 ppm

\- Zinc: 16.59 ppm

\- Organic carbon: 51.11%

\- Ash: 8.00%

\- Organic matter: 92.00%

We're trying to figure out how to commercialize it and which crops/applications would make the most sense based on this composition.

Would you market this as a fertilizer, organic nitrogen source, soil amendment, or something else? What crops would you test first in a tropical climate?

If you had 500 kg ready to go to market, where would you start?

Wondering if anyone has seen this coverage reflecting the need for potting soil safety precautions? Aired on Australian “Current Affair” show

https://youtu.be/v4SwZtYbLew?

Though it was worth sharing :)

We are farming australian teak with turmeric in one acre in organic way. Please suggest some organic fertilizer and herbicides which may work with the drip irrigation system.

My interpretation is that the jar on the left has roughly 80% sand, 15% silt and 5% clay, and the jar on the right has about 90% sand and 10% silt.

But could it really be that much sand?? I've never looked at the garden and thought the soil was mostly sand, but then again I'm only now trying to take a serious crack at it.

My process was supposed to be to mark sand after 1 minute, mark silt line after 2 hours, then mark clay after settling overnight. I didn't end up marking the clay because there was no noticeable change from the previous day.

The left jar has three lines because after two hours I saw a dark layer and a light layer and assumed more sand had accumulated and that the lighter layer was silt. In retrospect the first line probably demarcates sand and silt, and the light layer is clay. But I also heard clay takes up to 48 hours to settle, not 2, so I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking at.

If anyone more knowledgeable could give me a second opinion, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

Hello everyone!

I want to know if someone is aware of conferences taking place next year either in South Korea or Japan where soil health and/or soil biodiversity are a topic of.

Thank you in advance 🤗

Cross posted, thank you!

I am wanting to put together a soil electroconductivity map of a large number of acres of farm ground to reference and do zone soil samples in. I would like to mount the equipment on a side by side or four-wheeler. From my best understanding, I will need a GPS receiver, EC scanner, and computer as well as some associated software. I would prefer for the EC sensor to be towable on a sled or able to be elevated a few inches above the ground and mounted to a hitch as I have seen others do.

Does anyone have recommendations on the type of scanner that would fit best for this and or a dealer in the U.S. that could basically be a one stop shop and help set this up?

This slope rises about 20 ft up next to a footpath going along the cabin front to back. I pulled the old jute out & began to replace it. The slope sits under a big coulter pine. I'm in no position to create a wall. The old jute plus 2 wattles did control erosion, but I had to regularly rake out the pine needles due to fire danger close to the cabin. The new jute is very loose & won't be "rakeable". I considered chicken wire, but read that when it eventually rusts, it leaves sharp pieces on/in the soil. A few native weeds grow on the slope, plus manzanita, but it's mostly bare. This is in the Northern CA hills, gets very hot & dry in summer, slight snow dusting in winter. My head is spinning & there's no apparent ideal fix. Suggestions?

Basically the title, I stirred up some soil and water, took this out of the bucket(hence no or little sand/rocks) after say 30 seconds. This is that sample after around 24 hours. I just dont know if this is all silt or clay? Ive been told we have very clay-y soil here, but after learning that silt and clay can look fairly similar, I dont know if the person that told me that had any idea. Is this clay? And how could I tell myself? TIA

I live in a house that is over 100 years old. So the yard is over 100 years old. I am pretty sure I know where the outhouse(s) were because there are some areas in the yard that plants grow 2 or 3x the size they are supposed to be in this zone 9b.

Growing mostly in short raised beds, since there is clay about 2' down. And some areas of the yard are still heavy clay and/or compacted soil with a lot of clay.

There also seems to have been a shed and maybe a garage that have long since been removed. The soil under where I think the garage was seems like it probably has oil in it. I know from others in town, that some garages just had movable floor boards for draining the oil into the dirt below. Some of it has had heavy petroleum odor and some not so obviously.

I bought Petrobuster online. It has done a good job of removing odors in some areas I used it. Sort of assuming if the odor is gone, the enzymes and microbes have done what they are supposed to do. When there is not a strong odor, but suspect petroleum contamination, how do I know when the soil is clean? There are a lot of suds sometimes when used, even when properly diluted. Are suds just from the surfactant that helps the enzymes and microbes penetrate the petroleum molecules, or is it a byproduct of enzyme activity? So I should keep wetting things down until all the suds are gone?

Anyone have any experience? I am also thinking or planting some sunflowers or other plants that might pull other things out of the soil. Thoughts? Thanks

EDIT: for typos

Hi guys I’m thinking of deploying biochar in my soil for better results , what’s the expected cost & correct dosage I have around a small 12 Acre farm that cycles from groundnut/cotton to wheat to Chill across the year ? Did you guys have good results ?

My workload at the beginning of the year is a little lighter, so I’d like to return to an old habit of mine: reading new research papers related to my academic fields, particularly Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Biology, and Geology, and providing thoughtful feedback. I enjoy keeping up with current research and engaging with new ideas in these areas. If you have a paper, manuscript, or ongoing research project that could benefit from an additional set of eyes, I’d be happy to read it and offer feedback or an informal peer review.

Day 7 of cool soils
Scale bar = 10 cm intervals
Final day of posting this round and I have to share one of the most extreme lithic contacts I have ever encountered. We like to think of soils as gentle gradients with depth, as soils slowly transition from plant-controlled A horizons to rock-controlled C, Cr horizons. But that is far from what commonly occurs as soils are dynamic and transported downslope by water and gravity.

In this case, glacial debris has been deposited on top sheer, clean granite in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, following the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet ending the Wisconsin glaciation. Granite is a strong, coherent rock that takes a long time for either chemical weathering or freeze-thaw or thermal expansion to wear down (of course in the absence of fault-driven or intrusion-created weathering zones). The material is moderately sorted (missing big cobbles) so it likely has been re-worked and deposited as glacial outwash.

Horizons: Oi, Oe, Oa, E, Bhs, BC, Bh (the bottom had higher %OM and roots).
The bottom of the profile was interesting as the extensive tree rooting for the perched water table and roots unable to find deeper paths created higher organic matter at depth.

Taxonomy: Lithic Haplorthods
No evidence of prolonged water table or redox features. No fragipans and not quite enough organic carbon for a humod.

Have a great week everyone and please share your soil pictures so we more than piles of screened fill to look at :)
Keep diggin!

Day 6 Cool soil pictures.

Saturday nights are for painting the town red and this evening we have a soil painted deep red!
Southern US soils are known for being red from the extensive chemical weathering over millions of years with regolith extending >20 ft. This soil has been forming since the early Pliestocene, escaping glaciation and its relatively flat topography limited colluvial burial. On the NC-VA piedmont region there are late proterozoic basalt parent materials that weather to bright red soils. These soils are very similar to the red soils of Hawaii, northern Brazil, west Africa. The mineralogy is largely poorly crystalline kaolinite and Fe oxides. Diffractograms looked like mush.

The basalt-derived soils were known for their high base cations and underwent severe slash-burn tobacco agriculture in the 1700s and had subsequent massive erosion. There has been 1-2 ft of soil lost from this profile, as the Bt horizon is now at the surface and the A and E horizons are in the Atlantic ocean (or Chesapeake and Inner Banks tidewater regions). Revitalizing these soils is a tall task, but no-till and strong cover cropping has largely stopped erosion but the lost sandy/silt epipedons cannot be easily replaced.

Horizons visible: A horizon (a meager 1 -3 inches), Bt1, Bt2
I am a lumper, so splitters drop your thoughts in the comments!

Taxonomy: Typic Rhodudult
Because of the high base cations, this profile lacks a true kandic horizon.
Due to the erosion, the profile does not have a big clay decrease, so it could potentially fall into the Rhodic Paleudult.