I just came across this on YT and looked to see what else she had posted there. Lots of good info.
https://www.youtube.com/@soilfoodwebschool
https://www.youtube.com/@soilfoodwebschool
Dr. Elaine's Soil Food Web School
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I dont believe a thing she says. I have had personal discussions with her about soil fertility in the past and proven her wrong on several topics. And by the way, she didnt coin the phrase SOIL FOOD WEB. The term appeared several years before she became famous using the term. Actually, I have had discusions with the original author of The term Soil Food Web, Dr. Micheal Melendez, smart man but aint got a lick of common sense. He is famous for saying fertilizer has never made a soil healthier, but he couldnt answer the question if a plant needs a nutrient to be healthy and it isnt in the soil already, then how does the plant get that nutrient if it isnt placed there.
Like what, for example?
I wondered about when she said everything a plant requires is in the soil, mineral/nutrient-wise, all that is required is "life." At least I think that's what she said.
Its been twenty years since we had our discussions so I dont remember everything that was said, but for example. She used to, and may still do, push her brand of compost teas. As you have noted, she preaches restoreing the soil biology, and that is a good thing, but its not enough to just add "bugs" back to the soil if they dont have anything to eat. Her compost teas are supposed to re-establish the soil biology and make the plants florish in the soil. Well the teas are good for a short time boost of suppling nutrients to the plants. The biology feast on any micronutrients they can find and multiply very fast, then the problem occurs, they run out of a food source and then die and then the plants suffer. So you reapply the teas to get that needed boost and you repeat the cycle. Why not just add the food and let the microbs multiply naturally? Dr Henry Kobble, maker of Vitazyme as liquid soil admendment, will tell you his product wont work if you dont have adequant calcium levels in you soil. So now you are going to say I use compost and good for you. Did you know that most compost products, not all, are made from tree bark and timber byproducts, got to add something about trees since this is a aborist forum. Most forest are growing in soil that are extremly deficient in calcium and other nutrients. These forest have been cut or I should say mined of their timber two or three times already. Every time a tree is removed from a forest, you are removing the nutrients that where used to grow that tree. How much does a mature tree weigh, thats a lot of nutrients mined with each tree cut. Trees are just getting minimal amounts of the nutrients they need to survive and any compost made using these timber byproducts will contain only minimal amounts of these necessay nutrients. The same applies when growing a garden, you raise a tomatoe, pull it off the vine, consume it, and you have mined your soil once again. Even worse is you poop out that tomatoe and flush it into a septic system where any new plants cant reach it. Ever wonder why tree planted near a septic system always tend to send their roots into the drainage lines and ruin the system. You can probably ask slowp about forest managers and how they are now applying fertilizers to their forest. Big helichoppers flying over with huge vicon spreaders hanging under them spreading fertilizer as they fly over their timber. They are trying to replace the nutrients that they have mined thru timber harvesting. Fun to watch, necessay if you want to grow big timber.
You need to be careful when listening to these folk preaching their brand of soil fertility. Most all of them have a product to sale and their main interest is harvesting your dimes and hawking their products. They make it sound like if you will do this one thing, use their products and you will be able to grow tons of produce. All they are really doing is padding their own pockets with all those dimes.
Compost tea - yup - when I looked at her YT channel, I saw a video listed about compost tea. Didn't watch it though.
Makes sense about the tree/plants using up nutrients in the soil that need to be replenished.
Different plants require different nutrients that result in soil nutrient deficiencies?
But can't blame folks for wanting to make a living off a product they believe works.
The chemical companies do it, why shouldn't other's do it with non-toxic products?
Some of her ideas are ok, most is geared to making her money. I mostly agree with mud stoppers view point. Few points I'd argue with, but not worth the effort.
I am not saying these folks are not smart people, or that they dont deserve to make money from all their years of research or that their products dont work. Not saying anything close to that. I just believe they have developed a very narrow view of soil fertility. It takes a balanced approach to making a fertile soil, no one additive is going to be the magic cure all. Watch a few vids of making fertilizer out of weeds. Very simple to do and raw materials are growing everywhere, mostly where you dont want them to grow. I had a coversation with a guy that was making pellet fertilizer out of chicken poop. He was in Kentucky I believe. He was having a hard time finding enough material to mix with his poop. I asked him if he was sitting in his office and he was, I said look outside and tell we what do you see, he answered a overgrown field of weeds and brush. I said there is your raw material. mow those fields and harvest the weeds and brush and mix that with your manure. His narrow view of what material he could buy in bulk had him completely overlooking a viable source of organic material readily available. I can drive down the road from my house and find tons of overgrown properties. I see lots of overgrown vacant lots in towns and cities, all flush with a perfect plant food and most free for the asking. Well aint ntothing free even if they give it to you, you still have to harvest and transport it.Isnt cheap, but this guy was in Kentucky looking for organic materials in NC so is it feasible? The easist nutrients a plant can use are nutrients that have already been used by another decomposing plant. Those plant base nutrients are already broken down into molecue sizes easily uptaken into the new growing plant. Yes those same nutrients are already present in the soil, but it has to be broken down by root acids and made soluible so the plants can take them up.. Soil starts out as rock, then boulders, then gravel, sand, clay, all the way down to humis. Plants will grow better in humis than it will in a rock pile, even tho all the same nutrients are present in both forms.
If this is the case, why don't commercial farmers till weeds into the soil instead of spraying the weeds with toxic chemicals that also kill beneficial things in the soil?
Hard to till when crops are growing for one thing. Its also a lot faster to spray instead of till. Also tilling doesnt always mean a total kill, it often buries the weeds and they are back up in two or three days just as heavy as ever.
First video in my search for making your own fertilizer using weeds. https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...A4E991196B0EDBB9D9A0A4E991196B0EDBB&FORM=VIRE
Where did you come from, I thought it was tnt and myself. Anyways, share your points of view, I dont claim to be right about everything, no reason we cant have a discussion without argueing.
Nah, carry on your private conversation. I'd hate to interrupt at this point.
Its the internet, aint nothing private
