Learning how nature works with no-fertilizer
I have been growing various vegetable crops without any fertilizers both chemical and organic and finding out that there are a lot more than how much fertilizer and compost application to make plants grow.
The most obvious thing is where the soil is naturally rich grows more vigorous crops with no input. Sounds nothing new..., but our modern farming relies heavily on imported fertilizers and soil amendments. Aren't there anything that we can do to create this fertile soil on site with no fertilizers?
There is natural tendency for soil to accumulate organic matter in certain spots like valley and dips. It almost reminds me of feng shui concept of land design. Generally speaking, where energy collects also happens to be better suited condition for growing.
Also types of trees and vegetation in the area that add organic matter also has significant influence. old trees that drop leaves every year tend to support richer soil. I even planted spinach, beans, peas, peppers, beets, and daikon in the same area, but every time they all grow better under trees of ohia (native hawaiian tree) which gives very light shading. Soil is also darker and loamy deeper down compare to more open area where only grass was growing.
I also conducted casual experiment with cover crops to see which types of cover crops support better no-fertilizer environment. It's still ongoing, but first thing I see is that growth of cover crops is already influenced by the local soil conditions. Yet, there are some cover crops that grow in poor soil with no amendment. Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and various other pasture grass are considered noxious weeds here, but some like guinea grass has great soil building potential which is also used in some part of the world. Although most places that utilize these kinds of weeds have critical kill factor like winter which completely kills the weeds, we can also utilize this weeds with other kill factor of just cutting them back and mulching. or Layering with more dominant plants.
The most obvious thing is where the soil is naturally rich grows more vigorous crops with no input. Sounds nothing new..., but our modern farming relies heavily on imported fertilizers and soil amendments. Aren't there anything that we can do to create this fertile soil on site with no fertilizers?
There is natural tendency for soil to accumulate organic matter in certain spots like valley and dips. It almost reminds me of feng shui concept of land design. Generally speaking, where energy collects also happens to be better suited condition for growing.
Also types of trees and vegetation in the area that add organic matter also has significant influence. old trees that drop leaves every year tend to support richer soil. I even planted spinach, beans, peas, peppers, beets, and daikon in the same area, but every time they all grow better under trees of ohia (native hawaiian tree) which gives very light shading. Soil is also darker and loamy deeper down compare to more open area where only grass was growing.
I also conducted casual experiment with cover crops to see which types of cover crops support better no-fertilizer environment. It's still ongoing, but first thing I see is that growth of cover crops is already influenced by the local soil conditions. Yet, there are some cover crops that grow in poor soil with no amendment. Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and various other pasture grass are considered noxious weeds here, but some like guinea grass has great soil building potential which is also used in some part of the world. Although most places that utilize these kinds of weeds have critical kill factor like winter which completely kills the weeds, we can also utilize this weeds with other kill factor of just cutting them back and mulching. or Layering with more dominant plants.
Comments
Post a Comment