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nutrients Restoring Soil Nutrients

Thank you for the article.  I used to love Mother Earth News.  Back in the day, it was much different. Today, it is if you want this then purchase that.  Back in the day, it was more about using things that you have or your neighbors would part with.  The list of things this article suggests purchasing is interesting but intimidating.

Its odd.  It is as if now that independent and off grid living is so popular, Mother Earth News is promoting dependence on commercial products.  Still a cool magazine, but very different.
 
I totally agree with that Aj, did a search for soil conditioning and found this article. It was more an endeavor to understand soil depletion.
 
Great article. Sometimes it amazes me that people forget all the natural sources of nutrients for plants. If you have the nutrients in line and a well aerated location that gets lots of sun, you don't have all the fungus, pest, and disease that many people try to cope with. 
 
Let a strong plant naturally keep all the problems at bay!
 
TW
 
Sometimes you can find some interesting pearls of wisdom from the past.  Going to look for some more articles from Jim Hildreth. 
 
pa1966stang said:
Great article. Sometimes it amazes me that people forget all the natural sources of nutrients for plants. If you have the nutrients in line and a well aerated location that gets lots of sun, you don't have all the fungus, pest, and disease that many people try to cope with. 
 
Let a strong plant naturally keep all the problems at bay!
 
TW
Click to expand...
 
I definitely agree with that sentiment in part - but if you really believe that's true, I would encourage you to come grow a garden in Florida. (Central to South)  It will challenge everything you think you know. :)
 
Thanks Queequig, I always find myself returning to this post just to listen to Lucky Brown's Space Dream :D. Was thinking about what what Solid7 said and on a side note, I spent some time humping around the jungles of central america and was amazed at the lushness of the plants there, and by that i mean not one sick plant.
 
I often see a lot of folks say they encounter problems when growing this and that plant, but perhaps we can consider an example scenario: we pluck a plant out of lets say India and place it in a totally different region, lets say South Carolina in which it was not remotely adapted to and expect it to thrive. We say things like my plants are too hot, too much water, not enough water, nutrient this and nutrient that. I didn't see any problem with any of the plants i humped pass. It rained constantly, bugs were everywhere, it was hot as heck. Yet that was one of the most fertile regions i have ever seen. Just something to consider.
 
I live in coastal Central Florida.  Gardening is a nightmare here.  Our "soil" is sand.  Sand is notoriously infertile.  Unless you let it grow over for many years, and develop layers of humus on top.  But, at the same time, you have to have something to prevent that humus from being rapidly decomposed by the hot, humid, climate, which accelerates microbial decomposition like rocket fuel.
 
Your areas of Central America or India, are often accompanied by highly mineralized soils, being in close proximity to mountain ranges. (and sometimes, volcanic)  These nutrient rich substrates do a much better job of retaining nutrients than plain sand.
 
So, standing offer...  If you want to prove your worth as a gardener, come to central Florida.  I grew up as a Nebraska dirt farming kid, so I'm no stranger to growing.  Where I live now is the biggest gardening challenge I've ever experienced.  Humidity, bugs, ultra high UV, shit soil, and I have the added benefit of living in a saline environment. (3 blocks from the ocean)

 
 
Sorry for the late reply Solid7, I should have left your name out because I was thinking more about reproducing the environmental conditions and should have phrased my wording more correctly. Apologies.
 
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