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The soil is not solely a matter in which plants are buried so that they do not fly away in the wind. A good soil must be full of life. A soil in which little happens is also often a bad quality one!
A few worms...
In a square metre of soil, you will find a lot. There are hundreds of earthworms, thousands of insects and other small creatures, hundreds of thousand of mites, millions of nematodes (microscopic worms) and between 100 and 1 000 million bacteria, invisible to the naked eye. Then we must add the mushrooms, of which the "tops" are like iceberg tips, with their filaments going all over the soil, in all directions. Of all of those, only a few species can cause damages to plants. Therefore, the soil life is largely favourable to your plants!
Sometimes diseases develop on plants, as they are free to do so. This is the case for certain pathogenic mushrooms. In a lifeless soil, nothing stops them and they can attack the roots of the plants. In a living soil, they are going to meet natural enemies, which are going to stop them. For example, some” good fungi" are going to occupy spaces at the plant roots, thus stopping harmful fungi from getting too close. It is what is called the antagonist effect.
Recyclers and green waste
Living species that live in contact with the earth do not like light. If woodlouse run away when you surprise them in lifting the flowerpot they are hiding under, it is not because they are naughty, it is because they are blinded! Like others, they participate in the transformation of vegetal waste into humus, such as compost. Some of them are carnivores. Beetles hunt young slugs and earthworms, while centipedes hunt down the imprudent caterpillars crawling on the soil.
Therefore, a good garden soil functions like a factory, with the sole aim of nourishing the plants that plunge they roots into it. Helping this life is helping your plants. For that, a generous mulch of dead leaves or crushed stems is ideal. It is also very useful to add compost on a regular basis.
Work the soil, the debate
Certain bio gardeners refuse to turn the soil, as the fact of mixing earth layers disturb its life. In particular, bacteria found on the top find themselves underneath and vice-versa, which is harmful. In reality, nothing proves this, and turned soils are no less alive than others are. There is no need to work the soil 50 cm deep: grating the surface of the soil is enough for plants that roots do not go deep into it. - Photos (3)
The life of the soil
A few worms...
Author: Jean-Michel Groult
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The life of the soil
Recyclers and green waste
Author: Jean-Michel Groult
Copyright
Copyright
The life of the soil
Work the soil, the debate
Author: Jean-Michel Groult
Copyright
Copyright