Organic soil enhancement

Organic soil enhancement, unlike other methods of soil improvement means treating the soil as a Living System.

According to the Mikhail System, this involves balancing all three functional components of the soil - Structure, Nutrients and Biology.

The first important point is that for all soils, the process is the same:

1. Find the causes of any problems
2. Use cation balance to improve structure and friability
3. Provide balanced plant nutrition
4. Restore biological balance after every disturbance; and then
5. Monitor and adjust as you go

For complete details of this 5 step process for organic soil enhancement, click here.

We also have detailed information on all the other things you will need in order to put this process into action:

Learn to identify soil problems and their causes
Is you soil sloppy when wet, hard when dry, prone to water logging or compacted? Here is the information to get you started.

Cation balancing for improved soil structure and friability.
Initial soil treatments involve the use of Lime, Dolomite or Gypsum (or some combination of these materials) in the appropriate amounts. This should be done six months before applying any fertilizer.

Convert your required nutrients into appropriate fertilizers.
There really is no magic fertilizer. For balanced plant nutrition you should know which nutrients are in short supply in the soil (to meet the needs of plants you are growing) and then find fertilizers that can best supply these in the amounts necessary.

Which is best - organic or chemical fertilizer?
The answer may seem obvious, but there is a little more to it. The important thing is to make the right choice for a give set of circumstances and use the chosen fertilizer properly.

After any disturbance, stimulate biological activity in the soil.
Bio-active materials like kelp extracts, fish emulsion and humic acid each stimulate different groups of micro-organisms in the soil. Choosing the right materials and applying them at the appropriate rates will help restore the biological community in the soil after disturbances like cultivation and fertilizer.

Further Reading:

Follow each of the links below for more information to help you achieve effective organic soil enhancement:

What is soil structure?
Several factors combine to determine how strongly structured your soil is.

Collecting garden soil samples for testing.
A soil test is only ever as good as the sample sent for analysis, so it is important to do this properly.

Reading soil test reports
Once you have your results, making use of them can be a bit confusing if you are not really sure what you are looking at.

Making sense of soil test recommendations
Its not just the results that can be confusing. Soil test recommendations usually need some explanation as well.

Tips on applying soil improvement treatments.
OK, so you know what your soil is lacking and what it needs to correct this, but are there any tips or 'tricks-of-the-trade' that can help ensure the best results when you apply these treatments?