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How does nitrogen work in the soil and where does it come from when we don't have a bag of fertilizer to supplement it?

I've spoken many times on this subject at conferences and it was the main theme of my talk when I represented North America at the World's 1st Humus Experts Meeting in Vienna Austria back in 2013.   Most of the Nitrogen used by the vast tropical rain forests, or the fastest growing biomass place on Earth, the Coastal Redwood Forests of California, comes from the production of protein by the Free-Living Nitrogen Fixing bacteria in soil and the massive biomass structure of the mycorrhizal fungi.    The proteins as it breaks down in the soil into amino acids are the building blocks of life and the explanation of the Soil Food Web.  However, in order for those amino acids to enter a plant and be part of the nitrogen budget of the plant they must have the assistance of the mycorrhizal fungi.  It's much more efficient for a plant to uptake amino acids whose molecules include nitrogen needed to build tissues than to uptake just nitrogen minus the amino acid. ...
Recent posts

Growing Pecan Trees in Western Alkaline Soil

It's common to see nutrient and water inhibition compromise the production of pecans in the arid western states, particularly where the soils are high pH, which can tie up nutrients such as zinc, iron, phosphorus and more. Keeping soils moist is also a problem because the regions were we grow pecan are not wet bottomland soils where pecan is native, but are high and dry desert soils where irrigation is essential. If the irrigation water is high in dissolved solids, the problem is made worse. There are many good things Soil Secrets can offer pecan growers that can overcome these obstacles, by improving the moisture management of the soil, improving nutrient solutioning and availability of both the native minerals as well as the purchased minerals, and improving the porosity of the soil so that water and oxygen can penetrate meters deep without the need to subsoil with machinery. How's this done? By using the power of Nature's own bio-chemical called the Carbon Matrix. Starti...

Pecan Associations with Mycorrhizae

It could be true if you were in a riparian area of Texas where Pecan grow naturally that the specific species of Ecto Mycorrhizae could be air born and therefore capable of inoculating a tree.    However I’ve personally seen orchards in that region of Texas that did not have a mycorrhizal infection and suffered nutrient update inhibition.  Once we inoculated the trees with  the proper species of mycorrhizal fungi  the trees rapidly begin to benefit from the infection.    In working with a company in Mexico that has the majority market share in agriculture for the distribution of fertilizers and biomimetic materials such as mycorrhizal products, we’ve seen the same thing.    I recall a conversation with a pecan grower in Texas about 15 years ago while I was attending the Texas Organic Farming conference, where the grower noticed that trees across the road from his orchard growing in the nearby riv...

Trees That Please on the IOS Nov Issue

Check out the amzing finds right on our very own back yard!

RESEARCH BY SOIL SECRETS

Michael Melendrez August 11 at 6:55 AM ·  There's a huge interest in using CBD oil/extracts and infused products containing CBD as medicine. Soil Secrets with the cooperation of a professional medical cannabis grower did a grow out experiment with spent/used soil compared to brand new Fox Farm Forest Floor soil. We cleaned the used soil using our Soil Secrets trommel screen and the treated the used soil with molecular biology made by Soil Secrets. Most growers throw away soil after one use so wanted to see if the used soil could be made good and repurposed for a second or third use. The image provided is from the starvation group where no fertilizer input had been provided to either the SS treated spent soil or the brand new Fox Farm soil. Both groups were treated with a Mycorrhizal product and bacteria. The Fox Farm was treated with the mycorrhizal product called Great White used per label instructions. Great White also contains a bacteria blend...

Carbon Sequestration

Michael Melendrez 1 hr  ·  Carbon Sequestration, how soil turns into top soil. I've shown you the foundation of our research into what the significant carbon based molecules of soil are and I've shown you how a ruined dispersed clay soil can be fix, healed, by inoculating it with a biomimetic soil ecology process developed by Soil Secrets that will capture carbon, change the color of the soil and change the structure of the soil, all in rapid sequence. In this post I'm showing you the roots of a young Shumard Red Oak that was cut down at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago. The wood found in tree roots is composed of cells that have cell walls made up of a sugar called Cellulose. Cellulose is a complex sugar made up of the same sugar that's found in our blood called Glucose, but in the case of Cellulose the Glucose is linked together to make a larger molecular substance that is structurally strong and able to be the structural backbone of wood. As you...

Soil Carbon Sequestration

Michael Melendrez July 14 at 10:55 AM  ·  Soil Carbon Sequestration is Building Top Soil. These two images were taken at our arboretum in Los Lunas, where 32 years ago the soil was a salty high pH clay with terrible structure. The images showing the cracking and light colored clay is the before Soil Secrets. Using the Biomimetic Soil Ecology protocol of Soil Secrets we've stimulated and instigated the process of top soil development which requires that carbon from the atmosphere is harvested by plants and turned into a molecular form in the soil that allows for long term storage. The image showing the darker soil with aggregates is the same spot the arboretum after three decades of Soil Secrets treatment. https://animoto.com/play/fLJ6zlocK0tB5lHJnikrlw