Soil Secrets

Level 1 - This post is intended to introduce terms which describe the essential components of a healthy soil. This discussion is complicated, so we will provide increasingly detailed levels of information, at the risk of oversimplifying in the beginning. All plants, found on earth today, evolved to thrive in a soil system filled with variety. Ancestral soils teamed with organisms and carbon compounds, which supplied abundant nutrients and water. What does a varied soil system look like when compared to a conventionally managed soil system? A varied, or healthy, soil system contains the following essential components: Carbon Compounds :   Labile Carbon:  Carbons which easily decay, such as those present in microorganisms, compost, crop residues, manures, and mulches. These materials release mineral nutrients back into the soil. Recalcitrant Carbon: Contains Humic Acids which are essential to a healthy and productive soil, Humic Acids ...

In Response to: Fruits and Veggies are Not as Vitamin-Rich as in the Past, Says New Data    Larger Fruits and Vegetables Mean More Plentiful but Less Potent Bounty March 1, 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures Story by Megan Carpenter Staff of Soil Secrets Responds to this story:   The population of the earth is growing by approximated 86 million people per year, according to a recent National Geographic Special Issue; this is a net gain after accounting for population mortality.   This means that on average 235,000 babies are born each day, which is 235,000 new mouths to feed every day.   The USDA and food protection studies performed by Sandia National Laboratories have determined that according to our Ecological Footprint - 6 acres of land is required per person for annual food production, based on the standards of the United States.  If the goal is to modernize the developing world to the same standard of living as the developed world, then the same ...

I was recently asked to provide a simplified explanation on the importance of Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) values. My Response:  CEC is the ability of a soil to hold onto plant nutrients.   The finer the particle size the higher CEC value, generally speaking. For example sand particles are course and visible to the naked eye, where as clay particles are fine and are not visible to the naked eye. So clay will have a higher CEC value than sand. It is obvious to most of us that sand cannot hold onto water or nutrients as well as a soil with a finer texture. Therefore, soils rich in Clay and Loam size particles are universally recognized as being better for farming - CEC explains this.  The numerical value for CEC represents how much nutrition can be held by a given amount of soil. For example one pound of a clay loam soil with a CEC value of 20 will hold 4 times as many nutrients as a sandy soil with a CEC value of 5. 20/4 = 5 .  It's all about math, for examp...

While Humic Acids may have a personality, what's really important is whether or not they work and how much of this active ingredient is actually in a given product. To determine this, Soil Secrets LLC,  initiated a study to characterize the Humic Acid molecule found in our products.  What do we mean by asking if a molecular substances has Character? The characterization process measures the geometry and the functionality of the targeted molecule, in this case Humic Acid.  So what does this mean to our clients or to the staff at Soil Secrets?   For us, it provides the evidence we need in order to talk intelligently and accurately about what the active ingredient is in our product.  For the client, its proof that the active ingredient is indeed present in the product and that it does function in the way we claim it should.  The " Characterization of the Functionality of the Humic Acids "  found in our products was performed in collaboration w...

On Kuwait:   That country is a member of the GCC, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council,made up of   Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and soon to join, Jordan and Morocco.     The good news and another feather in the cap of Soil Secrets is that we have passed a major hurdle in getting our product exported into those nations, by passing some rigorous tests conducted by the Environment Department and the Agriculture Ministry of Kuwait.   Since we have been  approved in Kuwait, we are also approved for the entire GCC!    I'm sharing this good news with you because this is significant to you and your buyers because it demonstrates once again that Soil Secrets is proving the efficacy of what we are selling, so you can be confident and proud in representing the products of Soil Secrets LLC.  

I'm very excited to share with you this very good news, that once again demonstrates that Soil Secrets is indeed 'cutting edge' in our industry.   First I'd like to cover the recent completion of testing conducted at Sandia National Laboratories on the Humic acid that we are formulating into our products.     The tests were extremely revealing and educational for us, in terms of teaching us about our own product and providing us with information concerning the Humic acid fraction that's   contained within the whole Humic substance of our products.   This is information on the 'Characterization of Humic Substances', with data and evidence that no other commercial supplier of Humic acids can provide.   Keep in mind that this is research that has never been done before and is exclusive to our company.    I'm weeding through both the SANDIA REPORT and the LOS ALAMOS REPORT now, which contains several hundred pages of data, so that I can reveal to...