Explanation on Lack of Hardiness

In the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, Trans Pecos Texas and Northern Mexico, we have many mountain ranges that have an ecotone at the base which I call the Desert Edge Woodland. It's very arid, dominated by Quercus species and averages between 12 and 15 inches of annual precipitation, rarely higher. 50% of precipitation falls during the summer monsoon season which is not much when you consider that the daily evaporation rate can exceed 1/2". Despite the aridity the oaks in this ecotone can still reach 40 feet tall or larger and you might assume that when grown for landscaping that these same species could tolerate the same 12 to 15 inches of annual moisture, however they cannot. Under cultivation the Chihuahuan Desert Native Oak will most likely need about 20 to 30 inches of annual moisture supplemented if planted in Albuquerque, Tucson, El Paso or Las Cruces. Nothing close to the 12 to 15 inches of its native counterparts. The reason for the lack of the same hardiness and low water tolerance of the cultivated plant versus the wild plant is that the cultivated plant lacks the full ecology of the terrestrial biosphere including a pipeline of Supramolecular Humic Acids and a Mycorrhizal relationship.

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Fertilizers formulated for alkaline soils of the Southwest

Recently I was in an Albuquerque retail nursery where a fertilizer was being sold that stated it was formulated for alkaline soils of the Southwest. It contained high levels of iron and sulfur, plus the N, P and K major nutrients. Do any of the readers care to comment on this type of product? Pros, Cons, etc. I have my take on it, but I'll entertain what you want to say about it. Michael Martin Meléndrez

Soil Health: Level 2 - Description of Terms (Carbon Compounds)

The Labile Carbon is also known as the 'Rapid Cycling Carbon' and its composed of all the Soil Organic Matter that is dead and actively decomposing. It's benefit to the soil is that it provides a source for minerals that are being recycled as potential plant nutrients, so in a sense it's Nature's fertilizer. Active Carbon also known as Reactive Carbon is more complex than the Labile Carbon in that its composed of all the dead and actively decomposing organic matter plus all the living soil microbial community that will eventually die and begin decomposing. For example, the hyphae of mycorrhizae only live about 5 to 7 days before they die and start to decompose, while the fungus organism itself may live far longer. Recalcitrant Carbons are the Humic substances made up of complex organic chemistry, some of which is inert and some of which is very reactive and are powerful biologics, such as the Humic Acids. Recalcitrant Humic substances are known in la

Understanding the Importance of Cation Exchange Capacity

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 example Nitrogen in

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