They
aren’t just dead decaying organic stuff.
Humic
molecules of soil, often called Humic Acids, are self-assembling structures
resulting in bigger structures. Self-assembly
is all about individual parts coming together on their own to build precise
things. The final shape of the bigger
structure is called a Supramolecular substance which Nature has programmed to be
completely repeatable. The material
science of Supramolecular chemistry is based upon a response to Thermal Energy
that’s part of the molecular characteristic of each molecule involved. The molecules themselves are a ‘Anabolic’ (to
build) product of soil chemistry, which is the opposite of composting and soil
organic matter which are products of a
‘Catabolic’ (breaking down) process.
When
dealing with the world of Soil Ecology and the Mechanism of Action provided to
soils and the living systems of soil by the Supramolecular Humic Molecules, the
series of words Supramolecular Self-Assembly sounds very complicated, but it represents
is fairly simple concept. Nature is a
force of constant change and movement, where the wind blows, water flows,
oceans have tides and molecules move.
When some molecules get larger they have the ability to stick to
themselves allowing them to form larger assemblies of molecules that are not
bonded to each other but do stick to one another. Unlike the pieces of a puzzle that are also
not stuck to one another, you must manipulate the pieces to put the puzzle
together. Not so with Supramolecular
molecules, which will self-assembly without an outside influence, programmed by
Nature. The pieces of a puzzle, or the
bricks of a house must be manipulated to put into place, but molecules with
enough ‘Thermal Energy’ can move and be sticky enough that they will stick
together forming larger and larger structures. As the molecules get larger and larger, the
force that allows them to stick together also gets larger and larger. The larger the mass of the Supramolecular
Humic structure the more powerful and effective it is in doing amazing things
in the soil. This is why the concept of
a Fulvic acid molecule is flawed, as that substance is supposed to be a very
small molecule! Like building a house,
if the bricks could move and stick together, then the house could spontaneously
self-assemble. If we could make bricks
by controlling where to put ‘Force
Constants’ the bricks could self-assemble
into functional structures, which is the notion of Supramolecular large
molecules that self assembled spontaneously.
However just like the pieces of the puzzle or the individual bricks, the
molecules of Humics must first be manufactured, either by Nature’s soil ecology
or by Soil Secrets LLC. This happens
well enough in a healthy soil ecology, but in disturbed soil or fields of
agriculture the precursor chemicals needed to build these molecules are most
likely not available. This is why
fortifying the soil with them can provide huge benefits!
When
dealing with Soil Ecology, Agriculture and Horticulture, we are dealing with
living systems that Nature has perfected with trial and error over the eons of
time. Living systems are the
prototypical example of Supramolecular assemblies where individual cells will self-assemble. When they divide they will self-assemble. Encoded on the genome is the information that
allows the cells to spontaneously assemble into functional entities. So learning the rules of self-assembly is
what science clings to, in defending and explaining evolution. Through trial and error different molecular
structures formed, some which gave
function and some which did not. In the
case of Humic molecules, if the individual molecules or the resulting larger Supramolecular
Humic Substance failed to have function it would have no Mechanism of Action
(benefit) to our soil’s ecology. It’s
not a perfect flawless system as there are often mistakes made where the larger
self-assembled structures have either no function or in the case of biology may
result in a disease caused by a miss-folded event.
I’ve
taken the time to explain the amazing science behind the bio-identical humic
molecules of TerraPro, to help all of us appreciate what they are. It explains the phenomena behind the dramatic
reduction in soil compaction measured by Don DeBoer of Mid Valley Agriculture
Services on a pistachio orchard in California (see our blog story: http://www.soilsecretsblog.com/2015_01_01_archive.html)
where penetrating 3 feet deep with a probe calibrated to measure the psi of the
soil a reduction in psi was seen dropping from 300 to 75 in half a year. At a psi of 300 the probe could only
penetrate 1 inch but after treating the fields with 600 pounds of TerraPro per
acre and waiting half a year the psi dropped to an average of 75 and the probe
could penetrate 3 feet with only 75 pounds of applied pressure. This exemplifies the power of Supramolecular
Humic Molecules as I can’t think of anything else that can make that big of an
impact on over 12 million pounds of earth using only 600 pounds of technical
material. Think of all the water
savings that could be had on urban landscapes across the Western States if water and oxygen could penetrate the soil
3 feet deep. Imagine the impact on
irrigated agriculture globally if the soil’s porosity could absorb water and
manage its use slowly. This is the
potential of TerraPro’s supramolecular chemistry.
Michael Martin Meléndrez
Managing Member of Soil
Secrets LLC
Albuquerque's Soil Conditioner Source
Albuquerque's Soil Conditioner Source
505 550-3246
www.soilsecrets.com
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