Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Let me try that again easier to read. Point being, it appears that the
initial composting process is not humus formation; that occurs in the soil.


paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
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from Humus - Understanding the Soil Processes
http://www.petrik.com/PUBLIC/library/ups.html#humus

The production of humus is a complex process. In general cyclic substances
like phenol groups and also other like organic acids and vitamins (humus is
also related to crude oil) are polymerized with help of enzymes,like phenol
oxidase. These cyclic compounds are both from plant parts(like lignin) and
are also produced by the microorganisms. Mostly fungi, actinomycetes
(Streptomycets) seem to be responsible for humus formation. Aspergillus,
Pisolithus, Rhizoctonia, Streptomycets are only but a few examples of
microorganisms actually capable of synthesizing cyclic(aromatic) compounds
and form them into humus from non-cyclic materials.
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from Humus: Still a Mystery
http://www.nofa.org/tnf/humus.php

Humus is essentially a massive storage battery containing energy that was
originally derived from the sun. Researchers in England discovered that an
acre  (furrow slice) of soil with 4 percent organic matter contains as much
energy as 20-25 tons of anthracite coal. Another researcher in Maine
equated the energy in  that amount of organic matter to 4000 gallons of #2
fuel oil. This organic energy, which is stored as carbon compounds, was
originally derived from the sun  by autotrophic organisms such as plants
that can extract carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide. About one percent
of the energy from the sun that  reaches plant leaves is used to
photosynthesize carbon compounds. During the  plants' life much of the
energy that is absorbed from the sun is utilized for growth, foliage
production, flowering, seed production and other functions.

About 10 percent of the absorbed energy, initially from the sun, is left
available to a consumer, e.g. an animal that eats and digests the plant.
Like the plant, the animal uses most of the energy it consumes for
functions such as growth and sustenance but can offer about 10 percent of
the energy it derived from plants to the next consumer in the food chain.

Humus in the soil has more real value than money, real estate, stocks or
bonds. Its value doesn't fluctuate; it doesn't become scarce in a
recession; it's worth can't be depleted by inflation and it can't be
stolen. It is the direct or indirect source of sustenance for all life on
earth. It can sometimes be lost by environmental changes but more often,
its demise is from either the apathy or the inadvertent errors of the
steward who tends it.

Humus is a renewable resource. Its presence in the soil can be maintained
indefinitely. Unfortunately, many agricultural and horticultural practices
are essentially mining humus. Like other mined products, such as coal,
minerals and oil, the natural resource can eventually be exhausted.

The popular scientific definition of humus is "A more or less biologically
stable, dark, amorphous material formed by the microbial decomposition of
plant and animal residues". It is difficult to visibly differentiate humus
from organic matter in other stages of decay. Compost, well rotted manures
and peat are not necessarily humus. However, at some hard-to-define point,
all of these organic materials will contribute immeasurably to the humus
content in the soil.

It is not realistic to think that one can quantify or qualify humus
production from contributions of organic matter to soil. There are too many
factors that control its formation and existence in the soil environment.
One can only assume  that cultural practices that both minimize the
depletion and contribute to the formation of humus will maintain the best
possible level of soil humus for each individual environment.
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