permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 12/29/2010 10:47 AM, James Kotcon wrote:

> In our soils, we often run into problems with phosphate fixation
> (precipitation as insoluble iron or aluminum phosphates) especially
> at acid pH levels.  Adding lime increased the "available" phosphate
> in our soil even without adding compost or other amendments.  It is

> not necessarily a microbial function, just "simple" solution
> chemistry.

Except for the phosphorous stored in the bodies of certain 
microorganisms that become available for plant nutrition when they die 
and ere recycled by other microorganisms:
Elaine writes:
"Those critters I keep talking about........ bacteria, fungi, protozoa, 
nematodes, microarthropods, and earthworms and..... all the rest of 
those guys.
If people have no clue what organisms are present, and whether there are 
enough protozoa and beneficial nematodes to do the job of releasing 
nutrients from the bacteria and fungi, then those folks are basically 
doomed to poor fertility, and to falling back on use of inorganic 
additions to their soil.  And that approach fails because nutrients will 
be lost through leaching, or through volatilization."
I assume that the phosphorous released through this process would be in 
a form that would be immediately available to plants, would be slow and 
continuous release. Maybe the higher the levels of the six categories of 
microorganisms listed above the more available phosphorous would be
immediately accessable by plants like corn with high feeding and 
nutrient utilization rates. That's why organic agriculture produces
such bountiful, nutrient dense crops and so reliability with the least 
pest predation. Permaculture farming is the way to go.

Levels of chitin and glomalin must be other important factors at least 
as forces adding to long term soil quality, tilth, nutrient and moisture 
retention and habitat for soil organisms.

Strategies involving all this are at the core of practical 
natural/biointensive/regenerative agriculture.