Jagdish Patel is a Soil Health Scientist and Art Illustrator. His work is so spot on, so easy to follow and appreciate. You can find more of his work on LinkedIn.
Know your levels of Macro and Micro nutrients
Nitrogen (N) - Soil nitrogen transformations underpin plant growth and are fundamental to healthy ecosystem functioning. Excess nitrogen applications, particularly in the form of high fertilizer inputs, adversely affect soil health and cause substantial nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions contributing to atmospheric pollution. sciencedirect.com Nitrogen and ammonia in soils
Phosphorus (P) - Soil phosphorus is found in two forms, namely organic and inorganic. These two forms together make up the total soil phosphorous. Approximately 30-65% of total soil phosphorous is in organic forms, which are not not plant available. While the remaining 35 to 70% is in inorganic forms. Organic forms of phosphorus include dead plant/animal residue and soil micro-organisms. Soil micro-organisms (microbes) play a key role in processing and transforming these organic forms of phosphorous into plant available forms. aces.edu. Phosphorous forms present in the Soil
The build up of phosphorus in lawns, gardens, pastures, and croplands can cause plants to grow poorly and even die. Excessive soil phosphorus reduces the availability of micronutrients , particularly iron and zinc, even when soil tests may show adequate amounts of those nutrients (the nutrients get locked out and made unavailable). Too much phosphorus can cause increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants which can result in decreased levels of dissolved oxygen. High levels of phosphorus can also lead to algae blooms that produce algal toxins which can be harmful to human and animal health. epa.gov.
Potassium (K) - Potassium gives your grass the strength it needs to fight off stress, drought, and disease. Potassium helps cool-season grass survive weather changes, such as the frigid cold winter air and the blazing hot sun. Its man benefit is that it aids your grass in fighting off drought, stress and disease.
Excessive potassium can adversely affect nutrient availability, including locking up boron, and the blocking of adequate manganese uptake.
Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist and a Conservation Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Rain Simulator Test
This is an incredible lesson from Ray on the importance of microbes and the roles they play within healthy soil. The focus of the video is on agriculture, however, turf grasses are the one of the largest irrigated “crops” in the country and they thrive and survive very similar in nature. Ray talks about the importance of microbes in the soil in several different sections of this video. Excellent learning material!
Dr. James White - The Rhizophagy Cycle
Dr. James White is Professor of Plant Pathology at Rutgers University. Dr. White specializes in symbiosis research, particularly endophytic microbes. He is author of more than 180 articles, and author and editor of reference books on the biology, taxonomy, and phylogeny of fungal endophytes. He and his students in his lab are exploring diversity of endophytic microbes and the various
impacts they have on host plants.