Demystifying Soil Health - Organic Matter
Once again, I am not a soil expert, so we’ll continue here with the understanding that I’m sharing my experience in hopes that it demystifies a little more of what can be perceived as a complex topic. We talked about pH in the previous blog post, so let’s move on to Organic Matter.
organic matter
It’s right there in the name I guess! Matter that has broken down from organic sources - compost, leaf mulch, last season’s plant debris and root systems. All of these are great sources of organic matter. Organic matter provides all of the good nutrients that a plant needs in order to establish healthy root systems, stems and foliage, and flowers which will become the actual fruit (vegetable) that you’re hoping to enjoy.
We’ll focus on three macronutrients found in organic matter: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. A very simple way to understand why each is helpful to a plant is
Nitrogen: crucial for the development of leafy greens and healthy stems
Phosphorus: encourages robust root systems and abundant flowers
Potassium: balances overall plant health
There are two ways that you can address the overall level of organic matter in your garden. I recommend doing both simultaneously, because one is a short term fix, and the other is a long term approach. Done together, you’ll reduce your input of both time and material as you go.
The addition of well-rotted compost, either from your own compost pile or vermiculture bin is a great way to make a longer term investment in the organic matter level of your soil. I bring in large quantities of compost from a trusted organic compost source, but if you do bring in compost, be sure to know exactly where it comes from and how it is processed. Sometimes compost will arrive “hot.” What we mean by that is that it will smell like ammonia and the process of breaking down will be incomplete. Most composts will keep breaking down to a degree, so they’ll be warm in the middle of the pile. That’s not what we mean by hot. If compost arrives hot, it will have an imbalance of nitrogen and will likely chemically burn tender transplants and root systems, either killing them altogether, or damaging them to a degree that you’ll likely need to replant. If your compost arrives hot, make sure you leave it to sit out in the elements to finish “cooking.” When it stops smelling like ammonia it’s safe to put in your garden.
I leave my plants in the ground over winter to break down in place. If there are still bits by spring, I pull them then and add them to my compost piles and plant this year’s transplants into the soft soil left by these plant remnants. Most of the time they’ve broken down into a fine layer of mulch over the top of each space, which works in my favor helping with water retention and weed suppression.
FERTILIZERS
When I use fertilizers, I’m pretty choosy about brand. I stick to Neptune’s Harvest exclusively. They are really great about descriptions and instructions. You’ll see the NPK numbers written as ratios on the bottle. 3 - 1 - 1 for example, means there are 3 parts nitrogen to one part phosphorus and potassium. When we’re fertilizing, we use a fertilizer with a higher nitrogen component until the plant begins its flowering cycle, and then we switch to a product with a higher phosphorus component. Fair warning: Neptune’s Harvest stinks to high hell. But it works a charm for good, nutritious input as you build your soil health.
