1. Try to determine the composition of the soil used for your seedlings.
The soil inside my bean cup is very nutrient-deprived. It is potting soil. We have not gone to a park yet for rich soil.
2. Go to a local garden center and find three different types of fertilizers both manmade and organic. List the recommended uses, sources of materials and minerals in each and application.
Note from Mom: Two types of organic fertilizers were available for this assignment. Manmade fertilizers were not included due to their potential hazards to health.
Organic:
E.B. Stone Organics' Rose & Flower Food
Ingredients
Natural
Various ingredients derived from:
Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Chicken Manure, Bat Guano, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, and Potassium Sulfate.
Bacteria
Bacillus Subtilis
Bacillus Lichenformis
Paenibacillus Polymyxa
Bacillus Azotoformans
Paenibacillus Durum
Bacillus Pumulis
Streptomyces Lydicus
Trichoderma Harzianum
Soil
Calcined Clay
Fungi
Glomus Intraradices
Glomus Mosseae
Glomus Aggregatum
How to Use:
Feed your roses as new growth begins in the spring by spreading 1 1/2 cups of fertilizer evenly under each plant starting 8 inches from the base and working out into the drip line. Mix it lightly into the soil and water the area.
Feed with 1 1/2 cups of fertilizer every 8-12 weeks throughout the growing season.
E.B. Stone Organics' Citrus & Fruit Tree Food
Ingredients
Natural
Various ingredients derived from:
Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Chicken Manure, Bat Guano, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, and Potassium Sulfate.
Bacteria
Bacillus Subtilis
Bacillus Lichenformis
Paenibacillus Polymyxa
Bacillus Pumulis
Paenibacillus Durum
Bacillus Pumulis
Streptomyces Lydicus
Streptomyces Greiseus
Trichoderma Harzianum
Trichoderma Viride
Soil
Calcined Clay
Fungi
Glomus Intraradices
Glomus Mosseae
Glomus Aggregatum
How to Use:
For first year trees, apply approximately 3/4 cup per month. In most areas, application may start in February repeated throughout the growing season. When possible, work the fertilizer lightly into the soil before watering.
3. Do you have a flower or vegetable garden? Yes.
a. What kind of plants do you grow?
An orange tree, assorted succulents, mint, aloe vera, snapdragons, African daisies, daisies, petunias, raspberries, morning glories, grapes, echinechea, jasmine, blueberries, bacopa, beans, elephant ears, pholox, verbena, kangaroo paw, sea daisies, roses, bougainvillea, mandanveilia, gara, begonia, cyclamen, and rosemary.
b. How do you keep the soil healthy and fertile so that plants will grow? We use a mixture of potting soil and store bought compost in our pots, and water the plants weekly.
c. We do use fertilizer. It is organic and it is the exact same fertilizer that I used to answer # 2
d. No. We do not compost (though we want to) because most bins are very very expensive.
4b. Research different home composting methods.
Compost!
Compost is a substance made of rotted materials that slowly becomes a rich kind of mulch. Actually, the mulch is the non-compressed, half rotted stuff at the top of whatever container you are using. The humus (a black, fully, rotted, compressed soil-like material) is the stuff at the bottom, which is extremely good for plants.
Composting helps the earth, because if you compost, you channel around half of your trash into something the helps life thrive. Of course, hotter is better, because heat makes things rot faster.
Compost rots because microscopic creatures eat the food and plant matter, leaving only leftovers and, er, micro-poop. Microorganisms are microscopic simple bacteria that eat just about anything. They are the reason why things rot. They do other things, like enriching the soil. Some add nitrogen to the soil, making it more nutritious.
The best kind of compost is a layered, “compost sandwich.” The bottom must ALWAYS be made of sticks to allow drainage. The best style is: Twigs, soft material (Like green plants and soft vegetable scraps), hard material (Like leaves, orange peels, and small sticks), soft, soft, hard, soft, soft, hard, and so on.
Before I move on to another method, I need to explain the two basic needs of compost:
1. Water. A hose will do. Do not overwater. The best kind of compost is one that has the texture of a full sponge, not the water of a full sponge.
2. Air. It will also smell rotten if you don’t give it air. Want to know why? That is the smell of dead bacteria. You need bacteria for you compost. Bacteria and microbes are the chemical magicians of compost.
Another method to get good compost (besides waiting!) is by turning. Turning can be done in many ways, from flipping the bin over and shaking, to using a premade crank to stir the compost. It causes a chemical reaction that makes the top mulch turn into good, crumbled, cakelike humus.
Another kind of compost is sheet composting. It is like a substrate pile of whatever you are using on whatever you are fertilizing. Basically, throw some hard material on the ground and let it rot naturally. The problem with it is that you can’t throw kitchen scraps in, only plant material.
Also, it rots very slowly.
Another way (this is the best way for us) is worm compost.
Many people know the value of worms in their garden. Worms are great decomposers, especially red-wigglers and African night crawlers. If you have only kitchen scraps, or if you live in an apartment, composting with worms is the way to go.
Worms are best kept in a closed worm box. They like darkness and dampness.
Compost is a perfect way to keep a self sustaining home and garden.
(If you want to compost NOW, call 1-800-GRO-DIRT)
Click here to see a video about "How to Compost":
http://video.gaiam.com/services/link/bcpid1586371772/bctid1840781718
EXAM
1. Explain the functions of soil in the terms of how it is used by a plant.
Plants absorb the nutrients in the soil and use it to be healthy (like multivitamins).
2. Explain the difference between dirt and healthy, living soil.
Dirt has zero microbes, is dry and dusty, and has very little minerals to offer. Soil has maximum in all of the above (microorganisms, moisture, and minerals).
3. How do organisms in soil help plants get nutrients that they need to grow? Give an example of one type of organism that does this.
They decompose dead plant matter into tiny bits that can be easily consumed by the roots. An example is Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria (which I fondly call NFB), which takes nitrogen out from the air and turns it into healthy minerals.
4. Why is organic matter important to healthy soil?
They add nutrients through waste products, and keep soil loose.
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