A beginners study guide to soil

jaykush · Mar 18, 2011

This thread is being created to help people learn what soil is about, real soil. the stuff the earth we walk on is created out of. For now the thread will be based off of a study list. This basically means the topics below are topics to search for online, however you want. It is suggested that you follow the topics down the line or at least each section at a time. go at your own pace. keep with each topic until you feel you understand it fully.

Over time additional "chapters" will be added, and possibly when good links are found, they can be put in this original post under each topic.

hopefully at some point along the line you'll get a ta-da moment and soil will seem like no big deal, and you will know exactly what to do with the stuff. as well as making a soil mix 10000x easier.

A soil for beginners study guide

- concepts of soil
-soil as an living organism
-soil as a medium for plant growth

-physical properties of soil
-types of soil
-soil texture
-soil structure
-pore space and porosity
-soil permeability
-soil aeration
-effects of tillage on soil
-traffic and compaction
-effects of flooding on soil *cough*flushing*cough*
-soil color
-soil temperature

-soil water
-soil water movement
-water potential
-soil water holding capacity
-Soil water retention

-soil water management
-water conservation
-soil drainage

-soil ecology
-the ecosystem
-microorganisms as decomposers
-soil animals as consumers and decomposers
-nutrient cycling
-relation of soil organisms to plants
-soil organisms and environmental quality
-earth moving activities of soil animals

-soil organic matter
-humus formation and characteristics
-amount and distribution of organic matter in soils
-organic matter management

-soil mineralogy
-chemical and mineralogical composition of the earths crust
-weathering and mineralogical composition of soils
-structural components of soil clays
-origin, structure, and properties of soil clays
-ion exchange system in clays

-soil chemistry
-cation exchange
-anion exchange
-factors affecting soil PH
-significance of soil PH
-alteration of soil PH
-effects of flooding on soil chemical properties

check back often for additional study topics.

bigwity · Mar 18, 2011

quality. +rep

kannubis · Mar 18, 2011

bookmarked

mad librettist · Mar 18, 2011

A beginners to soil study guide

A beginners to soil study guide

ah jay, you really were working on this! thanks!

may I suggest a helpful practice to help people put this stuff in context? case studies.

vonforne · Mar 18, 2011

Nice layout JK. I hope this goes smooth. It will be a great reference source.

V

Bullfrog44 · Mar 18, 2011

I just read a quarter of Teaming with Microbes last night, let me finish that up then I will dig into this thread. Thanks for the heads up.

jaykush · Mar 18, 2011

teaming with microbes could be a good reference for some of the topics that are there( and to come)

EclipseFour20 · Mar 19, 2011

Yep...got to include stuff from Dr Ingham & Company. Their Soil Foodweb website has lots of info, things like--

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html

Iron_Lion · Mar 19, 2011

Very cool post. I want to throw it out there my fellow soil enthusiast, check out DIRT the movie, it's f8ckin awesome.

http://www.dirtthemovie.org/

I will be following along with this thread, great subject.

jaykush · Mar 19, 2011

thanks for the posts guys.

everyone feel free to add info about soil, real soil.

if peat or coco, or anything else gets posted. it wont be there long, there are other threads for that stuff. :joint:

guest2012y · Mar 19, 2011

Cool
I highly encourage anyone to explore local soil types to incorporate in their gardens. I have had great results and trouble free gardening ever since I started doing so. Dirt don't hurt!

mad librettist · Mar 19, 2011

for anyone using soil in containers, this is a general rundown of properties. Peat and coco are mentioned, but that's not the point. The rules about managing soil components in the video apply to real soil as well, if it's in containers.

http://www.greenhousegrower.com/ggtv/?vid=443

Jay, when do you consider it real soil btw? What if in 2 years all the peat is gone from my pots, and I started with about 10% sand, 10% clay, and 10% silt?

jaykush · Mar 19, 2011

if you had clay, sand and silt in your mix. i say it qualifies as soil. not in the same sense as the stuff you get outside though.

mad librettist · Mar 19, 2011

ok I see. there is some small portion that is soil from outside that was run through a worm bin as well.

so at least a tenuous connection to the earth.

dirrtyd · Mar 20, 2011

Here is the first site I came upon once I started reading and researching. Thanks JK

http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/earthworms.html

Hope this helps someone else it has helped me a ton in understanding the whole process. dirrtyd

jaykush · Mar 20, 2011

which topic did you search under?

dirrtyd · Mar 20, 2011

Soil as an living organism was what I searched under. dirrtyd

dirrtyd · Mar 20, 2011

this PDF deal withthe soil for a urban gardener.
http://soils.usda.gov/use/urban/downloads/primer(screen).pdf

dirrtyd

heady blunts · Mar 21, 2011

alright! here we go!

one thing i'm struggling with in my veggie garden right now is how to move around without compacting the soil.

i've laid down 4-6" of alfalfa hay to disperse the pressure of my footprints, and i think it helps a bit. any other suggestions?

jaykush · Mar 21, 2011

a series of small permanent stepping stones is the best imo. as not only do they give you something to walk on. they create tiny tiny microclimates for germinating seeds.

alfalfa hay will work. you'll just have to keep adding it because it decomposes.

A beginners study guide to soil

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