Proof of Concept Testing On Saline Sodic Soil

Last summer we did some Proof of Concept testing at the New Mexico Consortium labs, determining if the Supramolecular Aromatic Chemistry coming from the Humic molecules in TerraPro provided a Mechanism of Action in fixing or controlling sodic saline conditions. The tests went well and with positive results, however there were a few steps that got missed or left out that I'd like to get some measurements on, so Anna and I will do a repeat of a similar tests using our new lab in Los Lunas. I'm hoping that Kevin Devine and Stephen Gomez, both highly qualified professional chemists can help me do some test and measurements once the grow out phase is completed. I collected 20 gallons of soil from this spot near Socorro New Mexico where even the native salt grass was beyond its tolerance and could not grow. You can see the salt grass growing close to the collection site but not on it. I've taken the soil back to the lab, will send samples off to a lab for a pre-test analysis, and follow that up with a post test analysis. In the meantime we shall see what increment of TerraPro gives us the best performance germinating some stuff. When we did this last summer with Los Alamos National Labs, the post soil analysis phase was skipped because the soil was thrown away after the roots of the plants were extracted and measured for microbial characteristics. I asked that the soil be returned to me, but that didn't happen.

Michael Martin Meléndrez
Managing Member of Soil Secrets LLC
www.soilsecrets.com

Comments

How does nitrogen work in the soil, and where does it come from when we don't have a bag of fertilizer to supplement it?

I've spoken many times on this subject at conferences and it was the main theme of my talk when I represented North America at the World's 1st Humus Experts Meeting in Vienna Austria back in 2013. Most of the Nitrogen used by the vast tropical rain forests, or the fastest growing biomass place on Earth, the Coastal Redwood Forests of California, comes from the production of protein by the Free-Living Nitrogen Fixing bacteria in soil and the massive biomass structure of the mycorrhizal fungi. The proteins as it breaks down in the soil into amino acids are the building blocks of life and the explanation of the Soil Food Web. However, in order for those amino acids to enter a plant and be part of the nitrogen budget of the plant they must have the assistance of the mycorrhizal fungi. It's much more efficient for a plant to uptake amino acids whose molecules include nitrogen needed to build tissues than to uptake just nitrogen minus the amino acid. ...

All About the Shantung Maple!

The Shantung Maple ( Acer truncatum ) is also known as the Purple Blow Maple due to the color of its newly emerging leaves which are red-purple (see photo below). These young expanding red-purple leaves change to green as they mature. Leaves are small, about the size of Japanese Red Maple leaves, perhaps 3’-4’ wide at maturity. The Shantung Maple grows 1′-2′ annually reaching 25″ tall and wide. This is our tree for all planting situations. This Maple does well in heavy clay, sandy soils, full sun, or part shade. It can be planted in a lawn or next to a hot asphalt street (see photo below). It seemingly is a happy tree enjoying life wherever it is placed. One place we would not recommend planting this tree is in a rockscape which is just too hot and inhospitable to support this beautiful tree. A smaller tree, the Shantung Ma...

Desert Willows

The Desert Willow ( Chilopsis linearis ) is a small flowering tree grown for its orchid like flowers and tolerance to hot arid landscapes. The Desert Willow is a New Mexico native tree that normally grows with multi-trunks to about 15′-18’ tall and wide. If pruned into a single-trunk tree it can grow much taller. This trees common name, Desert Willow, is given due to its willow-like leaves (photo). The Desert Willow is not related to other willows like Globe or Weeping. The Desert Willow is well suited for the xeric landscape or to cool down a west or south facing wall. In particularly hot areas, areas with low annual rainfall or where water is limiting the Desert Willow makes a great specimen tree because of its tolerance to these conditions. In hot, dry areas the Desert Willow is sometimes used as the sole landscaping tree (photo). It produces a light dappled shade due to its leaf and canopy structure that is ideal to cool down hot sun facing walls (photo). It produces orchid li...

Trees That Please Nursery

Search This Blog