Calling Al - Humic Acid?

[gjs4]

Knowing one of the smartest guys in the soil space hangs here.....figured why not ask?

It seems like Humic Acid is gaining popularity for soil amending; What is it's role and ho does it differ from Lime(s) with allowing nutrient uptake?

 

["J"]

@at1010

 

[at1010]

Knowing one of the smartest guys in the soil space hangs here.....figured why not ask?

It seems like Humic Acid is gaining popularity for soil amending; What is its role and ho does it differ from Lime(s) with allowing nutrient uptake?

Let’s start with lime -
Lime is calcium carbonate or mg carbonate - the role here is for the calcium and carbonate to split once dissolved into the soil profile. The CA is a ++ charge and will push the H off the soil colloid. Keep in mind H is your acidity molecule. As H is pushed off the soil colloid - it binds with the carbonate. This creates water and CO2. Now - this is beneficial from a few areas. 1. Being the Ph neutralization - which is general is going to increase nutrient uptake in the soil profile, assuming those nutrients are there to begin with. This is somewhat of a counterintuitive thought process because logically we’d think more acidity, equals more solubility. The problem is - what’s true! and things like aluminum, iron, etc. become soluble and tie up our N P K into insoluble forms. Also as acidity increases - we reduce our CA and MG because that Hydorgen needs to take place somewhere. This is where we are liming to understand base saturations and soil chemical structure is also critical - for aerobic microbial flow and soil structure.

Humics is different. Its formed from the decomposition of organic matter - leonardite is often the organic form the humics and fulvic are derived which is degraded/weathered coal like substance. Humics helps in seed germ - nutrient retention, microbial stimulation, and soil structure. Humics CECs typically range upwards of several hundred CEC - which is why/how they can work to hold nutrients so well. There is also believed to be some growth hormone impacts on the plants that change the plants ability to growth - through the plant’s physiological response. Although this isn’t that well understood.

All that to say
1. Lime is important
2. Humics are great but not a miracle dust. I use them in our Seed Arm+ (seed inoculant). I use them in our Seed Feed (seed inoculant that’s actual plant nutrients with a humic base) as well. So I do believe in them but I also believe we must focus on all other parts of soil as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[gjs4]

Al, i cant believe you have time to hunt or grow a garden....id imagine you in a smoking jacket with a pipe jus writing notes on soil in the candlelight. You're incredible man, and your education/help is second to none. It appears that the "soil space" is become a new segment of hunter sales and of course everything is the secret solver of all problems...but most of us don't understand anything about the environment we are "curing".

The stick figure version of your art has me thinking making sure my pH is correct and there is no compaction, then add macros and humic, right?

 

[Clay Showalter]

Wow reading that was like reading a text book, very impressive, lots of good information.

 

[at1010]

Al, i cant believe you have time to hunt or grow a garden....id imagine you in a smoking jacket with a pipe jus writing notes on soil in the candlelight. You're incredible man, and your education/help is second to none. It appears that the "soil space" is become a new segment of hunter sales and of course everything is the secret solver of all problems...but most of us don't understand anything about the environment we are "curing".

The stick figure version of your art has me thinking making sure my pH is correct and there is no compaction, then add macros and humic, right?

Thanks for the kind words. I truly enjoy the challenge of learning. I am far from an expert but know enough to help folks recognize bull when they see it.

One of the core reasons I started Vitalize seed was
1. I felt there garden, foodplot and small farm space was absolutely inundated with poor agronomic information and snake oil.
2. After years of wiring blogs and sharing my mixes @bowhunter1023 told me once “damn - you need to bag and sell that shit” haha idk if he’ll remember that.
3. Timing was right and I was blessed to have an opportunity to work with my friend,Jared, to start it.

as for your questions. I like to do a simple process
1. Look at ph
2. Look at cec - what’s my soil texture
3. Look at base saturations - what lime or gypsum makes most sense for my chemical soil structure
4. What do I need to maximize year one growth (normally N and K here) - manure, synthetics, compost, foliars, green summer cover crop (nitroboost) these are all examples and vary on growers technique and goals.
5. Where am I on micros for long term baseline.
6. Hunics (if substances i am added don’t have them already), fungi inoculation, etc.
7. Probably more important than 6 - fine tuning seeding rate and density to maximize success on my farm - relative to the deer density, soil fertility, etc.
8. Maximize my soil testing efficiency and start looking into more biological soil tests alongside my conventional to see how I am progressing from a diversity in microbes (plfa tests) and overall co2 respiration.

I could continue on but this is just a quick step by step (feel free to move order around) that I would take to maximize my planting programs be it a garden to a foodplot to a farm field.

thanks for asking questions - without asking questions, we are doomed! Science is only as good as the questions asked.

Al

 

[at1010]

Wow reading that was like reading a text book, very impressive, lots of good information.

Thanks!! Happy it was useful.

 

[bowhunter1023]

Funny, still no royalty checks

 

["J"]

Funny, still no royalty checks

His friendship is your money in the bank!