Another fantastic Webinar by John Kempf, understanding PH, redox, oxidation, and how they impact nutrient availability, fascinating!!
My notes below:
The only valid indicator of what nutrients are in the soil are sap analysis
Conventional soil tests will tell us if Iron or MG is in the soil profile but we don’t know if this is in the redox form vs. bioavailable form.
Tillage, exposure to sunlight, nitrate application – strong oxidizing factors
Nutrient availability is ultimately determined by biological activity.
Chemical inputs will result in hitting a ceiling in plant health. Need functioning biology
Crop health labs for sap analysis for more information.
No lab report or soil assay that gives us everything we are looking for in one-stop-shop
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Really healthy soil will suppress pathogens – good biological activity.
Really healthy soil has enough biological available N, without adding N, to produce a top yield for that field, without supplemental N – all biologically delivered N.
Examples of plantings pulling up oxidized forms of Iron, but they are unable to use that form so they store it in the plant, once they realize it is not bioavailable. It Will show up in the tissue sample but not in sap analysis. This reminds me of the Dr. Christine Jones study on the Nitrogen loop and the uptake of “funny proteins” or non-convertible nitrates to amino acids.
Often best to purchase the trace minerals in the amino acid state, not in the oxidized state.
Salt fertilizers, lime, etc. are all oxidizers! As well as heat, tillage, etc.
Soil PH and plant sap PH – zero correlation
Pathogenic microbes are oxidizers – so as you add fertilizers that are also oxidizers, which are reducing healthy microbes, you are enhancing pathogenic microbes’ populations.
Not all OM is created equal – many variables. Principle understanding is surrounded around the bio-physics over the environment in which the OM was created. For example, is it paramagnetic or diamagnetic? Depends on the soil's paramagnetic, electric conductivity.
Build Better Soils!!
