Mhogs
Well-Known Member
The soil is alive! Below our feet and invisible to the naked eye, tiny microbes the great digesters of the earth, constantly break down organic material into a more usable forms that plant roots can identify, absorb, and ultimately incorporate for new growth. This material includes complex organic compounds, such as tannins, lignins, proteins, carbohydrate, cellulose, pectin, etc. Soil should contain no less than 10,000,000 bacteria per gram. The presence of microbes ensures that nutrients are made available to plants at a steady rate. While the plants are actively growing and requiring more nutrients so do the microbes in the soil. As the weather warms, both the plant and microbes respond at a similar rate. The microbes become increasingly active in their role of breaking down organic materials into forms more readily absorbed by the growing plants that need extra nutrition. As the weather cools, plants require less nutrition, so do the microbes. The reduction in their activity means fewer nutrients in the soil are being released to the plants. In this way, the soil can rebuild food reserves. This self-regulating cycle has occurred for millions of years as part of fundamental law of organic chemistry. Microbes also help to stabilize the soil by physically binding soil particles together; they release a by-product called glomalin that acts as a “glue,” binding mineral particles and organisms to each other. This contributes greatly to soil aggregation. All of these processes happen naturally in a healthy, productive soil.
When we feed our plants instead of our soil, we lose all the benefits that microbes contribute. When we say” feed the soil” it means feed the microbes in the soil, because it is the microbes that make nutrients available for the plants. The way you feed microbes is through the addition of organic material. If you feed with a synthetic chemical fertilizer, you are feeding the plant, not the soil, or the microbes. Adding petrochemical synthetic fertilizer also drives up the salt index in the soil and changes the pH, which can have adverse effects on plants. So if flushing were beneficial, it would be for your medium and not what your plant has in its flowers or leaves.
More importantly, chemical fertilizers only feed for a short period of time and your plants only use 20-25% of the synthetic fertilizer used; organic fertilizers offer continual feeding because the microbes cannot digest all of the organic fertilizer at once. With chemical fertilizers, we also lose the microbes’ contribution to soil aggregation. Good soil aggregation leads to improvements in tilth, water retention, the rates at which water penetrates the soil, the amount of oxygen in the soil, and the reduction of runoff. All of these desirable soil conditions can be achieved by adding organic material. To elevate the microbial colonies in your garden, use organic materials/teas/compost. We feed with molasses but most have no clue that molasses is amazing for microbes and its the energy the sugar is offered in a simple form for microbes. Using organic fertilizers in soil will become the food source for the microbes, providing almost immediate nutrition for your plants, which means faster/better/healthier results.
Based on scientific horticulture evidence, your plants will respond and yield better tasting and more abundant product in the end. Increasing the biological activity in the soil, and the buildup of existing bacterial populations, will help make your plants more resistant to diseases and insects, while maximizing the potential for growth and health.
So the more you treat your soil like 'dirt' and not the living system it is. The less your plants will get from it.
So with regards to flushing, it really comes down to what your putting in your soil. If you're feeding commercially made fertilizer which in the long run is doing more harm to your end product, then by all means flush away. Because your medium is full of garbage and only hindering your plants potential. But....
If I thought flushing my plant was beneficial because I was feeding synthetic chemicals for the entire life cycle. I'd also have to believe that flushing for a week or 2 would correct/ remove everything I've been adding for the last 6 months. 6+ month process with a 2 week fix? But then I'd also have to believe NPK was making its way up my stalk in its original non broken down form as if the LAWS of Organic Chemistry just decided not to play its role with my plant but has followed its law with everything else, everywhere on the planet.... Just some food for thought.
When we feed our plants instead of our soil, we lose all the benefits that microbes contribute. When we say” feed the soil” it means feed the microbes in the soil, because it is the microbes that make nutrients available for the plants. The way you feed microbes is through the addition of organic material. If you feed with a synthetic chemical fertilizer, you are feeding the plant, not the soil, or the microbes. Adding petrochemical synthetic fertilizer also drives up the salt index in the soil and changes the pH, which can have adverse effects on plants. So if flushing were beneficial, it would be for your medium and not what your plant has in its flowers or leaves.
More importantly, chemical fertilizers only feed for a short period of time and your plants only use 20-25% of the synthetic fertilizer used; organic fertilizers offer continual feeding because the microbes cannot digest all of the organic fertilizer at once. With chemical fertilizers, we also lose the microbes’ contribution to soil aggregation. Good soil aggregation leads to improvements in tilth, water retention, the rates at which water penetrates the soil, the amount of oxygen in the soil, and the reduction of runoff. All of these desirable soil conditions can be achieved by adding organic material. To elevate the microbial colonies in your garden, use organic materials/teas/compost. We feed with molasses but most have no clue that molasses is amazing for microbes and its the energy the sugar is offered in a simple form for microbes. Using organic fertilizers in soil will become the food source for the microbes, providing almost immediate nutrition for your plants, which means faster/better/healthier results.
Based on scientific horticulture evidence, your plants will respond and yield better tasting and more abundant product in the end. Increasing the biological activity in the soil, and the buildup of existing bacterial populations, will help make your plants more resistant to diseases and insects, while maximizing the potential for growth and health.
So the more you treat your soil like 'dirt' and not the living system it is. The less your plants will get from it.
So with regards to flushing, it really comes down to what your putting in your soil. If you're feeding commercially made fertilizer which in the long run is doing more harm to your end product, then by all means flush away. Because your medium is full of garbage and only hindering your plants potential. But....
If I thought flushing my plant was beneficial because I was feeding synthetic chemicals for the entire life cycle. I'd also have to believe that flushing for a week or 2 would correct/ remove everything I've been adding for the last 6 months. 6+ month process with a 2 week fix? But then I'd also have to believe NPK was making its way up my stalk in its original non broken down form as if the LAWS of Organic Chemistry just decided not to play its role with my plant but has followed its law with everything else, everywhere on the planet.... Just some food for thought.
hence 'organic'
