HOW TO GARDEN THE NATURAL WAY
Introduction to Preparing Healthy Soil in Arizona
Fantastic Soil with Power 5
Microbial Diversity in Soil
The Benefits of Humate-Rich Soil
IMPORTANCE of Dechlorinating City Water in Your Garden Faucet
Introduction to Preparing Healthy Soil in Arizona
—By Zak Raml, Owner Zakea Farmacy
Healthy garden soil increases your yield production in a small area. To Properly prepare soil for gardening in Arizona's' climate requires love and some effort, but the rewards are delicious! This article will give you an idea on how to develop an ideal Arizona soil.
I will use the measurement below as sample:
- 20x12 ft. of available space. Run two 6-foot wide rows (or three 4-foot. wide rows).
- This is about 240 sq. ft. of garden soil surface, which relates to about 9 cubic yards of soil needed for 12 inch depth.
- This will give you about 16 inches deep of new material but it will break down to about 12 inches deep in 3 months as the soil ages into humic matter by microbial actions.
Recommended screened sandy loam soil. You will need this amount of material to do the job correctly :
- 4 cubic yards naturally organic compost. Zakea Farmacy compost
- 20 ls. bag of natural soil humate
- 30 lbs. of worm castings- reserve some for later planting dressings.
The proper diversity of microbes and fungi in the compost are crucial. Now you have the proper ingredients to have healthy soil structure. Remember, after mixing all the ingredients, soak the soil with water and let it "bake" for a couple of weeks to give the microbes a head start to do their amazing job.
Zakea Farmacy has organic certified seeds and vegetable plants available if needed. We can also get fruit trees grown locally that are acclimated to Arizona (and not from California like the box stores and most nurseries sell!).
Typical application is 4 inches of compost mixed into 1 ft. of soil in depth. Ideally use a wheelbarrow, mix up the soil and then dump it into the garden. This way I get a premium produce when finished.
Most people just dump a couple of store-bought bags on top of their garden and think they did a good job; but this is a tiny remedy and will not produce benefits. Those same people then complain that "nothing grows here" or "I don't have a green thumb." To get results, you need to add the proper proportions per cubic foot of soil. You must get the right amount of humus into the soil for anything to grow well. If you sprinkle a couple of pepper crumbs on a big steak, do you think it will taste peppery? You have to shake quite a bit of pepper to get the right flavor. It's the same for soil. You need to correctly proportional the compost to get the proper nutrients for your garden. Let Zakea Farmacy help!
You don't need to buy amendments or goofy chemical fertilizers. You will not need them. Come out and look at our gardens to see results. PAY ATTENTION TO MAKING AN ORGANIC, NATURAL SOIL STRUCTURE THAT WORKS! YOUR SOIL NEEDS TO BE YOUR MAIN PRIORITY.CHEMICALS WILL ONLY DESTROY YOUR SOIL AND KILL HELPFUL MICROBES. It takes time and a bit more money in the beginning, but you will develop a wonderful soil if you nurture it and understand what is going on while using natural and organic materials.
Once you have the soil properly developed you can grow anything in it: Vegatables, fruit trees, ornamentals or turf and grasses. If you want to be a serious gardener you need to look at your soil as a serious investment. Invest time and money and you will have a major asset, like a car or real estate. It is a good idea to start building your soil for a couple of weeks before planting. This allows the compost to start feeding the microbes with the humate and allows the microbes and fungi to develop and reproduce. This is very important for optimal plant development. All of these tips create a better environment for your plants to create amazing produce or fruit!
Heathly Organic Soil
We follow the natural organic soil building method.
- Zakea Farmacy Premium Power compost as food and soil structure Worm castings as nutrient /enzyme feed and microbial
- Natural Humate as stimulant for microbes and root absorption
- Trace minerals and micronutrients
- A very broad microbial and fungi population that feeds on the above to build the soil structure for full diversity.
This is all that is needed to establish an amazing soil system for plants.
Mix the premium Zakea Farmacy Power compost from 1/3 to ½ mix on the top 12 inches. Basically a 1/3 mix of compost and 2/3 soil. Then add 1-2 lbs of the worm casting for every 10 square ft of soil. Just mix it in lightly on the top 3 inches. This will develop a microbial diversity and food source that is spectacular for the plants. As the compost breaks down the nutrient levels start to break up into a usable form. soil with high concentration of fulvic in the humate feeds the microbial and root system starts to uptake all nutrients at max efficiency. Adding 1lb of humate per 10 sq. ft will ensure full uptake capacity of the soil. Adding ½ lb of Nutrients will supply all the micronutrient and trace minerals your soil may lack.
This is the most efficient way to start a garden by shot gunning all possible nutrient and microbial needs for any planting system with natural organics. You will not need any fertilizer and later you can use some Mega fish formulations to supplement high nitrogen feeding plants when needed. Possibly corn and tomatoes when the fruiting starts. It depends on the density.
Don’t forget to use a quality grow cover fabric, it diffuses the sun’s rays, holds the moisture in like a micro greenhouse and keeps bugs off young plants. Covered plants will grow up to 50 percent faster. This is a real kicker for young start ups. It produces amazing results that you can see. In the winter you will retain heat for the soil as well. The fabric is $1 a lineal foot for 8 ft. wide and Zakea Farmacy has it available.
Microbial Diversity in Soil
Zakea Farmacy Power Compost rebuilds soils, restores carbon and organic matter, improves erosion control, reduces disease and insect pressure, enhances water infiltration, reduces compaction, improves nutrient retention, promotes healthier plants, reduces need for chemicals, and more. It is loaded with humus and humate, which feed and stimulate plant nutrient uptake.
Microbial diversity is essential for crop production. Each microbe species performs a specific function related to the growth and development of the crop. If the environment or the available food source favors one specie over another, the favored specie reproduces faster than the other species and the microbial diversity or balance is compromised, which can adversely affect soil fertility and plant health.
First, let’s discuss what kind of extract will make the most beneficial treatment. Humus, which can be produced by a managed process on the farm, is a very powerful substance that attracts soil particles in such a way as to open pore space and enhance tilts. In addition to this physical change, humus also contributes to the mineral balance and diverse biological activity. This biological activity has three primary functions: recycling nutrients, providing nutrients in plant-friendly forms, and impacting the soil structure via lifecycle by-products.
Because there are such a variety of soil conditions, organic materials, and mineral contents, we want the widest possible variety of microbial life. In addition, we want that life to have the potential to expand rapidly — doubling a minimum of 30 times. Humus provides the nutrients, space, moisture, and other factors that allow the needed species to reproduce and become available to perform their functions.
Living plants don’t come from dead soil. Vibrant, flourishing plants come from soil that is teaming with life, but like any ecosystem that life must be in the right balance for plants to gain the ultimate benefit.
Thanks for visiting our website and learning more about gardening in Arizona. If you have any questions please let us know. It's always a good time to improve your soil!.
The Benefits of Humate-Rich Soil
Our naturally-green premium compost contains humate which provides many benefits!
- Improve water-holding capacity of soil
- In large amounts, humate helps soil and plants resist droughts more effectively and produce better yields where rainfall or irrigation may be insufficient.
- Improve the workability of soil.
- Reduces soil erosion by increasing the cohesive forces of fine soil particles.
- Possesses high ion-exchange capacities, making possible better retention and utilization of fertilizers and preventing leaching away from root zones.
- Liberates carbon dioxide from calcium carbonates in the soil, making it available to plants roots.
- Increases plant nutrition by supplying soluble forms of trace and minor elements.
- Reacts with salt solutions to protect plant roots. In alkaline soils, humate reduces the anount and activity of high soil pH. In acid soil, humate absorbs and combine with and retains certain toxic soluble aluminum compounds.
- Promote soil drainage.
- Prevents cooking of plants in residual water.
- Improve sugar content in fruits and vegetables.
- Increases seed-germination rates.
- Produces stronger, faster-growing seedlings.
- Prevents crusting of soils.
- Increases plant recovery after mowing or damage.
- Increases growth of plants and yield.
- Decreases irrigation costs.
- Speed decomposition of poisons.
- Helps balance soil pH.
- Increases root-system development.
IMPORTANCE of Dechlorinating City Water in Your Garden Faucet
The harsh toxic effects of highly chlorinated water from our city water could kill the microorganisms / microbial diversity in your garden soil. You can protect the microbes in your amazing garden soil, by installing water filter to remove chloride from the water for your garden. Contact Zakea Farmacy for more information.