MGP 110: Talking Soil Science with Robert Pavlis

[@6868faheem]

It is an excellent book. Every Gardner must read it. The writer has done a wonderful job to simplify the understanding of soil.

[@paintingtracey]

This is great!

[@wildedibles819]

Brilliant

[@gtavtheavengergunnerlegend3340]

Dear God I finally get it

[@bobbysmac1009]

I bought his book and it is a wonderful read. He simplifies a complex subject and makes it easy for gardeners to grasp the basic concept without talking over the reader's head. Very well thought out and explained. My copy is now highlighted throughout. Thank you for bringing him on and picking his brain. Well done Greg!

[@paullemay3218]

My apologies Greg for my negative attitude towards the advertising during this video. I ask for your forgiveness. 🙏❤️. Thank you for sharing your time and content.

[@maritimegardening4887]

All good - and no need to apologize, I don't like them either, I totally understand! :)

[@annestudley8235]

I enjoyed reading the book and learned a good bit. Microclimates are pretty impressive - you talk about having freezing temperatures every night up until now, and in my area of Halifax it hasn't gotten down to freezing in weeks.

[@maritimegardening4887]

crazy - I'm only 20 minutes away

[@homesteadhaven6024]

“If you take care of the ecosystem the plants are automatic” Basic principle for so many things. Thank you.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You bet!

[@DsHomeyGarden]

Greg I just downloaded Roberts book from Amazon Audible. I am so stoked to get listening. I don't read in the bathroom.....

[@DsHomeyGarden]

Get it on Amazon Audible.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You don't know what you're missing :)

[@juniorbanks5145]

too wet and cold on pei today for gardening , so what a perfect video to keep me content , thanks so much Greg!

[@maritimegardening4887]

My pleasure!

[@DsHomeyGarden]

Don't you just love a good love story Greg. There is clay and then there was water.... what a love story.

[@wildedibles819]

Yes horse manure has more available things to break down its not immediately available then But mushrooms also grow in horse poo and they can break it down for the plants like they are soposed to

[@franksinatra1070]

Very informative and a little complicated. When you were talking about earthworms liking a neutral Ph I was thinking about this morning when I was repairing a box for my blueberries and saw a ton of worms. I do add an acidifier to my blueberry beds because they require a lower Ph so I guess I haven't been adding too much. And the blueberry bushes produce great so all is good. :)

[@maritimegardening4887]

They like neutral pH, but they can handle pH above 5 - so all you know is that it's likely your blueberries are growing in soil that is above 5.0. You may not need the acidifier :)

[@DavidMFChapman]

It makes sense to me that you need to put about as much organic matter back into the soil as you harvest as vegetables. I compost kitchen scraps and garden waste with shredded leaves year-round. The compost never gets hot, but the worms are continually active. The resulting compost is beautiful stuff, and I dig it in lightly when I sow seeds. I also mulch with shredded leaves and they eventually find their way into the soil.

[@maritimegardening4887]

That's all you have to do :)

[@smhollanshead]

Soil is an interesting balance of many things including clay, sand, and compost.

[@davetyler3314]

Our area is mostly sandy soil which I thought was a good thing until I watched this. We are in NHUSA. How do I improve my soil.?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Add organic matter - till in some manure for instance

[@allgenrelisten35]

very interesting read

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad you think so!

[@christangee3093]

Where does the jury stand on the use of peat moss? Is there a definitive guide? "Big Picture", I am beginning the process of creating vegetable garden beds this summer and want to know if peat ought to be on my shopping list or if I should avoid it?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Short answer - you don't need it to have a good garden (I don't use it). I'd recommend manure over p-moss because it is also a good source of organic matter, but has nitrogen as well.

[@DavidMFChapman]

My native soil is mostly clay and I recall mixing lots of peat moss in when I first built my garden beds. I haven’t needed any for years. Plus I’m uncertain about the sustainability of peat moss, as it takes a long time for Nature to make it.

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

Oh, look up "Gertrud Franck soilandhealth", it's an amazing book on companion planting from forty years ago, and the information in it is an early source for a lot of what we think of as several gardening methods.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks for the tip!

[@NewYorkJennifer]

Here a question: Is there any one thing that an average gardener can look at to tell if their soil is in a good place? For example, if you see a decent amount of earthworms, is that proof that the soil microbes are in good enough shape? Or is there a particular plant that is very fussy about soil conditions so that if you can grow this plant, that it's proof things are in good shape. I'm guessing the answer is it's just not that simple/easy, but I had to ask.😁 This is going to be one of those "I'll have to watch this one a couple of more times" videos. Which is a really good thing! Thanks for bringing these really interesting people to us. Sure is fun to see these pop up.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Plant a heavy feeder plant - if it does well, your soil is probably good

[@NewYorkJennifer]

@@maritimegardening4887 I wouldn't be concerned too much, but Robert mentioned you can have too much compost. I've always figured this is true from a nitrogen aspect (growing tomatoes with too much leaf and too little fruit, for example), but didn't realize there were other things against it. I use a crap ton of compost in my garden. See? This is your fault because you put interesting people out there that make me think too much. :D

[@michaelboom7704]

Now you got me thinking,I can get horse manure that is over 10 yo,do you think alot of the good nutrients would be not there now after all the years just sitting?

[@maritimegardening4887]

The N is probably not optimal - but it's probably still worth using. Just add a source of N to compensate - like green grass clippings

[@michaelboom7704]

@@maritimegardening4887 btw I tried sharing with gardening groups but it was not accepted...could it be because it looked like book selling?

[@snarkydinkfarm329]

Ha ha , I got one n can't wait to get into it 😄

[@thetwistedsisterme]

All I have is heavy clay that is hard as a brick. I did add a lot of compost, peat and topsoil last year and my tomatoes looked like sick Charlie Brown Tomatoe Plants. At the end of the season when I pulled up the plants the roots were just in a big clump of clay. The roots hadn't even grown. AL the other material seemed to just wash away. Can you explain this to me?

[@maritimegardening4887]

did you work all those materials in or just put them on top?

[@thetwistedsisterme]

@@maritimegardening4887 I worked them in and planted my tomatoes sideways with plenty of rooms to grow as I figured they would have a hard time growing down. I did only go down about 6 inches though.

[@thetwistedsisterme]

@@maritimegardening4887 also, when I was getting the bed ready last week, as I dug out the weeds and broke up the bed there are still just big clumps of clay amidst the compost mixture.

[@thetwistedsisterme]

@@maritimegardening4887 I had a large bed of material composting for a year and have added that on top of the broken up bed. I did not till it in but rather just attempted to incorporate as it was full of large worms. I didn't want to kill my big earthworms and just hoping they will help. We will see what this year brings.

[@bobbysmac1009]

@@thetwistedsisterme You're on the right track. It takes time for predominately clay soil to respond to amendments. Roots are the best solution for breaking up and penetrating soil. Hands down, and it's not even close. That said, if possible, get a green manure crop growing in that soil.

[@mohanjitDhaliwal]

Isn't healthy garden all about balance of max life forms? Not just healthy plants. How ethical s it to buy industrial nitrogen n by-pass other life forms for greed of providing all nitrogen only for plants. And how sustainable is this method is?

[@maritimegardening4887]

His only point was that the plants use it regardless. He wasn't recommending one approach over the other.

[@bigal7713]

it seems that Robert is very kind and reasonable person in real life/his new book/this presentation, whereas his gardening myths blog is created purely to upset lots of people with blunt statements like "all nitrogen is the same - buy the cheapest source of nitrogen per pound, i.e. mineral". I do get the soil is technically not alive, but is it enough reason to discredit the other's actual point that it should be treated as a living ecosystem? There are many valid points in his blog, but the form they put into is as or more arrogant as the myths they trying to debunk.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I 've never found his tone to be arrogant - but I always engage with him, and others, willing to be shown that I am wrong. He challenges people to question their understanding of various phenomena. This is a healthy intellectual exercise, and leads to growth over the long run, but I do understand that it can make people uncomfortable - especially when he says something that contradicts a widely held mantra - like "the soil is alive".