Understanding Our Soil: The Nitrogen Cycle, Fixers, and Fertilizer

What are nitrogen fixing plants, and why use them over nitrogen fertilizer? This video answers this question through an explanation of the nitrogen cycle.
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Thai translation of this video: • Nitrogen Cycle วัฏจักร...
Sources:
Thomas J. Elpel. Botany in a Day. Hops Press, 2013
NASA. U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976. ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19770...
Jeff Lowenfels. Teaming with Nutrients. Timber Press, 2013
Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis. Teaming with Microbes. Timber Press, 2010
Eric A. Davidson. The contribution of manure and fertilizer nitrogen to atmospheric nitrous oxide since 1860. Nature, 2009. www.nature.com/articles/ngeo608
David Thomas. A Study on the Mineral Depletion of the Foods Available to us as a Nation over the Period 1940 to 1991. Nutr Health, 2003. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14653...
Music:
"Fat Cartoon Jazz" from purple-planet.com
"Sneaky" by Juiceanna, from audiojungle.net
"Theme in G" by Podington Bear, from podingtonbear.com
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 The Nitrogen Cycle
2:00 Nitrogen Fixation
2:39 The Trouble with Fertilizer
4:07 Ending

[@j.gordon2098]

I'm a certified organic farmer in Kentucky, this is the BEST short video that explains the whole process. Great Job! We're going to play this video on the farm, especially for farm tours etc...

[@billwilson3665]

Do organic fertilizers such as composted chicken scratch and alfalfa pellets have the same effects as the fertilizer described in the video?

[@diederikvandedijk]

@@billwilson3665 No. I'm not completely sure about manure but alfalfa pellets is really just organic material that feeds the worms and microbes in the soil.

[@Relax4TheEnvironment]

I always look in the comments to make sure it is expert certified. I'm glad you approve this one. I'm going to add some peas to my tomato garden.

[@shuchipareek4315]

That's a great idea!! 👍

[@deandrewright9433]

Hey, I’m one of the guys that’s guilty of using a lot of synthetic fertilizers for my yard. I would love to transition my yard so that the soil is more organic and not dependent on me for nutrients. What is the best way to accomplish this besides allowing clover to grow or other non-Bermuda grass plants. Could I just use milorganite or another organic fertilizer to spur the process?

[@russellamaru5175]

As a master degreed biologist I must compliment you on this outstanding, highly informative, and educational video on the N2 cycle in our soil.

[@aniruddh-chakravorty]

This is the best and easiest video out here to understand nitrogen cycle! Good work man! Its very concise!

[@danielafiorenza8632]

Agreed!

[@peter.knupffer]

What he said 👆🏻

[@B01]

This was horrendous and 100% false in nearly every aspect lmao other than that, totally accurate

[@Drawwithautomotive]

@@B01 Can you elaborate, I want to know why is it bad?

[@B01]

​@@Drawwithautomotive will rewatch lol learned a ton in last 8 months, maybe I overreacted 🤣

[@mesmariland]

I planted micro clover in my grass about ten years ago. My yard has been the greenest in the neighborhood. I didn’t have to use fertilizer for all those years.

[@SuperDoggeh]

The best part of my lawn is the large patch of clover/grass together. Just working on getting rid of the moss in the rest then I will encourage more clover... the bees love it too.

[@seanuh60]

What's micro clover?

[@VOTE4TAJ]

@@seanuh60 it’s a verity of clover, can be incorporated with existing grass or as is as grass alternative. It fixed and generate enough nitrogen for grass to stay healthy and greener throughout the year.

[@georgebeauchamp1690]

What time of year do you plant micro clover to help a lawn? 😊

[@beatajurga5498]

Artistry in explaining science - I am truly amazed and thankful that you are doing this! In less than 5 minutes you achieved more than many teachers did in few hours.. congrats to you!

[@whatbringsmepeace]

Thank you so much. I was given a native pea plant which I tucked into a sunflower bed, then didn't understand why the sunflower next to it grew to twice the size of the others. Now I do. Luckily I saved some seeds so I'll now plant them around my orchard and other areas where I want to improve the soil. I watch a lot of gardening videos but this is the best explanation of soil health I've seen.

[@muskybites505]

The understanding of the nitrogen cycle is crucial to understanding life on the planet as a whole. It is the base on which almost all life is sustained and very few people even know about it. Kudo’s very well done vid!

[@ColoradoStreaming]

Ask anyone who keeps a fish tank and they will tell you the nitrogen cycle is the foundation that keeps your tank alive.

[@coevolve]

I want to translate this in Swahili for the local farmers in Africa. The trend of artificial fertilisers is starting to catch on there too, and I Know this video can at least give small scale farmers some hope in their age old practices of organic farming. Let me know if your teams approves; my contribution will be my voice in Swahili.

[@kallenijs]

This video was created under a "creative commons" license which allows re-use, given that you credit the original creator. So I hope that you've gone ahead with your project! How is it going, have you been able to reach farmers in Africa?

[@gwenbily]

Thank you for this comment. Even here in Nigeria the government is encouraging fertilizer use and it's sad that we're not encouraging a more eco-friendly alternative 🤦🏽

[@codysaunders7348]

As a farmer I am very impressed with this video. Well done 🙏

[@xxxranger25262728]

YES! This is why I am doing permaculture in my garden. It is time to feed earth with what she needs before we think of taking anything from her. Please continue your pedagogy. :-)

[@SomeRoomtoGrow]

I had an idea about making an animated nitrogen cycle video like this, but you nailed it way better than I could have done! Awesome job on every aspect of the production on this. It's exactly what it needs to be and the info is on-point. Thank you for making and sharing this!

[@stanleysherlock9305]

Can i ask you: would you need to plant nitrogen fixer plants (for example) on a turf you’ve layed before planting anything else? Thanks!

[@tempomatic64]

Still make the video. I will watch all of them and refresh my memory.

[@yoteslaya7296]

He didn't mention it in the video but the "fungi" that attaches to the roots is called micorhizal which can increase nutrient uptake by 3000%. Which is why its always good to use soil that has micorhizzae it in or you can add it in yourself.

[@sherueatyourbestfriend6791]

Rhizobium

[@yoteslaya7296]

@@sherueatyourbestfriend6791 rhizobium is bacteria

[@FIN86fi]

voodoo juice, piranha and tarantula. Made my Advanced Nutrients, I would use those or at least one of them

[@FIN86fi]

@@sherueatyourbestfriend6791 Or 15 000 000cfu/ml Bacillus liceniformis 10 000 000 cfu/ml Bacillus subtilis 20 000 000 cfu/ml Paenibacillus polymyxa 15 000 000 cfu/ml Bacillus pumilus Those are in Voodoo Juice, Advanced Nutrients

[@FIN86fi]

2 500 000 cfu/ml Bacillus mucilaginous 10 000 000 cfu/ml Pseudomonas chlororaphis 15 000 000 cfu/ml Pseudomonas putida 1 500 000 cfu/ml Trichoderma harzianum 20 000 000 cfu/ml Trichoderma viride Piranha

[@JH-ez5pf]

When I saw this video available I thought "ugh, I really need to watch something like this one day to understand it all" So glad I clicked on the link. Such a clear and useful description of it all, without unnecessary details.

[@aleksandrachwolka7427]

Thank you very much for this video! I'm a biological farmer myself and it helps me to explain people, why it is so important, to use organic fertilizers.

[@vicenczurriaga4217]

So organic fertilizers wouldnt kill the bacteria in the soil? Don't they contain loads of nitrogen, if lets say, you add chicken manure? And what about compost, does it harm nitrogen consuming bacteria?

[@tylerk9455]

​@@vicenczurriaga4217 No because the worms and the microbes in the soil work in conjunction to break down the manure so that the plants can take it in. You must understand that it is part of the natural cycle. When a cow poops in a pasture what happens to the poop? It is simply used by the environment to grow more grass for more food for the cow so it can poop more. It is a symbiotic relationship, and adding man made chemical fertilizers disrupt and actively work to destroy that relationship.

[@austinj3881]

@@vicenczurriaga4217 you need to compost chicken manure. If you don’t you will burn any plants it is near until it starts breaking down. Organic fertilizer can be just as harmful if misused but is much less likely to be an issue as chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers are made in a usable form specifically so the plant can uptake them quickly and directly without using the microbes, fungi, and bacteria in the soil. Essentially the soli life get starved out because they aren’t getting the nutrients and die. Hence dead soil. Organic fertilizers feed the for mentioned soil critters which in turn feeds the plants. So what you get is a health soil which needs very little maintaining and healthier plants. Not to mention most organic fertilizers release slowly so there is less to be washed away at any given time.

[@JhvaElohimMeth75]

Great vid as a home gardener I try to minimize impact to environment as well as cost. I have stopped pulling clover in my garden and just allowed it to grow among the veggies.

[@robk5865]

Cannabis became legal here in Ontario a few yrs ago. Decided to try my hand at growing indoors. I filled up a 30 gallon fabric pot with 1/3 worm castings, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 rice hulls and pumice all mixed in with 1 1/2 cups of kelp meal, crab meal, neem seed meal, oyster shell flour, basalt rock dust, fish bone meal. Cover crop was sown (alfalfa, fenugreek, clover, lentil and buckwheat mix), red wigglers were introduced and allowed to flourish for 1 month before transplanting the seedling in soil. This little pet project of mine has turned into an odyssey of learning and an outright competition between myseld and a friend who is also running a one plant wonder tent in his basement. Each subsequent grow cycle and new cover cropping has improved this little "biome" of ours immensely. The soil simply gets mightier every time. I started a small worm composting bin with a handful of wigglers from the fabric pot and simply not overfeeding them keeps the operation running clean and odor free. Feeding the worms crushed up malted barley (sold at any brewer's supply store) puts them on steroids. Their overall vigor is off the charts when feeding on it. Those castings are loaded with enzymes that I happily top dress my soil with. Simply bending to nature and all of it's unseen secrets has been so rewarding. Having a ball with this.

[@BBughii]

I love to stumble in this kind of "soon to be stars" channels. Keep up the good work!

[@tyleryenna2774]

These videos just keep getting better

[@JimiSol]

Your face just keeps getting better.

[@tyleryenna2774]

Jimi Sol I’ve been slayed!

[@humanointegral]

Man, what you did in under 5 minutes is incredible. Majestic. Congrats

[@wearebacteria]

Thanks for sources, that's very useful generally speaking.

[@barankumarmani5084]

Nammazhvar in Tamilnadu, India already talked about this 20 years back.. Don't plough the land , plant waste should go to the soil as fertilizer and this work will be done by earthworm and millipedes, don't use the chemical fertilizer it will kill the soil.. but only 10 percent of farmers listen to his words and they are successful and sell organic food in the market... The government needs to educate the farmers , but they fail to do it .. Even the school teachers who do agriculture in Tamilnadu follow chemical farming due to lack of time.. this video is very simple and says how chemical farming kills the soil... This needs to be reached to all the farmers in the world.

[@tyleryenna2774]

I feel like I have a much better grasp on the nutrient cycle now. Thanks!

[@AGlassOfMilkk]

I'm just started gardening last spring and never even thought about stuff like this. Thanks for the information.

[@jamesrichey]

Beautifully done. I have my own organic no-dig garden and this video will clearly explain why I'm so eccentric about chemical fertilizer growing. Thank you for sharing.

[@davidbryden7904]

Wow, I have to say ..." 👏 Bravo!" Quick and clear. It tells the world why I do "living soil" in my garden! It's thriving!

[@manicnovae]

I’ve been reading and trying to understand these concepts as I’ve been moving into more permaculture practices in my garden, but coming up short. I knew you shouldn’t till, I knew there’s beneficial bacteria in the soil and I knew one should focus on amending soil rather than fertilizing plants - but from a scientific perspective I never knew WHY. This video was so easy to follow and genuinely informative. I feel like I’m finally beginning to actually understand rather than just going on blind faith, anecdotal observation and intuition. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this for us!

[@jaimealbertoarandaramirez7984]

At the moment I am studying the Nitrogen Cycle, my first language is not English, but my master is with an Australian University. I want to say THANK YOU (gracias).

[@bartc00l]

Thanks for citing the literature, I really apriciate that!

[@ttb1513]

Agreed. I provided comments here recommending the "Teaming with Microbes" book. The literature cited in the description includes this and more!

[@curious_Mind87]

This is why the one going movement #Savesoil is HUGE for the current generation and more importantly for the future generations and avoid the desertification of soil while is inevitable if nothing is done to change the current farming system that relies on inorganic fertilizers. #SAVESOIL

[@LightBeing369]

🙏❤🙏

[@elciomota5000]

👏🏻👏🏾👏🏻👏🏾 Verdade! O atual sistema agrícola precisa ser mudado urgentemente; e não apenas por causa da degradação do solo mas também por todos os outros problemas causados por esse sistema (problemas social, cultural, ambiental e econômico).

[@nickpeterson8659]

This great work deserves more attention from a wider audience. Love, Light, Luck; Health, Wealth, Elf

[@plantnewbie5188]

It's mind-blowing how ingeniously engineered the entire system is. It's so carefully balanced and thoughtfully integrated into the larger planetary scheme. The universe is so astonishingly designed.

[@truthbebold4009]

No doubt. Yet they want us to believe that unintelligent, unguided forces produced these results. It's gotta be the dumbest idea ever conjured up by the human mind.

[@Rom1morvels]

It's not engineered or designed, the various species evolved that way spontaneously! Isn't it even more astonishing and wonderful?

[@truthbebold4009]

@@Rom1morvels When I contemplate creation, I see purpose and meaning at the core of everything in nature. You don't have that benefit. There is no underlying meaning or purpose to anything in your worldview.

[@plantnewbie5188]

@@Rom1morvels You're free to believe whatever you want, but I don't share your faith.

[@lucykelly7152]

Yes, but it took a long time for these alliances to develop. It shouldnt be legal to vandalise them. They are our common inheritance.

[@Chickaqee]

in my 15 years of watching KZbin I think this is one of the best educational explainers I've seen

[@HornetKingOfficial]

This was excellent! Well done!

[@raymondtea5716]

Absolutely incredible. A lot of information, easy to digest, appealing, all in one. I'm proud of you for doing this.

[@happyday.mjohnson]

Excellent video. You have a knack for breaking stuff like this down into meaningful visual and audio. Thank you.

[@missrachael1709]

I have recently become passionate about soil health in my garden here on a property in SE Australia so have been watching KZbin vids on the topic and yours is one of the most educational & entertaining I have seen while still keeping it simple enough for us nuff nuffs. Thank you.

[@AuntieEmmers]

Great breakdown, I will be sharing with some folks im helping start up home gardens with. This provides a good understanding of how soil health is vital.

[@ttb1513]

Check out the literature cited in the description also. It takes more than this 5 min video, but I also recommend the "Teaming with Microbes" book for understanding the soil food web and how gardening can be so fruitful by focusing on and fostering soil life.

[@evanho4538]

Let’s “fix” the algorithm

[@JimiSol]

You are like a nitrogen-fixing bacterium, commenting to support the plant that is my video. Applying fertilizer would be like me saying "remember to SMASH that subscribe button!!!" during every video.

[@youtubeisajoke2546]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYu9nKaGf62Zl8U any of y’all like mustard? LMAO

[@jeffngarden]

🤙🏽🤙🏽💐

[@astaridjatmiko8187]

how about potted plants??

[@MohamedHassan-ni6un]

@@JimiSol that's a good one 😂😂 smashed brother 💯 This joke is too organic for some folks 😎👍🏿

[@victoriakerkela1395]

Thank you for your hard work to create such a concise and informative video! This is a great tool to help people quickly understand our role as gardeners to help regenerate the natural cycle of fertility.

[@oa1595]

Wow....found out that this is the best video to understand the N cycle and the importance of organic fertilizers. Thanks for sharing this video.

[@PrototypeCreation]

This animation should be translated to all world languages and used in schools

[@shirleyjoy2]

Excellent! This video engages humans of all ages to realize that what happens in our communities, on our land - in parks, on roadsides, in our back yards, in front of our public buildings... EVERYWHERE - DOES make a Difference.

[@bhaaz]

A mental note that this superb piece has generated and applies not just to farming imo: Industrial scale forcing of growth, yield, productivity, efficiency, etc., is sustained while killing the soil, natural basis and carrying capacity into which those things are 'planted'.

[@FullCircleTravis]

In my opinion, if you're going to use fertilizer salts, it's best to just grow in hydroponics. Way less water usage, and the salts don't run off into the rivers. If you're going to grow in dirt, you might as well take advantage of the natural processes that exist in it.

[@sherueatyourbestfriend6791]

Hydroponic ways are really really expensive And fertilizers like urea are easily available at cheap costs..... So uhm

[@FullCircleTravis]

@@sherueatyourbestfriend6791 Hydroponics is about the same cost for many crops.

[@FIN86fi]

How about using clover with, Advanced Nutrient ph-perfect series? Will the clover die, or could i replace those nutrients with clover? I doubt

[@emil4580]

Exactly! They need to be separated entirely. Use artificial fertilisers in artificial/closed systems. Let nature work on the land.

[@FIN86fi]

@@emil4580 Well, at least lot of these fertilisers are organic.. but still artificial, in a way**

[@sulzerar]

Excellent stuff, making complex concepts easy to understand. Well done 👍

[@ethanchabert]

I've heard some of this in the past but never had a full understanding like your video provided to me IN UNDER 5 MINUTES. Great information, great video. Thanks for sharing!

[@elmanuki]

One of the best videos on sustainability seen in a long time, and I am a nerd on this. Kudos and THANK YOU! It will be very useful to spread the word in an easy and kind way.

[@demacherius1]

First class content. Easy to understand and still contains the important information.

[@adjacent891]

Thank you for sharing this. I dont think this is common knowledge and it needs to be spread around.

[@brusselsprout5851]

Big Agri doesn’t want to hear it. Just look at how many sellers there is of fertilizer. It’s a huge market resistant to change.

[@sherueatyourbestfriend6791]

@@brusselsprout5851 organic farming is really slow and takes a long time to show result And because of it, poor farmers use chemical fertilizers in the soil

[@permaculturedevelopmentnet9728]

This video is fantastic. It summarises so many complex things quickly and simply. Great work!

[@MaryrosePurple1]

Anyone who gardens should watch this. Well done 😊

[@DM-lk5ym]

Great video. Seems these Nitrogen Fixing plants could be called Nutrient Fixers, since they help plants take up minerals, too.

[@shuchipareek4315]

Good point!👍

[@elainematiasiewich7292]

And this is how people used to farm until big companies & government decided they knew best. Now we have those that be telling farmers not to do what they told them do!!! Amazing , isn't it???

[@HadassahHaman]

Thank you! Backyard gardener here just trying to better understand it all so that I may perfect my methods for better vegetable harvests. THANK YOU!❤

[@chuckschembre]

I am a soil health educator and this is fantastic....well done!

[@starlightfound]

This is great. I've subscribed in the hopes that you make more videos about plant nutrition cycles.

[@LightBeing369]

THANK YOU for sharing this video😊 When the soil thrives so will the quality of our lives. #SAVESOIL

[@shuchipareek4315]

#SaveSoil 👍✌️🌻

[@LS-kg6my]

AMAZING. I need to watch this again, but THIS is truly excellent and perspective changing . THANK YOU. I’ve been using hugelculture to try to rebuild my soil. Last year a whole bunch of new mushrooms emerged over the seasons, telling me that I’m moving in the right direction. One barrier I’ve found is invasive plants like garlic mustard which has allelopathy properties that destroy the mycelium. I’ve been pulling it every chance I get.

[@PalmettoPrepared]

Great video to help people understand why we use beans, peas, and cover cropping

[@ElementalMaker]

Absolutely great explanation! Thank you for the excellent video and animation work!

[@stephanekiss]

Good job, very well done. To the point and great job on the animations!

[@lawamba]

Bravo! I work with a company that sells an aloe vera-based biostimulant soil amendment, and this is the most straightforward video I have seen that properly explains the process so clearly. Looking forward to sharing this video with others - Thank you!!

[@bruce-le-smith]

Very easy to understand, thank you! I grew up in the prairies and have heard about how using fertilizer creates a cycle of dependency, but this actually made me see/understand the steps in that process. Very cool, will be ordering more clover crop cover for the future!

[@trevorfichtner3539]

Super super great video, simplifies some complicated ideas, made sense of a lot I was struggling with in a very short time, TYSM!!!

[@elizabethlaliberte1024]

I can't wait to show this to my students. Well made video, easy to watch and and understand

[@headwaters362]

I have been listening to the Real Organic Podcast that talks all about the importance of growing food in soil and all the systems the soil supports, like the Nitrogen cycle. I think learning and understanding these things is some of the most important work we can do. Thank you for sharing!

[@Pok-qq9lt]

Programmer here, a cool good video to sum up the cycle :) very informative. its so borderline better to have good soil than anything else in long runs .... i think.

[@amlanjned3439]

this is such a great video, well done! so easy to follow and is so informative!

[@MrMichaelStangl]

To. compliment this video, weeds love nitrates, as we successionally moved along, grasses for lawns love an equal of nitrates to ammonium, n as we get to fruit trees , the grapes, conifers to deciduous more ammonium than nitrate. This also includes the amount of bacteria to fungus biomass ratio, weeds love a bacterial dominated soil, a disturbed soil, grass loves equal to more fungus and as we go along to the deciduous, fungal dominated.

[@andresguerra2274]

Very delightfully put together video. In-depth, and clear

[@simonpannett8810]

Brilliant video highlighting Living Soils vs Dead Soils!

[@mattpeters1596]

This video is super ! I’m sharing this with my permaculture class!

[@miz180]

What a great video! Thank you for sharing.

[@randomlife718]

I like how simple you made this. I've done lots of research on this topic. Lots...

[@ThePlantasticNerd]

This made a very complicated and hard to comprehend in laboratory settings subject to a very easily digestible and fun to watch video with all the needed information to understand the situation! Thank you so much!

[@yugdarshan]

You created such Great content, why did you stop creating ☹️

[@lussanderguilherme9195]

Awesome!

[@peterkoolwijk439]

Such a good presentation! Not a word too many and very easy to understand. Bravo!

[@MrTesfayesus]

My mind is blown. I actually understood this video. Thank you so much for making a simple, easy to understand video.❤

[@oreides]

thank you for this people need to understand this and youve made it really accessible. doing gods work

[@maggotinabin]

Fantastic explainer video! There's an excessive algae growth in the community lake where I come from. This may be one of the reasons

[@farmertod6505]

Amazing video. I really enjoyed it! Will be recommending this to people. The visuals, the narration, everything was top notch. Great job! 💚

[@iliasantonopoulos74]

Thank you! Excellent video. Well done. Simple enough for everyone to follow. Thank you again!

[@queensalque]

Great video, thank you for making it!

[@Alleroc]

This is incredibly enlightening for me. I'm just about to plant a large garden system in my back yard. I am currently prepping for planting next year, and want to make sure my soil is as healthy as possible. Thanks for the great video!

[@growpuravida]

Thank you! Added your highly informational video to the Soil Health playlist on my channel.

[@janetdecardenas3469]

This is very helpful for my organic edible gardening. Perfect video that really explains it well. Thanks!

[@nadja361]

amazing explanation, thank you so much!!

[@emadhabibi6171]

Great video. Greatly helped me with my education. Thank u and keep it up 🙌

[@rulyver]

Very important info for organic growers! Thank you!

[@hickoryhillinthebigwoods-r759]

Absolutely easy to follow. Thank you! I need visual and you did just that. Wow!

[@g12_pinionrhianroseb.31]

This is very useful, thank you so much!!

[@roguesport4082]

This channel is AWESOME!!

[@shawn1635]

Amazing video. Graphics were so clear and simple. Well done.

[@celeste9129]

Great video! I knew about the nitrogen cycle because of my aquarium fish hobby but was not aware of the cycle within the soil. It makes total sense. Thanks for teaching me something new.

[@jackmohajer9544]

Love your content!

[@wearebacteria]

Shared! also you could add tags to your videos. I think that possibly helps

[@JimiSol]

Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Good reminder about the tags, I will get on that :)

[@mrpatchy9950]

Videos such as this narrated in simple language and graphic display of important points to note , not just make it interesting but also allows you to take little steps in understanding the composition and dynamics of the soil as an important ant study to combat climate change.

[@thedoubleboiler6971]

I'll be planting a lot of sunflowers this year and beans. Thank you for this well thought out and informative video! Amazing work!

[@Interestingworld4567]

Well explained 100%.