More about the soil

From The Desk of

The Invisible Gardener

More on soil

Today I am going to explain more about the soil and its relation to pests and diseases. Since I have been getting a lot of emails with questions that basically deal with pests and diseases.

First off let’s talk about the soil.

If you have been following me, you would have heard this before, many times actually. I get lots of emails that usually go as follows: My plants have: (doesn’t matter what pest or disease), what should I spray on it? My answer is always this: There are short terms solutions and long-term solutions. The Long-term deals with the cause will take time. The sooner you start on this, the faster you will solve your problem. The short-term solution is to do something that is safe for everyone, including the soil, that will help to relieve it and help control the pest or problem. It will not solve the problem but only makes it more manageable.

I have found that there are always easy, natural safe short-term solutions. So, I am always willing to provide you with some directions on this. For pests, there are two easy methods of control that are safe for everyone except the pest. That is Coffee and Garlic. By the way, I learned early on in my career not to use both at the same time! You will find that these two will either repel or kill most if not all pests. I would be careful of using beneficial insects, so I would only use them directly on the pest in question and not used them as a board spray. I did find that garlic will not kill but repel so it is the coffee to control its use.

There are other short-term solutions that directly address the real cause and help to reduce its bad effects.

You know I am going to tell you that the long-term solution is to heal the soil. But what is it about the soil that needs healing and why does that affect plants etc. enough to allow pests and disease?

The soil has more living things in it than there are stars in the sky. The living things are so many that I will address only those we need to know about and how they affect the health of plants. It is the health of plants etc., that I am talking about. Pests and diseases do not attack healthy plants, trees, etc.

In Organic gardening, there is one basic principle that governs the health of plants, and all living things on earth. This principle states that Healthy Soil produces healthy plants, healthy plants produce healthy insects, and trees all life. Another is that you feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants. I first heard that in 1968 when I started reading Rodale’s Organic Gardening Magazine and then their books. It was amazing the information I found here. It became the foundation for the rest of my life.

So, I took that information and ran with it, building upon it from my experiences. I also studied Biodynamics and many other books. Each method expanded my inner knowledge, and I developed my own.

I quickly learn that there is a reason why pests and diseases attack a plant, just like there is a reason why other living things get pests and diseases.

The insects themselves would show me why they are attacking a plant. I would wonder why one plant is being attacked and not the other. Why one tree is being attacked and not the one nearby it.

It comes down to trace minerals. It turns out that it is missing any one of the trace minerals especially the exotic ones that the plant’s carbohydrates produce will be different if it was sick than healthy.

Ok, so why is that so important.

It is well known that pests love simple carbohydrates and cannot digest complex carbohydrates.  But the fact that unhealthy plants produce simple carbohydrates and not complex is a game-changer.  Something, I have discovered on my own. Wow!   You won’t find this information anywhere.

So, it comes down to trace minerals. Normally nature will provide these but her system of recycling this around the earth has been upset by human activity. The earth and the soil are being destroyed. The micro-organisms are being destroyed. We all know how and how to fix this, but this is for another talk.

I am here to help you bring your own immediate area of soil back to life. This will take time and thus it is called a long-term solution. If everyone took care of the soil they live on, and this was done worldwide, it would help to restore balance. There are many other things that must happen too, this happens to be one of the easiest.

I will every week, explain as best I can how I can heal the soil you live on. Feel free to email me with questions.

Here is today’s question:

Hi

I have been making my own compost and applying it to my soil, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I still get many different types of pests and diseases on my vegetable plants  Can you help, please?

Susan from Southern Ca

Hi Susan

Here we go

First off you don’t mention where you’re getting the seeds from. Buying non-organic seeds for your organic garden won’t work. It’s all about genetics here. These seeds are run of the mile varieties and probably genetically modified. The seeds are not able to properly work with the soil since they have been used to eating chemical fertilizers and have had other chemicals used on them to control diseases. Only buy Heirloom Organic seeds to start with.

Then there is the problem with the compost. Since you didn’t tell me what you are making your compost with, I will guess that you are not using animal manure, specifically cow manure or steer. All animals have special microbes each different depending on what type of stomach they have and also what they eat. Times past, the earth was full of animals, birds, and all kinds of creatures that roamed the earth. They pooped and died everywhere. This was returned to the soil and kept it alive. That is not happening much anymore. When was the last time an animal came and died in your yard and decomposed?

So, you need to properly make compost and I will cover this in my next talk.

So, there are two reasons so far why your plants are being attacked.

You also do not mention what you are feeding the plants, nor did you mention rock dust.

So, when emailing me, please be as specific as possible so I can better help you.

Thanks, Everyone!

You can hear more on my podcast “Talks with the Invisible Gardener – From the Soul to the Soil “.

Check it out on my website -InvisibleGardener.com

Send emails via my inquiry form on the website please so it won’t get lost.

Andy Lopez

The Invisible Gardener

Talks with the Invisible Gardener – From your Soul to your Soil