Plants as Soil Improvers
Pius Floris
We already know so much about soil, fertility, use of compost, and increasing the mineral density of plants as a food source for mankind and animals. What if one realizes that plant roots will never use more than 4-7% of the total available bulk soil? Does that mean that we over-fertilize? Do we really lose 50-70% of the applied nitrogen, and do we settle for the fact that most of the phosphate that is applied will not be used by plants?
We will take a close look at how plants actually determine what they need and when they need it. Plant root exudates change the pH of the rhizosphere to make sure the right elements are being absorbed. All this, of course, with the help of mycorrhizal fungi and specific rhizobacteria. In this workshop, Pius will explain how plant roots and their true symbionts will increase the soil quality and how important the rhizosphere is for both the plant and the soil. After this workshop, you will know why plants and plants only are the best soil quality improvers.
From the 2019 Soil & Nutrition Conference: [ Ссылка ]
Conference archive freely available at [ Ссылка ]
Learn more about the Bionutrient Food Association: [ Ссылка ]
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Pius has a degree in Agronomy, and has studied phytopathology at the University of Durham, specializing in tree biology. He is the founder of the single largest specialized tree care company in Europe. The expertise that he and his team developed on root systems and mineral requirements for plants and trees resulted in realizing that the current fertilizing “laws” are really based on 16 elements, while the ashes from burned wood contain a minimum of 35 minerals. In 1977, he founded Plant Health Cure (PHC). PHC has a specialized mycorrhizal and root laboratory, and is involved in the production of specific rhizobacteria and mycorrhizal spores to help increase the populations of these organisms in damaged and destroyed soils. PHC products and expertise is now exported to 37 countries; from banana production in Ecuador and Peru to sheep grass production on the mineral island of Iceland, from Dutch potato farms to smallholder farms in Eastern Europe and Spain, and large scale production of vegetables in Africa and China. The aim of PHC is to help both seed producers and growers to grow plants to the maximum of their genetic capacity by making sure that the plants receive all the minerals they require.
