A Grand Recovery! Privets Come Back to Life!
ACCCORDING TO JOHN: Party Icebreakers and Compost
ACCORDING TO JOHN: Mendota Jr High w/ Hard, Sticky Alkaline Soil
According to John: Add Sand to Clay and all you get are Bricks!
According to John: Can Onions grow in Poor Soil?
According to John: The myth of gypsum to improve your soil
During my travels around the country, visiting retail nurseries, I have been surprised at the lack of products offered that genuinely improve soil. Many times, nursery personnel indicate to me that they recommend and sell gypsum to customers that want a solution for hard, terrible soil. Gypsum is a very soft mineral, composed of hydrated calcium sulfate, often used in drywall and plaster and has, historically, been used as a soil amendment. My friend, radio gardening host John Bagnasco, after being asked on the air about using gypsum to improve soil, asked the caller “Do you like popcorn?” After receiving an affirmative answer he said, “Using gypsum to change your soil is like using a match to pop your popcorn: it will work but it will take about a hundred years.” Actually, John was being charitable; gypsum is generally not appropriate for most urban soils around the country. The one exception is heavy, clay, salty soil and even then, the benefits, when gypsum is used alone, are frustratingly slow. The real miracle workers in changing every kind of problem soil are provided by nature; these are the beneficial soil microbes of all kinds. Favorable bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes can change soil more effectively, efficiently and permanently than any other system. However, nature’s miracle workers are sensitive to damage by synthetic fertilizers and most garden chemicals. That is why many of our soils never get better, year after year. They remain hard, sandy, alkaline or acidic and lifeless. Traditional gardening techniques damage soil life with salty fertilizer and destructive fungicides and other chemicals. Some amendments, like gypsum, are ineffective and take too long to have any positive impact. My best recommendation is to build your soil life with organic amendments that feed plants and the soil. Good quality compost is full of beneficial soil life along with food and attractants for microbes. Our John & Bob’s GrowGreen System mimics the ingredients and benefits of high quality compost with a lot less work. John & Bob’s OPTIMIZE, PENETRATE, MAXIMIZE and NOURISH work together in a simple, effective, economical and comprehensive way to fundamentally improve problem soil. If you don’t want to wait a hundred years for productive soil, focus on infusing your soil with beneficial microbes, food for microbes and attractants for microbes. High quality compost and compost-based additives work much better than gypsum and should begin to produce soil improvement within two months. Improvements will be ongoing and cumulative as long as lively amendments continue to be added. Life in our soil is a natural phenomenon and an incredible ally as we work to be productive, healthy gardeners.
Customer question: Calcium and pH
Dealing with Clay Soil in a Tropical Garden
Gardening for Mental Health: Women’s Prison Garden Update
John and Bob’s Soil Life Infusions: Small Amounts, BIG Results
We often receive questions about the quantity of product needed for successful soil life infusion, and the answer is - less than you would think! Here’s why - John & Bob’s Soil Optimizer is formulated around the concept of very small amounts providing powerful and previously unheard of benefits. Calculate how little you need for your garden based on our recommended rates and you will be amazed! It is a concentrated and comprehensive, blended approach to organic soil nutrition. Greenhouse research and field trials have documented that plants respond more positively to iron with soluble concentrated humus than to soluble concentrated humus or iron alone. Researchers have found that soluble concentrated humus is an inexpensive chelating (collecting) agent that makes iron more mobile in the soil and within plants. Soluble concentrated humus offers the best solution because it is of ideal chelating strength and is one of the very few organic chelating agents that remain in the soil for long periods of time. When soil pH is above 6.0, inorganic forms of iron are insoluble and immobile. Only organically complexed forms of iron are soluble and mobile enough to support a plant’s needs. Once iron enters the plant it doesn’t move well. This is why newer leaves exhibit chlorosis symptoms more than older leaves. Yields can be severely reduced because iron plays such a crucial role in chlorophyll synthesis. We have been stunned by the ability of John and Bob’s to, in effect, unleash iron and cure ill or underperforming plants. We believe this is, in part, because the soluble concentrated humus in John and Bob’s collects rich iron, improving its availability for plants. Soluble concentrated humus is nature’s way to complex iron. Studies conducted on permanent crops using radio isotope labeled iron showed that soluble concentrated humus moved iron through vascular tissues into leaves under conditions where iron alone did not move in the plant. Soluble concentrated humus has an ideal balance of chelate strength, plant mobility, soil durability and cost, and is one of the star performers in our synergistic blend. John and Bob’s improves iron uptake and translocation, resulting in dramatically better chlorophyll density (greener, healthier plants). John and Bob’s treated plants photosynthesize faster and grow faster than non treated plants. As a result, nearly all plant functions are enhanced and plant performance is optimized, resulting in better yields, lusher appearance, less disease and decreased dependence on chemical fertilizer. REAL Before & After Photos from John & Bob's users! The homeowners used Blend, Penetrate & Nourish-Biosol to rectify their dry grass and plants, treat bad fungi, & promote growth in all plants. Want to see this yard transform before your eyes? Watch our YouTube Video linked below, and visit our Youtube channel for all your gardening needs.
“No-till” is Catching on! Take the Lasagna Challenge!