Warren Roberts/George Kuepper Oklahoma Beginning Farmer & Rancher Program 2013 Horticulture #2: May 11

1. Soils and Organic
Fertility Management
Warren Roberts
George Kuepper

2. Last Class - Soil Management
Site Selection, Soil Fertility
Warren Roberts
George Kuepper

3. Ideal Soil
• 50% Solid Matter
• 45% Mineral
• 5% Organic
• 50% Pore Space
• 25% Water
• 25% Air

4. Soil Fertility
• Essential Plant Nutrients
• C HOPKNS CaFe Mg B Mn Cu
Zn Co Mo Cl

5. pH and Nutrient Availability

7. Soil
Fertility
Nutrient
Movement

8. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
N (pounds per acre)
raw1
raw2
raw3
raw4
syn1
syn2
Linear
(syn2)
Sample Date

9. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
P (lbs per acre)
raw1 raw2
raw3 raw4
syn1 syn2
Samples Date

10. Soil Test

11. Organic Matter
• Wonderful
• Holds Water
• Improves
Drainage
• Holds
Nutrients
• Improves Tilth

13. Biological Properties of
Soil
•Organic Matter Content
•Plants
•Animals
•Microbial Biomass

14. Life

15. Soil Life - Animals
• Earthworms
• Mites
• Nematodes
• Protozoa
• Beetles
• Termites

16. Soil Life - Microbes
• Bacteria
•Single Cell
• Millions per Gram
• 1,000,000,000,000,000 per Acre
• Fungi
•Long filaments (hyphae)
• Hundreds of Thousands per Gram
•100,000,000,000,000 per Acre

17. Roles of Bacteria and Fungi
• Organic Matter Decomposition
• Soil Stabilization
• Aeration
• Tilth
• Nitrogen Fixation

18. Mycorrhizae (Fungus – Root)

19. Mycorrhizae (Fungus – Root)

20. Organic Soil Fertilizers
• Options
• Buy
• Grow Your Own

21. Organic Guidelines
Producer shall manage crop
nutrients and soil fertility
through rotations, cover crops,
and the application of plant and
animal materials (manures).

22. Organic Guidelines
Producer shall manage plant and
animal materials to maintain or
improve soil organic matter content in a
manner that does not contribute to
contamination of crops, soil, or water
by plant nutrients, pathogenic
organisms, heavy metals, or residues of
prohibited substances.

23. Compost

24. Phosphorus
A producer may use
Colloidal, rock phosphate
Bone meal
Guano
Fish emulsion processing

25. Potassium
A producer may use
• Wood ashes
• Rock dusts (granite, feldspar,
greensand)
• Sulfate of potash magnesia
• Natural potassium sulfate
• Fly ash
• Recycled potassium-rich organic matter.

26. Calcium
• Can Use
•Agricultural limestone
•Agricultural gypsum
• Do Not Use
•slaked or hydrated lime.

27. Nitrogen
A producer may use
•Green manures
•Legumes
•Compost
•Vegetable meals
•Animal by-products and fish
emulsion.

28. Cover Crops and Green Manures
• Cover Crops
•Grown in Winter
• Green Manure
Crops
•Grown in Summer

30. Litter, Manure, etc
• Smelly
• Ammonia
• NH3

32. April 14
Cover Crops

33. Rye
April 16
Rye or Wheat

34. Legumes

35. Legume - Definition
• a dry dehiscent one-celled fruit
developed from a simple superior
ovary and usually dehiscing into
two valves with the seeds
attached to the ventral suture

36. Legume - Definition
A pod, such as that of a pea or bean, that
splits into two valves with the seeds attached
to one edge of the valves.

38. Legumes
• Peas
• Beans
• Soybeans
• Purple Hull Peas
• Crimson Clover
• Sweet Clover
• Hairy Vetch
• Alfalfa
• Lespedezea
• Black Locust
• Honey Locust
• Kudzu
• Mesquite
• Redbuds
• Wisteria

39. Arrowleaf Clover
April 16

40. Hairy Vetch
April 16

41. Crimson Clover
April 16
Crimson Clover

42. Nitrogen is Nutrient that is
Most Limiting to Plant Growth
Atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen

43. Legume – Bacteria Symbiosis
• Captures Nitrogen from the Air
• Makes Nitrogen Available to Plant
• Bacteria Responsible
• Rhizobia (Rhizobium)
• Bradyrhizobium (Soybeans)
rhi·zo·bi·um

44. Rhizobium group and
species
Legumes treated
Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifoli
Crimson clover, Red clover, White
clover
Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar
phaseoli
Kidney beans, Snap beans, String beans,
Wax beans
Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viceae
Austrian winter pea, Common vetch,
Garden pea, Hairy vetch
Rhizobium sp. Crownvetch
Bradyrhizobium japonicum Soybeans
Bradyrhizobium sp. (Vigna)
Common lespedeza, Cowpea, Peanut,
Velvet bean
Sinorhizobium meliloti
Alfalfa, Medic, Yellow or white sweet
clover

46. Inoculum
• Use slurry
• Commercial Sticker
• Sugar-water solution
• Karo syrup solution

47. Precautions !!!!
• Inoculum is Alive (hopefully!)
• Inoculum can Die (unfortunately)
• Note Expiration Date
• Avoid Fertilizers, Chemicals,
Chlorine

48. Precautions !!!!
• Refrigerate during Storage
• Keep temperature below 90 F
• Avoid High or Low pH
• Avoid Exposure to Sunlight

49. Summary (Plants and Microbes)
• Add organic matter
• Avoid compaction
• Timely irrigation
• Promote drainage
• Promote aeration
• Neutral pH

52. Crimson Clover
April 16
Crimson Clover

53. Organic Matter