I just finished reading Teaming With Microbes and it quite excited me about soil and bacteria and all that goes on beneath the ground.
My question is, does the Soil Food Web "happen" in containers? I ask because in addition to my many raised beds, I also grow a fair amount of veggies and herbs in Earthboxes. And I wondered whether the same things happen in the soil in an Earthbox. I ask because I wonder if I should stop pulling out the roots of dead plants (when I'm ready to plant anew in a box that had previously been planted in) and instead just cut off the tops, add more compost and potting mix and plant anew.
Thanks.
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- applestar
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I can't give you a guaranteed answer -- all this is speculation on my part -- but I think "all that" happens in containers too. The difference, though, is that containers are enclosed space and nutrients etc. are washed/leached away without being renewed. (AACT maybe the answer to that). Another issue at hand is the limited size -- I believe it's like smaller ponds vs. bigger ponds (or more appropriately smaller aquariums vs. bigger aquariums) -- things can get out of balance easily without the buffering effects from interaction with a larger ecosystem.
Most certainly, you need to pay attention to the "crop rotation" theory, and not plant tomatoes/eggplants/peppers in the same container as last year, for example. There maybe benefits to not only following the usual guidelines to avoid disease and pests, but also to promote better growth.
Something else just occurred to me -- in a non-porous container, soil near the bottom may have tendency to become anaerobic.
Most certainly, you need to pay attention to the "crop rotation" theory, and not plant tomatoes/eggplants/peppers in the same container as last year, for example. There maybe benefits to not only following the usual guidelines to avoid disease and pests, but also to promote better growth.
Something else just occurred to me -- in a non-porous container, soil near the bottom may have tendency to become anaerobic.
I agree with applestar about containers getting the same food web benefits, atleast on a year to year basis, not an every year basis like in the ground. Every pot will need amendments for the next year as most all the good nutrients will be sucked out and the old soil not that great. Some new compost, some AACT, and the microbes and nutrients will be right back.
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Thanks for the answers.
In the Teaming with Microbes book, they discuss some extremely simple, not terribly technical ways to create compost tea (e.g. 5 gallon bucket and an aquarium pump). And there seem to be some very good reasons to use compost tea.
I have at least 4 compost piles going as well as NatureMill's electric composter. I know that sounds very yuppie-ish, and I confess, when I worked, I was most definitely a yuppy. But the reason I got the electric composter was because in the winter, we still have lots of scraps and it's too cold and snowy to go outside. So I now have a place to put my scraps and within 2 weeks (no kidding) I have some beautiful compost. I still use it in the summer and fall, and then I get to actually use the compost right away. In the winter, I collect the compost in a bin near the house.
BTW: The containers I plant in are Earthboxes. They have a 2.5 gallon reservoir, and then a grill, and then the soil goes on top of that. So it drains pretty well and I don't think the roots get too waterlogged. Plus, I think the plants take up water when they need it.
Thanks for your thoughts on the Soil Food Web within a container. I am going to treat my containers, each new growing season, as if they are a raised bed and will add all the right stuff to get those bacteria and fungi to join the party.
Cheers.
In the Teaming with Microbes book, they discuss some extremely simple, not terribly technical ways to create compost tea (e.g. 5 gallon bucket and an aquarium pump). And there seem to be some very good reasons to use compost tea.
I have at least 4 compost piles going as well as NatureMill's electric composter. I know that sounds very yuppie-ish, and I confess, when I worked, I was most definitely a yuppy. But the reason I got the electric composter was because in the winter, we still have lots of scraps and it's too cold and snowy to go outside. So I now have a place to put my scraps and within 2 weeks (no kidding) I have some beautiful compost. I still use it in the summer and fall, and then I get to actually use the compost right away. In the winter, I collect the compost in a bin near the house.
BTW: The containers I plant in are Earthboxes. They have a 2.5 gallon reservoir, and then a grill, and then the soil goes on top of that. So it drains pretty well and I don't think the roots get too waterlogged. Plus, I think the plants take up water when they need it.
Thanks for your thoughts on the Soil Food Web within a container. I am going to treat my containers, each new growing season, as if they are a raised bed and will add all the right stuff to get those bacteria and fungi to join the party.
Cheers.