What Is Humus

What Is Humus

  • It is the organic matter in your soil that has naturally decomposed into a “living storehouse” of life and nutrients.
  • Humus has 3 to 4 times more holding capacity (per volume) of both nutrients and water, than does the clay soil particles themselves.
  • 100% of its nutrients and water is exchangeable to the plant at all times.
  • Humus has the “holding power” to retain Cation nutrients against leaching. HUMUS is your bank account! Any product that burns up and depletes humus is destroying your soil.

THE SOIL COMPLEX is a trading place. It is constantly trading one cation for another, plus opposite charged nutrients can pull another nutrient from the soil solution. This “trading place” can be good or bad. In our new modern age of agriculture it is so often BAD.

To simplify soil life, it consists of four basic types of plants — Bacteria, Actinomycetes, Fungi and Algae. Four types of animal life in the soil are Protozoa, Nematodes, Earthworms and Insects. Nature designed all EIGHT types to build, or destroy depending on the soil condition at the present time or possible changing to.

….Have you had to start buying sulfur yet? One of the signs of a dying soil is low levels of sulfur. As the Humus Level is “burnt up” by anhydrous ammonia and other harsh fertilizers, the Natural Sulfur level goes down accordingly.

humus_formation_from_organic_resisdues