I am highly enthusiastic about soil health, but how do you increase Soil Organic Matter (SOM) without triggering excessive vegetative growth and shading your grapes as well as potentially altering the juice chemistry? Anyone with advice or experience?
We live in the area and got this letter in the mailbox. Anyone else see it?
Not fully understanding the importance and implications. Sounds like over a long span of years, all kinds of chemicals were found in underground storage tanks, etc, which leaked onto the ground I’m going to feed it into chat GPT to simplify it.
They’re soliciting public comments via a 30-day public comment period.
Hello Reddit! I am Daniel Rath, a soil scientist at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). My work explores how carbon and nitrogen cycles through soil as well as agriculture’s impacts on soil and soil biodiversity.
We just released a report, The Nitrogen Pollution Crisis, that highlights how pollution from fertilizer overuse exposes millions of Americans to unsafe drinking water, pollutes our rivers and lakes leading to harmful algal blooms that kill or sicken fish and wildlife, and costs the U.S. more than $59 billion annually.
The dirt beneath our feet is more than just “dirt,” it’s alive! It holds some of the most complex living ecosystems on the planet that fuel our agricultural system, filter our water and store carbon, all of which are crucial to life on this planet.
I will be here on June 30th 2026 at 3:00 PM EST (19 UT) to answer your questions about nitrogen pollution, the science behind healthy soil, sustainable farming practices, and anything else on soil!
Username: u/nrdcsoilteam
EDIT: Note slight time change to match with image.
Didn’t have a banana
*update, I appreciate all the comments this is actually about 130yds of fill dirt we receive from pool contractors!
hello im wondering if anyone has experience with this. i have a very ugly compacted clay area that i want to improve. i would normally dump mulch on it and let nature do its thing but the area is so steep im concerned about it all sliding off. its also full of boulders so tilling is not an option. any advice is welcome
A lot of agricultural land — especially newly assessed, leased, or smallholder fields — has no usable soil survey data at all. No lab history, no maps, nothing to base management decisions on.
We've been exploring whether satellite-derived embeddings can give a first, continuous estimate of soil properties in exactly these data-poor situations. The idea isn't to replace lab sampling, but to provide a baseline where the alternative is literally no data.
The method: thousands of georeferenced lab samples from across Europe, paired with Satellite embeddings (64-dimensional annual "fingerprints" per pixel), trained with Random Forest to estimate pH, organic carbon, CaCO₃ and macronutrients continuously across a field.
Where I'd love this community's input:
Not claiming this solves anything — more interested in where practitioners think the honest limits are for field scouting (agri-chat.de)
Many months of planning and hundreds of dollars in gas later, I have collected a good handful of the US state soils (and soil from the only bit of a state I touched, not wanting to drive to Houston from the TX panhandle etc etc). My plan is to make or buy a shadow box for the whole US and put the soil in each with cataloged tags (recommendations welcomed).
The drive was beautiful and took me on routes and to locations I would have never thought of exploring, like the Black Hills in WY and Gloss Mountain State Park in OK. It was also painfully boring through most of OK and ND. Next time I head out west, I plan to take I-80 and nab the IA and NE soils to fill in that hole, and maybe one day I can make it out to the actual state soil sites in the states I didn't fully explore. The issue for all states come with HI and AK, but I'll figure that out somehow. Thought my fellow soil nerds would like this!
The Scouts have a camp in the Florida Keys, called Sea Base. It is a pretty little launchpad for adventures out into the surrounding area. However they struggle to keep grass growing in the areas where they line up for announcements, meals, etc... Of course we all know the plate the islands are sitting on is subsiding, even as the ocean levels are rising. And it would cost a small fortune for the camp to truck in more dirt.
But what if each unit of Scouts brought with them a gallon Ziploc of soil from home? Kind of a "leave it better than you found it" idea, to make up for the wear and tear the foot traffic brings... Seems it would bring a good mix of different soil types. Maybe throw them into a black barrel for a few days, to sterilize against importing pests and pathogens?
Thoughts?
Hi I'm new here, usually I buy soil mix for my vegetable garden but I'd like to try and mix my own.
I have perlite and coconut fiber, both I've had no issue storing indefinitely. What should I get to make a decent soil mix? I'm honestly clueless in this department.
Which items need special storage and which ones can just survive on its own in a dark corner? Which items just shouldn't be stored and only bought when you need them?
Sorry, maybe not the best photos.
I believe this is silt/silt loam. (?) water takes awhile to absorb and when it’s dry it is very “sandy” and falls through the fingers. It’s not compact, easy to dig in.
But my yard is under a large oak tree. Full shade. I’m going to plant some native woodland species which should help with the erosion. (Right?)
In my garden, I had a tomato plant sink into the earth, and a corn rot from heavy rain.
Will adding manure help with this? Or compost?
I’m very interested in soil and soil science, but I only know what YouTube has taught me. I’d like to know more about this. Any comments/thoughts help. Thanks :)
As lots of us know, a big problem in modern farming is depleted minerals in the land due to intensive farming and NPK dependance.
I'm looking into remineralising different lands (virgin land, depleted land, ex farmland and so on) and was wondering whst your guy's knowledge on this is
I have dug up very clay heavy soul. I know this from a mason jar test and the heavy clumping. We have tried planting grass in it and it died. Is there a way we can store it somewhere and add things like compost or manure to it and slowly transform it? All my research talks about working around it and not changing it.
I live in Ardmore neighborhood, my entire yard has tons of rocks everywhere once you dig a 1/2 inch to plant. Does anyone else experience this in Winston Salem/Ardmore ?
I took a stab and ordered a couple soil test kits from Yard Mastery. I took samples of the backyard and the also the front/sideyard.
I see a lot of similarities, which I guess is good in terms of tackling it as a whole. What throws me off is the front yard is mostly looking pretty good whereas the back, looks patchy and yuck. I am skeptical using the YM plan and their stuff does seem a bit pricey.
Any recs on what I have soil wise? I thought I was doing better overall but maybe not so much.
I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth switching from a peat-based cactus/succulent soil to coco coir as my main organic base, and I’d love input from people who build their own mixes.
I’m not looking for a one-size-fits-all mix. I actually enjoy mixing substrate and adjusting it based on the plant I’m potting. I find it relaxing. My goal is just to have one versatile organic base that I can amend with inorganic materials (grit, pumice, bark, etc.) depending on whether I’m potting a Hoya, cactus, succulent, or mesemb.
Right now I’m using up the rest of my sifted Coast of Maine cactus/succulent soil. Before I buy another bag (I was considering switching to Espoma), I’m wondering if I’d be better off moving to coco coir instead and using that as my base.
For those of you who use coco coir in your mixes:
Is it worth switching from peat to coco coir?
Are there benefits beyond peat becoming hydrophobic / harder to rewet?
What should I know before switching - things like nutrient issues, watering differences, etc.?
If you build your own mixes, do you find coco coir more useful/versatile than starting with a bagged cactus/succulent soil?
Would I still have to sift the coco coir like I do my peat mixes?
Basically, I’m trying to figure out whether coco coir makes more sense as a long-term “base” for someone who mixes their own substrate for a lot of different plant types.
If it matters, I bottom water all my plants and typically let them soak 30-60 minutes or longer depending on the substrate, and plant and pot size.
Thanks. Appreciate the guidance.
I harvested glacial till clay from my yard. I've since formed it into this cool bowl which I've burnished the hell out of. Next step is to wait for it to fully dry, fix any hairline cracks that form, and then figure out how to bisque fire it. Going well so far! Original post is linked here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Soil/s/H7ngHdcmpp
Just started a raised bed! What locations have the best soil? Also I only need about 2 cubic yards and only have a small car, so I would need to have soil delivered if I go the bulk route. I checked A1 Organics, and 2 cubic feet of their pro mix is over $300 when using delivery. At that price, it’d be cheaper to buy happy frog!!
^edit: I did mean yards!
i don’t know if this is the right subreddit to ask this so please tell me if it isn’t.
my mom and i live in senegal which is a zone 12 from what i’ve looked up. we want to start growing some veggies like carrots, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. we don’t expect self sufficiency, it just feels good to eat something you’ve grown yourself.
we have mint and basil that has taken over the garden, we also have a sad pepper plant. i don’t know if you can tell from the pictures but our soil seems to be sandy and lacking in nutrients. i think the orange streaks are iron? we can’t compost but i’ve seen some videos about burying kitchen scraps so i plan on doing that. my mom won’t buy soil or compost so i just want to know if we should give up on trying to grow veggies. thank you
