Root Zone Heating
it out. Water and air conduct heat in the
soil and need to be balanced so as not to
occupy too much or too little pore space.
Water vapor is readily absorbed by plant
roots and is a delivery mechanism that provides just what the plant needs, while top
watering or liquid film watering requires
the flooding of pore spaces to deliver water
to the roots, which causes anaerobic conditions harmful to soil biologicals.
Variations in temperature as they affect
the biological and physical aspects of your
soil will also impact the chemical aspect
through pH (soil acidity), which directly
affects nutrient availability. Plants uptake nutrients all the time, but only certain nutrients are available to be absorbed at certain
pH levels—the optimal soil pH level is on
average six to 6.5. Soils that are too acidic
don't release nitrogen, more basic soils don't
release micronutrients and so on. Temperature impacts the health of the biologicals,
which impacts cellular absorption, organic
decomposition, water chemistry and the
aerobic/anaerobic process, all of which
result in modifications to the soil pH.
Soil science is not magic and finding the
right soil to grow plants in is not really
that difficult. Using a soil that is nicely balanced in its physical aspect—with enough
pores and spaces to hold water and air in
sufficient quantities—and biologically active (like compost-based soils) is the right
way to start and these products are abundantly available on the market today.
Root zone management is a bit more
complex to understand, but can be accomplished with simple tools, creating
the right balance of the three soil areas to
result in a consistent root environment.
Temperature management and water delivery methods are key aspects to managing these three areas and there are products and technologies available to you that
will work well in any soil-based growing
system. Finding the right balance and
managing the root zone environment will
result in optimizing your plants’ living
conditions and will make them healthier
and more productive, giving you what
you want most out of your garden—less
work, less worry and better results. MY
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Maximum Yield USA | March 2012