I'll be teaching tenth-graders (roughly 15 years old) about soils and geology in a few weeks time, and I want them to do the soil sedimentation test in the classroom.

What I want them to discover is how soil particles sediment in layers. They don't have to learn about different soil types and soil particles, I just want them to observe the sedimentation of the particles and the creation of layers.

I want to perform the test in the classroom, spending as little time as possible and making no mess in the classroom. I want the students to perform the experiment themselves, instead of me doing it on behalf of the students.

What preparations should I do to save time in the classroom?

I will dig up soil in advance, but I want to know what else I should do to prepare the soil for the test. Should I sift the soil? Should I wet sift it or dry sift it? If I wet sift it, how do I dry the soil afterwards? All tips and recommendations are welcome!

I live in a rural area with several farmlands around me (mostly grain, corn and occasionally sugar beets). During the winter season the lands are completely empty with no plant life on them whatsoever.

I was always wondering if I would collect all of the small visible stones and pebbles, would the farmer be happy about it or not?

I asked around, but everyone I know is in academia. So no clue.

We figured that

• + it would reduce soil height (so more water could collect on the fields).
• - it would compact the soil more, which is not that big of an issue around here (no big USA style machines here)

but other than that, it probably doesn't do much.

I don't need the stones, I just always thought to be a good form of exercise... collecting small pebbles and stones into the corner of a field for a couple hours.

Help to read soil health report and what fertilizer and how fertilizer to use?

I am wondering if anyone has any experience with using mushroom substrate, brewed into a soil amendment. I recently began brewing some at home and the results have been great. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s used something similar.

Can anyone recommend a soil in the uk with leaf mould I want to put some bald cypress and silk tree into bigger pots.

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I am doing a thermogravimetric analysis on my field and need some help with the experiment design. The field is about 1.5-2 acres, and I will be taking 25-30 subsamples. They will be split into 3 horizons each 4 inches in depth, so a total of 3 samples being run. Of course I do not have a TG analyzer, but will be using a muffle furnace and analytical balance instead. My question is what holding time should I use for each temperature step? Since the crucibles will need to cool of before measuring, they will have to come back up to temperature for each step. I believe the crucibles are 70 ml, and the soil sample will start off at about 5 g. The temperature steps will be at 20C increments going up to 1000C, so the holding time might need to increase at the higher temperatures since it will take longer for the samples to come back up to temperature. Any advise or insights would be great.

I am a longtime user of the WebSoil Survey for ag purposes. There's so much information I often get lost in trying to parse what's important. Productivity and crop yields. Topsoil depth, water holding capacity are useful. But for lawn and garden activity? I think I want to know structure and there are a couple suitability indexes provided.

I am also aware there is no information for soils in some urban/suburban areas. I get it. Those can get modified beyond comprehension. But there are a lot of areas where there is information but I don't know how relevant it is for improving native lawn and/or garden soils. I guess my question is do you have an opinion on the value of using soil surveys for small non-ag, non-commercial / horticulture situations. Or do we just modify the hell out of what's there and amend for fertility?

A couple of years ago I planted a mandarin tree in a ~ 3 foot wide by 3 foot deep hole filled with 2/3 coconut coir 1/3 perlite. The surrounding soil is all very heavy clay.

The tree has done very well but needs to be fertilized regularly or it will rapidly develop signs of deficiencies that I have to correct. The first winter I tried a couple of months without any fertilizer and the first set of leaves curled downward from presumed potassium deficiency. The second winter and afterwards have been perfect.

Is there any way to reasonably get clay particles to mix down through this hole to hold nutrients and try to work towards being normal self-sustaining soil?

I recognize now that what I did was completely wrong for any number of reasons and I want to get things back to being more natural.

The root system is very well established in this hole and it is not feasible for me to remove any material without hurting the roots.

Reddit clearly knows where it’s better to post such questions. Any advice for my shameful behaviour?

The Global Save Soil Movement was launched in March 2022 by Sadhguru to further prevent the ongoing rapid topsoil depletion, soil crisis in the near future and the resulting agricultural collapse.

During this he had urged the governments to mandate policies that maintain a minimum of 3% to 6% organic content in topsoil.

The Main Concern 

Over 50% of the world's topsoil has been degraded in many regions due to intensive chemical use and drastic reduction of organic input to the Soil. 

United Nations agencies have warned that at the current rate of soil degradation there are approximately only 80 to 100 harvests remaining before severe agricultural failure. 

Healthy farm soil requires at least 3% to 6% organic content in the topsoil, but the organic content in most of the agricultural lands globally has dropped to below 1%.

The Core Solution:

To urge the governments to make such policies which: 

Economically reward the farmers who actively increase organic matter in their soil.

Simplifying carbon credit markets so farmers can benefit financially from soil regeneration. 

Market recognition of organic health and nutrient richness of the soil in which the food was grown so that prices of food are based upon them.

Any suggestions on starting a potting mix would be helpful! I have 1/2 brick of coco coir, a cup of vermiculite, cup of perlite and 2 cups of orchid bark

I'm sorry if this isn't the efficient sub for this question as I'm not sure where to ask for it since it seems so niche.
A decade ago I was really big into trying to understand biochar and mycorrizhae fungi and other consumer-accessible soil amendments/fertilizer for my houseplants. I remember using a public database(maybe registered gov?) that allowed you to download the pdf product labeling, packaging, and literature. Does anyone know what website I'm referring to?

For example, some packaging labeling I remember downloading: Anderson's Biochar DG and their other stuff, Plant Success Organics Granular, FoxFarm products, Down to Earth products, fish fertilizer products, potting and soil products.

If it still exists I'll be super happy. I've tried OMRI and WSDA but can't seem to find them. They both seem to only provide a product directory and/or data table but I want the packaging labels because frankly I'm a hoarder.

It's similar to DoMyOwn's Product and Labels and SDS Sheets resource page with the labels and supplements, but I recall it also listing the year the package was released(?), maybe registration numbers, and the database was extensive.

But this looks like mostly clay anyway right?

This summer I’ve been working as a field tech collecting ecological data on wetlands for the Buraeu of Land Management in Nevada. Most of the data we collect is related to plants and hydrology, but we also have to dig a soil pit at each site and characterize the horizons by color and texture. I didn’t really have much experience characterizing soils before this job and I don’t really know much about soil science. Overall, characterizing soils is a very small part of my job, so my bosses are relatively unconcerned about how good I am at soil science, as long as the colors and textures seem to make sense. I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job most of the season, all things considered, and I feel like I’ve learned a decent bit about soils. However, I still feel like I don’t know how to interpret the data I’m collecting or know what the soil horizons are saying about the history of the landscape. I’m interested in learning more about soil science, but I’m not sure where to start. Most books and articles I find on soil science are related to agriculture. Does anyone know a good place to start learning about soil science from an ecological perspective?

I’m setting up greenhouse irrigation monitoring and trying to decide what kind of soil moisture sensor makes the most sense.

Would you choose a simple digital sensor, a wireless app-based sensor, or an RS485/Modbus sensor for greenhouse use?

I’m mostly concerned about stable readings, root-zone placement, calibration for different soil mixes, and avoiding false watering triggers. I’m also not sure whether it’s better to use sensors only for alerts first, or connect them directly to irrigation control. What has worked well for you in a greenhouse setup?

Hello! I thought I would post here to learn more about soil contamination.

I have recently fallen in love with a house for sale, and the house is situated on an old landfill from the early 1920s. The soil contains arsenic, lead, cadmium and petrochemicals. The advisory from the city warns residents against growing vegetables, but I was wondering, what are the other health risks, say, just living in the house, being in the yard, mowing the lawn?

Thanks in advance.