Some folks say the roots trade by way of exudates with bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes to get just exactly what the plant needs. See Elaine Ingham. I really hope I get some sweet potatoes and I planted them late and am trying to harvest them in November Zone 9. Good luck and thanks for the videos.
It looks like you got some fungal dominant soil in some areas that haven't been disturbed and your plans rather go that route then search for a symbiotic relationship throughout your soil not disturbing those areas builds up microriza the same way trees build a radius of microriza of beneath them.
When I first heard of no till I thought it was the dumbest thing, So I tried it once and was pleasantly surprised, had to plant my rows wider do to greater growth.
Travis, I would recommend checking out the channel “I am organic gardening”. He has a couple of series involving back to Eden & wood chips as well as building soil. In some of those videos he gets REAL NERDY and does microscopic evaluations and comparisons of soil life. Goes into great detail about the bacteria, fungi, nematodes, etc. It was really cool to see his microscope video shots of everything wiggling around!
It's because the soil and the plant live in harmony otherwise you are feeding the plant yourself and just guessing what it needs and when it needs it and how much. The nicest plans I've ever grown has always been organic using worm castings and fish as a staple
I think you are asking for a layman’s answer to a highly complex question about a system that is the basis of life on earth. Here’s a link that has a pdf that explains the components of soil. I’ve been asking the same questions since I stated down the road of gardening. I am fascinated by soil, compost and the most sustainable way to grow food without buying stuff! For those of us who are fortunate enough to have a bit more property than a lot in a subdivision, I feel it’s my duty to use what I have on my land or source materials that others are throwing in a land fill. I love that you are looking for the knowledge to create a sustainable permaculture! At 65 I love learning new and better ways to make life better!
@@LazyDogFarm I'm a southern boy who's favorite food is mostly anything fried, especially Southern Fried Chicken... So, you ain't got nut'n on me about liking fried... But, I cook with grease on my gas stove 😁😁😁 Keep 'em coming Trav, love your content.
You need to test apples to apples. Same exact varieties in all types of plots.... AND previous crops in those same plots/rows should be the same also. That is the only way I would imagine that you can have an accurate "trial" vs a "guess" as to the reasons for differences.
Consider getting an index Refractometer and measuring the Brix levels in the sap in the different plots. The higher the Brix, the more disease resistant. Betcha the no till plants have highest Brix.
The *Soil Food Web* channel with Elaine Ingham would be able to provide more insight. The soil life feeds the plants and having a balance between the bacteria and fungi makes for healthier soil. Not tilling promotes the soil life and helps to maintain the balance. You would need a microscope to examine the soil life in the various beds to see what you have (or don't have)
At the end of my time working on my grandparents' farm, we'd transitioned from dropping the plow to turn over 10" - 12" of soil, and switched to using a disc in most cases. The logic was pretty much similar to doing a till vs. no-till plot. The last time I probably ran a plow was early 1970s and that was when we just transitioned to using the disc (in most cases).
Try dumping the same amount of compost on the till lot prior to tilling and try this again. Dumping a bunch of fertile compost, im sure has a huge effect on the quality of your growings.
That tilled plot has had a similar amount of compost. It just degrades much faster when tilled into our sandy soils as opposed to putting it on top like we did in the no-till plot.
so you havent fertilized well your sandy soil plot, and added lots of organic matter on the other plot. if it was going to be a fair comparison, the other plot should have also received the organic matter, since you're ferilizing minimally, and only dig it into soil in one plot. that would be till vs no till, in my book.
The tilled plot was the most fertile plot we had based on our last soil test results of each plot. They both got the same preplant fertilizer. And the tilled plot has received approximately the same amount of compost over the last couple years, but that compost has been tilled into the soil as opposed to just putting it on top.
Being a RUclipsr expert, I have watch a lot of videos on no till. From my research, you are not disturbing the fungi and bacteria in the soil. The fungi from my understanding is almost like a highway that connects all the plant roots in the soil. This highway will transport nutrients and water to where it's needed. When you till, you are destroying the highway. The nutrients and water can not get to the plants that need them as fast. Because of that, the plants will struggle and be more pron to disease and pest. Pest like weaker plants and will attack those first. Watch some videos on Jadam and the making of IMO. This is where you go to undisturbed areas, like a forest and you make a rice concoction that collects the fungi's and bacteria in that area. Then you introduce that to your soil to improve it. You might want to look also into organic fertilizers. Non-organic fertilizers have salts in them when they are made. The salts kill bacteria and fungus. The fungus that you are looking for is a white spider web looking material. It grows on carbon like dead trees, wood mulch, etc. Take a look in your flower beds if you use a wood mulch or take a walk into the woods and look for it.
He uses agri life...which claims it is organic...i asked him about jadam and he said he didnt have time...which i TOTALLY understand..he has a job a family a farm..a u tube channel..lots going on not to mention the guest appearance of our favorite ducks which always must have a luncheonette ..lol. The science behind the jadam is very interesting..use of cover crops too.. intri3d making it but it was a no go..too cold i think.
I do agree that Jadam can be labor intensive in making fertilizers. The thing I like about it is about making fertilizers from stuff around you. An easy way to get started is collect rain water. Put rain water, hand full of dirt that has good bacteria and anything else, like weeds grass clippings, etc. Stir every now and then. After 2 weeks, it is good. It does get better the longer it sits. It is anaerobic, so it possibly has bad bacteria for humans. Treat it like fish emulsion and don't put it on anything you eat for a couple of days. Apply diluted 1 part per 10 with rain water. Try not to use city water since there is chlorine and possibly fluoride. Can also do cut up bananas in rain water for potassium, etc. I have four kids and home school, so it's an easy way to do science experiments at home.
If you put as much compost into your tilled plots as you have your no till would perhaps get the same results? Lastly, you need to get your hands on some Evangeline sweet potatoes. They are by far better in tastes than Beauregard, Orleans, and Porta Rico. They also hold up very well to saturated soil. They are the favorite around here. They sell out first.
You should consider trying out Cinderella pumpkins if you like the polar bears. I believe both are maxima’s. We grow about 10-12 acres of pumpkins in MS and Cinderella’s and similar style varieties always out perform traditional jack o lantern types. It’s hard to grow jacks in the south for some reason. Our warty goblins I have been very impressed with though this season. We are conventional till and cultivate.
Well I copied u a good bit this year. Figured I'd share since I was planting while watching this vid. Got some black majoc kale , darkibor kale, dill-dukat, megaton cabbage, bravo cabbage, cheers cabbage, flash collards, top chop collards, rally leeks, and most excited for Chianti onion. O and tadorna leek. Tendersweet carrots and scarlet Nantes careers. And some other carret I've been saving seeds on the past few years . Also some emerald broccoli and some lettuses
I'm trying to grow some pumpkins for the first time this fall. I'm in Texas zone 8b and after a long hot summer the temps have cooled a bit and we have received 3 inches of rain so far in September. By cooled I mean the highs now are in the mid to low 90s as opposed to the over 100F temps we had been getting since June. I planted the seeds mid August. I expect them to make some pumpkins by sometime in December if it doesn't freeze, but I don't really know what will happen. I'll definitely learn something, but predicting freezes and rain around here is nearly impossible. Sometimes we don't get a freeze all winter and other times you'd think you were in the snow belt. Gardening here is like rolling the dice.
Dramatic difference between the no-till and tilled plots! Who knew?! Thank you for the tour of figs - look forward to getting some of them next spring! Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA - 9/9/2022.
You should read (Also on Audible) Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown, The Independent Farmstaead by Beth Dougherty or Joel Salatin books. It explains all about it. It has been a huge help on our homestead.
I am not an experienced gardener by any means, but, I think the pumpkin experiment would have given better results if you planted the 3 different varieties in each of the beds. To try and save your plants in the no till garden, I would suggest cutting the bad leaves off as I think there is enough new growth to keep your pumpkins going. Diseased leaves will just draw energy out of the plant while the new growth is supplementing it to survive. Microbial activity in the soil is the key to plant uptake. The more life, the more nutrient breakdown, the richer and easier for plant uptake. Its just like adding worm castings, but heaps more natural living organisms to break down material for plant uptake. Love your all your videos. 👍
Having lived in the woods much of my life I can tell you that God created the best growing medium you could ever need. The wild blueberries grow quite happily surrounded by larger trees that drop their leaves and nuts or fruits, Lots of persimmons grow right along side of them. Not much disturbance in the soil in the woods and things grow great without the help of mankind. The microbiology and worms in the soil makes it very rich and plants thrive in it. That is what we want to mimic in our gardens. Leaf mold is very beneficial for our soils and not tilling keeps the soil biology healthy.
No doubt that the soil in the woods is full of life. But I actually put some of these extra transplants in those pine woods and they didn't make it. Maybe too much shade.
Great videos Travis! I took some fig cuttings from my two fig trees last winter. I scraped some sand off our driveway and put about 4” in two ice chests. I dampened the sand and put Celeste cuttings in one and, I think, ChicagoHardy in the other. It worked! I got 14 fig trees now! One of them even has a little fig on it already. Didn’t know they could set fruit first year. Thanks for the great videos and convincing me to try drip irrigation.
Hi Travis. Funny, there was a guy in Michigan that said that the raccoons and squirrels always thought his sweet corn was ready to harvest about two or three days before he did. That fig tree grove looks so elegant with their labels and well groomed grounds. Like a Museum of sorts even. Good Job. Chuck in Florida.
Probably not. But most of the time as gardeners we're trying to grow things that don't naturally occur nature -- things that have been bred for taste, size, whatever.
👨🌾🐝🐛🦋❤️👍🐇Thank you for sharing your garden with me. I just love to see how it’s all coming together and growing so nicely! I love to garden and I also make garden videos. I’m sad my growing season is coming to an end. My plans for the off season is to learn as much as I can about gardening and making videos. I’d love it if we could learn more from each other!
I missed the video when you planted sweet taters. I dug mine last week after planting in early May. They got a full 120 days. I grow Evangeline, Orleans, and Burgundy orange fleshed and White Triumph which is white fleshed, starchy, and only slightly sweet. All three of the orange fleshed taters had excellent yields with some extra large. Orleans had as high a yield as the others but had less extra large, but more #1size taters. They're all good.
Those are impressive figs, mine that I planted earlier this year had 1 fig developed. Still hanging in there ,but never growing figs wondering when to harvest , do they get soft? Still green and pretty firm.. maybe tree is to young still. Thanks looking forward to your sweet potatoes...
They're at peak ripeness when they get soft and the fruits start to kind of hang free. But often times something will get them before they get to that point. So sometimes I'll pick mine a little early.
Hey Travis just a quick question. Would it be possible to cover the pumpkin vines with a little dirt on the new growth to help produce a better food system for them? Sweet potatoes are looking really good with those popping through the ground. My wife and I just planted our first two fig trees this spring and both are coming along well. No figs this year but hopefully next year. I will be ordering a couple of those for our orchard next year. Have a great week and God Bless.
I think I can explain your no-till plot success. Basically, species compete for space. A given area can only support a certain amount of fungal growth. If your no-till plot is full of beneficial fungi, those fungi will crowd out any pathogenic fungi. Basically, the good fungi are so well established that they out-compete the bad fungi, and the bad fungi can’t get a foothold and die off. Because you keep disturbing the tilled plots, no fungi can ever take hold. Therefore, every season, you establish a “clean slate” for the good and bad fungi to compete. Since you live in such a difficult climate, the bad fungi often win, outcompete the good fungi and your plants suffer. I think that is the most likely scenario. In short, since you already have “good soil” through years of cultivation, maybe you should abandon cultivation from now on and convert entirely to no-till so you can permanently establish good fungi everywhere and beat disease permanently?
It would certainly be nice to convert all the plots to no-till, but I do kind of like having a tilled plot for comparison sake. Also, adding 8 tons of compost over the last couple years to get that no-till plot to where it's at is a little pricey.
@@LazyDogFarm I understand. Maybe it would be worth it to you to slowly convert a plot over each season? Maybe you don't need to use as much compost, either? Perhaps you can just run your drip lines and fertigate with 20-20-20 as usual and target plants with compost to cut costs? It rains so much where we live that fertilizer salts never hang around long, so I personally never have a concern using them as directed.
That's a good plan. We converted a couple more plots to no-till last year and might do 1-2 more within the next year. I do keep some of the blue stuff on hand as a rescue fertilizer if I need it.
Well I must admit that for the size garden that I have which is approximately 7500 ft² being a farmer on that piece of land and doing it as a hobby apart from my full time job, I can't afford to do no-till gardening. However, when I till manure into the spaces that I'm wanting to plant and and cover it with plastic mulch, maybe for about a week or so all the worms and insects do all the borrowing and stuff. So the soil is well areated by the time I'm ready to plant. Yups! Its notcexsctly thecsame but it's the closest most practical I can do.
@@LazyDogFarm but I'm excited to see that it works. Mulching and so on hascworkedcin some areas of the garden even in drought situations. And compost keeps that water available. All the best.
from what i have heard, the microbiology helps the transfer of vitamins and minerals from the soil to the plants. the more microbiology that exisits the stronger the transfer of the essentials the plants need to survive. pretty intelligent design IMO
Lol the pumpkins.... he said after we open up that can of worms lol.... is any one plot getting more sun than others? I was told a good south facing garden helps keep disease down with pumpkins.... as in the sun first thing in the morning
I have sweet taters in felt bag containers that are ready at 105 days. Should be interesting to see what happens in a couple weeks. I planted slips June 7. Thinking the mulched no till pumpkins kept the ground cooler?
truth is: we don’t precisely know it all!!! soil scientists are racing to figure it out. this consistently replicable pattern of results is why organic and regenerative practices are beginning to overtake synthetic practices. we do know some foundational aspects, though: in a word, *fungi.* the fungi really get disrupted in tillage, and that makes the soil very disease-prone. as an eco-landscaper and student of soil science, I could definitely could speak about it at greater length; please DM me if you’d like to set up a time to chat! I appreciate your content very much and will be happy to assist you.
Okay, I’m going to say it could be due to cover crops of the past. Try to look at Permaculture one guy in Australia is really well known in the circles Geoff Lawton. I was going to suggest his method of Compost Tubing in Raised Beds in the new Dream Garden. How to build a Worm Tower
Look up a video titled “what is the soil food web” there is a short animated series on that channel to explain the basics…if you want a much more in depth education, look up the channel “understanding ag” and watch some of their videos, especially the ones with ray archuletta and gabe brown
If you’re using pine straw as mulch you may be making the soil too acidic for some plants which might explain the low survival rate for the transplants.
I started reading the comments and I wanted to add that it isn't simply adding compost that is beneficial in the no till garden. When you add a bunch of oxygen to a soil the compost will break down very quickly. Any nutrients will leach more quickly when rain hits it. If you run a tiller over the ground a few times a year you are basically allowing the compost to break down even more quickly than if you simply heaped up like you do in no till. In the sandy soil of South Georgia the need for fertilizers are directly related to the soil matrix. Sand does not hold on to nutrients the same way compost, clay, or humus does because water rushes through it. No till will work differently based on the type of soil in a plot. Therefore if he put the same amount of compost in the no till plots as he did in the tilled plots the compost will lose its viability much more quickly because it is exposed to the rain and oxygen. The reason we find mummies in the desert and bogs are because of the water and oxygen levels. Deserts have no water so they won't break down. Bogs have low amounts of air so again, things don't break down.
I remember thinking when you began your no till plot, that if you were to have worked in as much compost into your other plots it would have been a better comparison. The loamy soil that you created in the no till plot by adding all that organic material will hold so many more nutrients and minerals, and moisture as well as beneficial organisms. Which will result in much healthier plants which in turn will be so much more disease resistant. In my 50 some years of gardening experience, I really think the success of your no till plot has more to do with the amount of organic material you added than the fact that it is no till. IMHO.
The tilled plot has had similar amounts of compost over the last couple years. But when tilled into our sandy soils that are naturally low in organic matter, it tends to "burn up" more quickly.
Perhaps the no-till plot has so much good flora that the bad fungi and bacteria get crowded out. The tilled plot may have hosted the bad diseases and fungi when it was disturbed, much like invasive species get a foothold after a forest fire.
Where did you source your straw from. I had similar results with non certified organic straw. I believe farmers growing for grain and straw harvest treat their fields with Aminopyralid, 2-4-d, or other herbicides. Seems like I notice it more whenever I feed a compost tea. I guess the microbes help release it from the straw.
a gardener's goal is to tend to the soil. not the plants. grow the soil, the plant's bounty is just the thanks we get. we are but custodians of the earth. remember why call our planet "earth" and the other meaning of earth which is soil. we are supposed to take care of the soil.
Hey Travis I always tend to like the sunglasses you wear but can’t ever see what they are. How ‘bout you let us know? Could be a good sponsor since they’re in the videos start to finish.
They're made by a company called Knockaround. I have several different pairs. They're pretty cheap, but I like them. And if I smash them or lose them, I haven't lost much.
They look significantly different. Can it be the organic materials provided that much more nutrients for the crop? Or that the sandy soil allows the fertilizer nutrients to filter through too easily?
I only have a small growing area so large pumpkins are out of the question but I did try the little sugar pumpkins up a trellis but they haven't done well at all. Still looking for a small, vining type I can grow up a trellis that does well. Lemme know if you have any suggestions, please. Kentucky zone 6b, hot and humid starting in mid June.
Well Travis you got my attention on that no-till stuff! So what would be the best cover crop I could sow up here in zone 7 for the winter? Remember now it gets pretty cold up here in Skullbone Tn. In the winter.
I'd try Frosty Berseem clover. It's really cold-tolerant and gets really dense. You probably want to plant it about a month and a half before your first frost so it can get established well.
The fungi(mycorrhiza) and other organisms in the soil cannot perform photosynthesis which makes sugars, but surface plants do. And so the microorganisms infect the roots of the surface plants to obtain the sugar it needs. This infection creates communication with the surface plant. It creates an 'internet' with the host plant. However, the surface plants need vital minerals from the soil, and since it's root system is limited, the surface plant suffers. The soil microorganisms reach much further into the surrounding soil than the surface plants, and thus these microorganisms develop a trade with the surface plants. Now the surface plants use the soil microorganism 'internet' to get the minerals it needs in the soil by trading sugars with the infecting microorganisms. Otherwise, the surface plant have to cannibalize itself to get the minerals for it's new growth.
Well you gonna have to plant one kind in different soils to compare but you know that. Soil microbes doesn’t explain your lack of sparse germination in the no til does it Please tell me a fresh fig tastes better than a fig newton so I’ll want to try one 😀
I think that the no-till plot is a lot healthier due to many qualities but I think one big thing is the increased bacterial and fungal diversity in no-till plots. Just like in humans, we have trillions of gut bacteria which contributes significantly to our health and taking antibiotics will kill significant amounts of our gut bacteria and over time with repeated exposure, it can drastically shift the microbiome of our intestines in a unhealthy way. Similarly, I believe that repeated tilling is similar to taking repeated doses of antibiotics and thus disrupts significant amounts of soil biology. With more natural soil biology in no-till plots, I believe that the plants are colonized with a healthier diversity of bacteria and fungus on their leaves and vines, etc. And thus bad bacteria and fungus are less likely to colonize it and cause a disease. Just my two cents
Think we are still a long way from science being able to unravel this enough to answer all your questions. Life science is more exception than it is rule at this point. Our human science is great at math and physics but has a really tough time with life science. Isn't it ironic that we seem to have a better understanding of the cosmos, than we do viruses, the human brain, or even soil life/plant interactions here on earth?
Check out I Am Organic he explains a lot of the science around the no till gardening, he does in a way that's easy to understand. Good luck with your research. Let us know what you learn. Thanks for your hard work
A thriving microbial soil ecosystem is just like a thriving economy in a well established city. Tillage is like destroying that city, then immediately asking it to provide the same economic output and efficiency as it had before it was destroyed. The reason a healthy soil ecosystem results in better plant health and production is because as plants and soil co-evolved, they formed partnerships in getting the resources that they need to be successful and survive. Plants do not have direct access to all the nutrients they need in the soil. To get what they can’t get themselves, they trade with the soil life who gives them what they need when they ask for it. Reduced life, reduced trading.
No till plus covered ground, it is the best situation. Tillage isn't good for plants and roots, soil structure, or water absorption. Soil biology and plant roots are like a good market place - transactions of food for nutrient supplies are good for both plant and soil. Tillage is like farming in a war zone - roots don't do so well working around shrapnel and there is no structure or water reserves in the soil.
New Subscriber here got recommended from - Faraway Prepper - channel. Glad to be on board in this likeminded community 🙌💫👍
Welcome!
Some folks say the roots trade by way of exudates with bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes to get just exactly what the plant needs. See Elaine Ingham. I really hope I get some sweet potatoes and I planted them late and am trying to harvest them in November Zone 9. Good luck and thanks for the videos.
It looks like you got some fungal dominant soil in some areas that haven't been disturbed and your plans rather go that route then search for a symbiotic relationship throughout your soil not disturbing those areas builds up microriza the same way trees build a radius of microriza of beneath them.
I can't wait for your fig cutting series in early 2023. Figs are my favourite subject at the moment
They're so much fun!
I would suggest watching some of Elaine Ingham's seminars on soil health. She goes through in detail why more soil life equals healthier plants.
The no till question, idk but you can’t argue with success as they say.
I cover my figs with tulle when they start ripening. Keeps the birds out!
You should watch the documentary Fantastic Fungi. There are so many benefits from fungi that we are just beginning to understand!
When I first heard of no till I thought it was the dumbest thing, So I tried it once and was pleasantly surprised, had to plant my rows wider do to greater growth.
Hidden Half of Nature is a great book that really goes into what's happening in our soil and why all that organic matter makes healthier plants
I have grown cargo in the past, I found it here to be a great producer here in zone 5
Man, that heat down there ainno joke. You sweatin' up something. Awesome video as always .
It's rough!
Travis, I would recommend checking out the channel “I am organic gardening”. He has a couple of series involving back to Eden & wood chips as well as building soil. In some of those videos he gets REAL NERDY and does microscopic evaluations and comparisons of soil life. Goes into great detail about the bacteria, fungi, nematodes, etc. It was really cool to see his microscope video shots of everything wiggling around!
It's because the soil and the plant live in harmony otherwise you are feeding the plant yourself and just guessing what it needs and when it needs it and how much. The nicest plans I've ever grown has always been organic using worm castings and fish as a staple
I think you are asking for a layman’s answer to a highly complex question about a system that is the basis of life on earth. Here’s a link that has a pdf that explains the components of soil.
I’ve been asking the same questions since I stated down the road of gardening. I am fascinated by soil, compost and the most sustainable way to grow food without buying stuff!
For those of us who are fortunate enough to have a bit more property than a lot in a subdivision, I feel it’s my duty to use what I have on my land or source materials that others are throwing in a land fill.
I love that you are looking for the knowledge to create a sustainable permaculture! At 65 I love learning new and better ways to make life better!
Good stuff Kathy! That's great that you're continuing to seek knowledge in your gardening journey.
12:31 🤔 I always heard it was "Now we're cook'n with gas" 🤔 😂🤣🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂
We like to fry stuff down here. lol We've always said "grease."
@@LazyDogFarm I'm a southern boy who's favorite food is mostly anything fried, especially Southern Fried Chicken... So, you ain't got nut'n on me about liking fried... But, I cook with grease on my gas stove 😁😁😁 Keep 'em coming Trav, love your content.
Great video! Looking forward to the sweet tater dig party.
Paw-Paw tilled Grandma's garden every year prior to planting and again after harvest. I thought he knew EVERYTHING. Surprised.
Nice!
Beautiful sweet potatoes! You really need to cook the leaves! They really taste great as greens!
You need to test apples to apples. Same exact varieties in all types of plots.... AND previous crops in those same plots/rows should be the same also. That is the only way I would imagine that you can have an accurate "trial" vs a "guess" as to the reasons for differences.
Yeah that's true.
Consider getting an index Refractometer and measuring the Brix levels in the sap in the different plots. The higher the Brix, the more disease resistant. Betcha the no till plants have highest Brix.
The *Soil Food Web* channel with Elaine Ingham would be able to provide more insight. The soil life feeds the plants and having a balance between the bacteria and fungi makes for healthier soil. Not tilling promotes the soil life and helps to maintain the balance. You would need a microscope to examine the soil life in the various beds to see what you have (or don't have)
At the end of my time working on my grandparents' farm, we'd transitioned from dropping the plow to turn over 10" - 12" of soil, and switched to using a disc in most cases. The logic was pretty much similar to doing a till vs. no-till plot. The last time I probably ran a plow was early 1970s and that was when we just transitioned to using the disc (in most cases).
My guess on the sweet potatoes is that mowing them gives them a chance to dry out a little and makes the skins a little stronger.
Try dumping the same amount of compost on the till lot prior to tilling and try this again. Dumping a bunch of fertile compost, im sure has a huge effect on the quality of your growings.
That tilled plot has had a similar amount of compost. It just degrades much faster when tilled into our sandy soils as opposed to putting it on top like we did in the no-till plot.
Great work! Am glad you stayed with it. Btw look up Dr. Elaine Ingham for all your earthy questions
Organic matter is why pumpkin loves it feeds them more the. Just some fertilizer alone
The prevailing wisdom on no till is that the soil is everything and healthy soil gives plants the ability to fight disease and insects.
I agree with you. Also tilling might bring up unwanted molds in the soil.
Blessings ❤️
so you havent fertilized well your sandy soil plot, and added lots of organic matter on the other plot.
if it was going to be a fair comparison, the other plot should have also received the organic matter, since you're ferilizing minimally, and only dig it into soil in one plot.
that would be till vs no till, in my book.
The tilled plot was the most fertile plot we had based on our last soil test results of each plot. They both got the same preplant fertilizer. And the tilled plot has received approximately the same amount of compost over the last couple years, but that compost has been tilled into the soil as opposed to just putting it on top.
Being a RUclipsr expert, I have watch a lot of videos on no till. From my research, you are not disturbing the fungi and bacteria in the soil. The fungi from my understanding is almost like a highway that connects all the plant roots in the soil. This highway will transport nutrients and water to where it's needed. When you till, you are destroying the highway. The nutrients and water can not get to the plants that need them as fast. Because of that, the plants will struggle and be more pron to disease and pest. Pest like weaker plants and will attack those first. Watch some videos on Jadam and the making of IMO. This is where you go to undisturbed areas, like a forest and you make a rice concoction that collects the fungi's and bacteria in that area. Then you introduce that to your soil to improve it. You might want to look also into organic fertilizers. Non-organic fertilizers have salts in them when they are made. The salts kill bacteria and fungus. The fungus that you are looking for is a white spider web looking material. It grows on carbon like dead trees, wood mulch, etc. Take a look in your flower beds if you use a wood mulch or take a walk into the woods and look for it.
He uses agri life...which claims it is organic...i asked him about jadam and he said he didnt have time...which i TOTALLY understand..he has a job a family a farm..a u tube channel..lots going on not to mention the guest appearance of our favorite ducks which always must have a luncheonette ..lol.
The science behind the jadam is very interesting..use of cover crops too.. intri3d making it but it was a no go..too cold i think.
I do agree that Jadam can be labor intensive in making fertilizers. The thing I like about it is about making fertilizers from stuff around you. An easy way to get started is collect rain water. Put rain water, hand full of dirt that has good bacteria and anything else, like weeds grass clippings, etc. Stir every now and then. After 2 weeks, it is good. It does get better the longer it sits. It is anaerobic, so it possibly has bad bacteria for humans. Treat it like fish emulsion and don't put it on anything you eat for a couple of days. Apply diluted 1 part per 10 with rain water. Try not to use city water since there is chlorine and possibly fluoride. Can also do cut up bananas in rain water for potassium, etc. I have four kids and home school, so it's an easy way to do science experiments at home.
Maybe you could put one row of each, in both the tilled and no-till to get a more accurate result of whether a no-till is truly better or not.
I was thinking the same thing. That would be the real test, with the comparison.
If you put as much compost into your tilled plots as you have your no till would perhaps get the same results? Lastly, you need to get your hands on some Evangeline sweet potatoes. They are by far better in tastes than Beauregard, Orleans, and Porta Rico. They also hold up very well to saturated soil. They are the favorite around here. They sell out first.
When we till the compost into our sandy soils, it burns up pretty quickly. After a season or two, it's like it was never even there.
You should consider trying out Cinderella pumpkins if you like the polar bears. I believe both are maxima’s. We grow about 10-12 acres of pumpkins in MS and Cinderella’s and similar style varieties always out perform traditional jack o lantern types. It’s hard to grow jacks in the south for some reason. Our warty goblins I have been very impressed with though this season. We are conventional till and cultivate.
Yeah I'm about ready to give up on Jacks down here. Thanks for the tip!
I am still waiting to harvest no till potatoes.
Well I copied u a good bit this year. Figured I'd share since I was planting while watching this vid. Got some black majoc kale , darkibor kale, dill-dukat, megaton cabbage, bravo cabbage, cheers cabbage, flash collards, top chop collards, rally leeks, and most excited for Chianti onion. O and tadorna leek. Tendersweet carrots and scarlet Nantes careers. And some other carret I've been saving seeds on the past few years . Also some emerald broccoli and some lettuses
Nice! Let me know how that Top Chop collard does for you. I might want to try it next year.
Great video.
I'm trying to grow some pumpkins for the first time this fall. I'm in Texas zone 8b and after a long hot summer the temps have cooled a bit and we have received 3 inches of rain so far in September. By cooled I mean the highs now are in the mid to low 90s as opposed to the over 100F temps we had been getting since June. I planted the seeds mid August. I expect them to make some pumpkins by sometime in December if it doesn't freeze, but I don't really know what will happen. I'll definitely learn something, but predicting freezes and rain around here is nearly impossible. Sometimes we don't get a freeze all winter and other times you'd think you were in the snow belt. Gardening here is like rolling the dice.
Never hurts to try and learn new ways to do things.
Dramatic difference between the no-till and tilled plots! Who knew?!
Thank you for the tour of figs - look forward to getting some of them next spring!
Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA - 9/9/2022.
You should read (Also on Audible) Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown, The Independent Farmstaead by Beth Dougherty or Joel Salatin books. It explains all about it. It has been a huge help on our homestead.
👍👍👍that giant fig sure looks good
I am not an experienced gardener by any means, but, I think the pumpkin experiment would have given better results if you planted the 3 different varieties in each of the beds. To try and save your plants in the no till garden, I would suggest cutting the bad leaves off as I think there is enough new growth to keep your pumpkins going. Diseased leaves will just draw energy out of the plant while the new growth is supplementing it to survive. Microbial activity in the soil is the key to plant uptake. The more life, the more nutrient breakdown, the richer and easier for plant uptake. Its just like adding worm castings, but heaps more natural living organisms to break down material for plant uptake. Love your all your videos. 👍
Nice job!
Thanks!
Having lived in the woods much of my life I can tell you that God created the best growing medium you could ever need. The wild blueberries grow quite happily surrounded by larger trees that drop their leaves and nuts or fruits, Lots of persimmons grow right along side of them. Not much disturbance in the soil in the woods and things grow great without the help of mankind. The microbiology and worms in the soil makes it very rich and plants thrive in it. That is what we want to mimic in our gardens. Leaf mold is very beneficial for our soils and not tilling keeps the soil biology healthy.
No doubt that the soil in the woods is full of life. But I actually put some of these extra transplants in those pine woods and they didn't make it. Maybe too much shade.
Look up Elaine Ingraham, she is a scientist
Great videos Travis!
I took some fig cuttings from my two fig trees last winter. I scraped some sand off our driveway and put about 4” in two ice chests. I dampened the sand and put Celeste cuttings in one and, I think, ChicagoHardy in the other.
It worked! I got 14 fig trees now! One of them even has a little fig on it already. Didn’t know they could set fruit first year.
Thanks for the great videos and convincing me to try drip irrigation.
Nice!
Hi Travis. Funny, there was a guy in Michigan that said that the raccoons and squirrels always thought his sweet corn was ready to harvest about two or three days before he did. That fig tree grove looks so elegant with their labels and well groomed grounds. Like a Museum of sorts even. Good Job. Chuck in Florida.
Glad you like the fig orchard. It's been a 3-4 year project, but it's finally coming together.
I've long suspected mother nature doesn't give a hoot about our methods, products, or especially our intervention with plant growth.
Probably not. But most of the time as gardeners we're trying to grow things that don't naturally occur nature -- things that have been bred for taste, size, whatever.
Very nice. I hope to start some fig trees this year. I've never done it, but I am going to try it.
👨🌾🐝🐛🦋❤️👍🐇Thank you for sharing your garden with me. I just love to see how it’s all coming together and growing so nicely! I love to garden and I also make garden videos. I’m sad my growing season is coming to an end. My plans for the off season is to learn as much as I can about gardening and making videos. I’d love it if we could learn more from each other!
Awesome! Looks like no-till is something to consider. I just can't get dump loads of compost
Yeah that's the kicker. If we didn't have access to affordable bulk compost, it wouldn't' be possible for us.
Yes, I want to know the same thing. Why?
I missed the video when you planted sweet taters. I dug mine last week after planting in early May. They got a full 120 days. I grow Evangeline, Orleans, and Burgundy orange fleshed and White Triumph which is white fleshed, starchy, and only slightly sweet.
All three of the orange fleshed taters had excellent yields with some extra large. Orleans had as high a yield as the others but had less extra large, but more #1size taters. They're all good.
I'm very excited for Orleans. That might be our new #1 variety.
Those are impressive figs, mine that I planted earlier this year had 1 fig developed. Still hanging in there ,but never growing figs wondering when to harvest , do they get soft? Still green and pretty firm.. maybe tree is to young still. Thanks looking forward to your sweet potatoes...
They're at peak ripeness when they get soft and the fruits start to kind of hang free. But often times something will get them before they get to that point. So sometimes I'll pick mine a little early.
I hope your warty goblins come on. Ours turned out beautiful. We planted them a little early se are already harvesting them. Good luck!
I'm hoping we can get at least a few of them.
Hey Travis just a quick question. Would it be possible to cover the pumpkin vines with a little dirt on the new growth to help produce a better food system for them? Sweet potatoes are looking really good with those popping through the ground. My wife and I just planted our first two fig trees this spring and both are coming along well. No figs this year but hopefully next year. I will be ordering a couple of those for our orchard next year. Have a great week and God Bless.
That might help, although it's not looking promising for that one particular plot.
I think I can explain your no-till plot success. Basically, species compete for space. A given area can only support a certain amount of fungal growth. If your no-till plot is full of beneficial fungi, those fungi will crowd out any pathogenic fungi. Basically, the good fungi are so well established that they out-compete the bad fungi, and the bad fungi can’t get a foothold and die off.
Because you keep disturbing the tilled plots, no fungi can ever take hold. Therefore, every season, you establish a “clean slate” for the good and bad fungi to compete. Since you live in such a difficult climate, the bad fungi often win, outcompete the good fungi and your plants suffer.
I think that is the most likely scenario. In short, since you already have “good soil” through years of cultivation, maybe you should abandon cultivation from now on and convert entirely to no-till so you can permanently establish good fungi everywhere and beat disease permanently?
It would certainly be nice to convert all the plots to no-till, but I do kind of like having a tilled plot for comparison sake. Also, adding 8 tons of compost over the last couple years to get that no-till plot to where it's at is a little pricey.
@@LazyDogFarm I understand. Maybe it would be worth it to you to slowly convert a plot over each season? Maybe you don't need to use as much compost, either? Perhaps you can just run your drip lines and fertigate with 20-20-20 as usual and target plants with compost to cut costs? It rains so much where we live that fertilizer salts never hang around long, so I personally never have a concern using them as directed.
That's a good plan. We converted a couple more plots to no-till last year and might do 1-2 more within the next year. I do keep some of the blue stuff on hand as a rescue fertilizer if I need it.
Danny is a consumate teacher, ...watch and learn.
Well I must admit that for the size garden that I have which is approximately 7500 ft² being a farmer on that piece of land and doing it as a hobby apart from my full time job, I can't afford to do no-till gardening. However, when I till manure into the spaces that I'm wanting to plant and and cover it with plastic mulch, maybe for about a week or so all the worms and insects do all the borrowing and stuff. So the soil is well areated by the time I'm ready to plant. Yups! Its notcexsctly thecsame but it's the closest most practical I can do.
Understandably so. Adding that much compost on a huge area is not very practical.
@@LazyDogFarm but I'm excited to see that it works. Mulching and so on hascworkedcin some areas of the garden even in drought situations. And compost keeps that water available. All the best.
I think it may be like a compost affect. The good biology is able to grow better and so the plants do too.
from what i have heard, the microbiology helps the transfer of vitamins and minerals from the soil to the plants. the more microbiology that exisits the stronger the transfer of the essentials the plants need to survive. pretty intelligent design IMO
With the pumpkins, maybe it was due to the crops you had before planting them?
Maybe. We had tomatoes planted in the plot where the pumpkins aren't doing so hot, and a cover crop in the no-till plot.
Lol the pumpkins.... he said after we open up that can of worms lol.... is any one plot getting more sun than others? I was told a good south facing garden helps keep disease down with pumpkins.... as in the sun first thing in the morning
They're all in wide open sun with rows oriented the same way.
I have sweet taters in felt bag containers that are ready at 105 days. Should be interesting to see what happens in a couple weeks. I planted slips June 7.
Thinking the mulched no till pumpkins kept the ground cooler?
It's possible. But I think it has more to do with the vast fungal network in that no-till plot.
Look into Dr. Elaine Ingham and her research on the soil food web. It should help explain about the symbiosis between root exudates and soil life.
truth is: we don’t precisely know it all!!! soil scientists are racing to figure it out. this consistently replicable pattern of results is why organic and regenerative practices are beginning to overtake synthetic practices.
we do know some foundational aspects, though: in a word, *fungi.* the fungi really get disrupted in tillage, and that makes the soil very disease-prone.
as an eco-landscaper and student of soil science, I could definitely could speak about it at greater length; please DM me if you’d like to set up a time to chat! I appreciate your content very much and will be happy to assist you.
I wonder if you’ve got spider mites in those older pumpkin leaves?
I haven't noticed any.
Okay, I’m going to say it could be due to cover crops of the past.
Try to look at Permaculture one guy in Australia is really well known in the circles Geoff Lawton.
I was going to suggest his method of Compost Tubing in Raised Beds in the new Dream Garden.
How to build a Worm Tower
Cover crops definitely help, but we've planted a good many cover crops in that tilled plot as well.
@@LazyDogFarm strange, the chickens would of been on all of them too, maybe the variety, hard to tell when not all the same.
Look up a video titled “what is the soil food web” there is a short animated series on that channel to explain the basics…if you want a much more in depth education, look up the channel “understanding ag” and watch some of their videos, especially the ones with ray archuletta and gabe brown
If you’re using pine straw as mulch you may be making the soil too acidic for some plants which might explain the low survival rate for the transplants.
Everything I've seen says that is a myth. Pine straw doesn't make soil acidic.
Nice, where did you buy the Puerto Rico variety and how is the flesh and taste?
We got the slips from Steele Plant Company: www.sweetpotatoplant.com/?ref=2c1LrVP9UKW8CB
They're really tasty!
I started reading the comments and I wanted to add that it isn't simply adding compost that is beneficial in the no till garden. When you add a bunch of oxygen to a soil the compost will break down very quickly. Any nutrients will leach more quickly when rain hits it. If you run a tiller over the ground a few times a year you are basically allowing the compost to break down even more quickly than if you simply heaped up like you do in no till. In the sandy soil of South Georgia the need for fertilizers are directly related to the soil matrix. Sand does not hold on to nutrients the same way compost, clay, or humus does because water rushes through it. No till will work differently based on the type of soil in a plot. Therefore if he put the same amount of compost in the no till plots as he did in the tilled plots the compost will lose its viability much more quickly because it is exposed to the rain and oxygen. The reason we find mummies in the desert and bogs are because of the water and oxygen levels. Deserts have no water so they won't break down. Bogs have low amounts of air so again, things don't break down.
Good points. The compost doesn't indeed "burn up" much quicker down here when tilled into the soil.
I remember thinking when you began your no till plot, that if you were to have worked in as much compost into your other plots it would have been a better comparison. The loamy soil that you created in the no till plot by adding all that organic material will hold so many more nutrients and minerals, and moisture as well as beneficial organisms. Which will result in much healthier plants which in turn will be so much more disease resistant. In my 50 some years of gardening experience, I really think the success of your no till plot has more to do with the amount of organic material you added than the fact that it is no till. IMHO.
The tilled plot has had similar amounts of compost over the last couple years. But when tilled into our sandy soils that are naturally low in organic matter, it tends to "burn up" more quickly.
Perhaps the no-till plot has so much good flora that the bad fungi and bacteria get crowded out. The tilled plot may have hosted the bad diseases and fungi when it was disturbed, much like invasive species get a foothold after a forest fire.
Where did you source your straw from. I had similar results with non certified organic straw. I believe farmers growing for grain and straw harvest treat their fields with Aminopyralid, 2-4-d, or other herbicides. Seems like I notice it more whenever I feed a compost tea. I guess the microbes help release it from the straw.
I get the pine straw locally from a small mom and pop shop at the farmers market. I used it on my tomatoes and peppers this year with no issues.
a gardener's goal is to tend to the soil. not the plants. grow the soil, the plant's bounty is just the thanks we get. we are but custodians of the earth. remember why call our planet "earth" and the other meaning of earth which is soil. we are supposed to take care of the soil.
No garden till means no pumpkin kill lol 😆
I like it!
Hey Travis I always tend to like the sunglasses you wear but can’t ever see what they are. How ‘bout you let us know? Could be a good sponsor since they’re in the videos start to finish.
They're made by a company called Knockaround. I have several different pairs. They're pretty cheap, but I like them. And if I smash them or lose them, I haven't lost much.
@@LazyDogFarm Awesome. Thanks!
Hey you really need to check out The Living Soil Handbook by Jesse Frost.. it’s freaking awesome and talks a lot about soil life and the benefits of.
They look significantly different. Can it be the organic materials provided that much more nutrients for the crop? Or that the sandy soil allows the fertilizer nutrients to filter through too easily?
They both were given the same amount of preplant fertilizer.
I only have a small growing area so large pumpkins are out of the question but I did try the little sugar pumpkins up a trellis but they haven't done well at all. Still looking for a small, vining type I can grow up a trellis that does well. Lemme know if you have any suggestions, please. Kentucky zone 6b, hot and humid starting in mid June.
Seminole is a small pumpkin variety that's very vigorous. It also stores really well.
Well Travis you got my attention on that no-till stuff! So what would be the best cover crop I could sow up here in zone 7 for the winter? Remember now it gets pretty cold up here in Skullbone Tn. In the winter.
I'm in Ohio but man, you can't beat winter rye imo.
By nature thanks
I'd try Frosty Berseem clover. It's really cold-tolerant and gets really dense. You probably want to plant it about a month and a half before your first frost so it can get established well.
Thanks Travis.
💪🏽
If you come thru and covered the vines do you think it will help them to take off?
It might. Not a bad idea.
The fungi(mycorrhiza) and other organisms in the soil cannot perform photosynthesis which makes sugars, but surface plants do. And so the microorganisms infect the roots of the surface plants to obtain the sugar it needs. This infection creates communication with the surface plant. It creates an 'internet' with the host plant. However, the surface plants need vital minerals from the soil, and since it's root system is limited, the surface plant suffers. The soil microorganisms reach much further into the surrounding soil than the surface plants, and thus these microorganisms develop a trade with the surface plants. Now the surface plants use the soil microorganism 'internet' to get the minerals it needs in the soil by trading sugars with the infecting microorganisms. Otherwise, the surface plant have to cannibalize itself to get the minerals for it's new growth.
I got apples pears plumcots pecan and the WORLDS FATTEST BEST FED SQUIRRELS
Haha!
What about the peas
Peas are growing like crazy!
Well you gonna have to plant one kind in different soils to compare but you know that. Soil microbes doesn’t explain your lack of sparse germination in the no til does it
Please tell me a fresh fig tastes better than a fig newton so I’ll want to try one 😀
Fresh figs taste completely different than fig newtons. I don't like fig newtons either.
@@LazyDogFarm I’ll try one then. If i can find some. Thank you. Just ate some muskadines in my backyard yesterday. Delicious! Not many ripe yet darnit
Research John Kempf and listen to his podcasts. It will change your life and the way you garden.
I think that the no-till plot is a lot healthier due to many qualities but I think one big thing is the increased bacterial and fungal diversity in no-till plots. Just like in humans, we have trillions of gut bacteria which contributes significantly to our health and taking antibiotics will kill significant amounts of our gut bacteria and over time with repeated exposure, it can drastically shift the microbiome of our intestines in a unhealthy way. Similarly, I believe that repeated tilling is similar to taking repeated doses of antibiotics and thus disrupts significant amounts of soil biology. With more natural soil biology in no-till plots, I believe that the plants are colonized with a healthier diversity of bacteria and fungus on their leaves and vines, etc. And thus bad bacteria and fungus are less likely to colonize it and cause a disease. Just my two cents
Think we are still a long way from science being able to unravel this enough to answer all your questions. Life science is more exception than it is rule at this point. Our human science is great at math and physics but has a really tough time with life science. Isn't it ironic that we seem to have a better understanding of the cosmos, than we do viruses, the human brain, or even soil life/plant interactions here on earth?
Good beneficial bacteria fights disease.
Feed Yer kids, make a T-shirt....
Feelin like your getting a bit behind...GROW SOME HOGS!!!!!
Check out I Am Organic he explains a lot of the science around the no till gardening, he does in a way that's easy to understand. Good luck with your research. Let us know what you learn. Thanks for your hard work
Soil info :
Dr. ELAINE INGHAM, soil science master class
DR ADAM COBB, soil food web school
A thriving microbial soil ecosystem is just like a thriving economy in a well established city. Tillage is like destroying that city, then immediately asking it to provide the same economic output and efficiency as it had before it was destroyed. The reason a healthy soil ecosystem results in better plant health and production is because as plants and soil co-evolved, they formed partnerships in getting the resources that they need to be successful and survive. Plants do not have direct access to all the nutrients they need in the soil. To get what they can’t get themselves, they trade with the soil life who gives them what they need when they ask for it. Reduced life, reduced trading.
No till plus covered ground, it is the best situation. Tillage isn't good for plants and roots, soil structure, or water absorption. Soil biology and plant roots are like a good market place - transactions of food for nutrient supplies are good for both plant and soil. Tillage is like farming in a war zone - roots don't do so well working around shrapnel and there is no structure or water reserves in the soil.
Need info on sweet poatoes...watch deep south homestaed!
Dr Elaine Ingham below.
better biology!!!!