Gabler
Masterpiece
When I enrolled in archaeology field school during undergrad, back before I changed directions to my current career path, I got the nickname "Dirt Whisperer" from my field school cohorts. My professor later asked me to stay on afterward as a paid intern to help draft the portion of the excavation report focused on soil science. I say this not to toot my own horn, but to emphasize just how poorly soils are understood, even by those who work in the field, to the extent that anyone could think that I had an iota of expertise in the field of soil science. My soil knowledge at that time was elementary at best. Much of it was less than elementary—instead rooted in misinformation I had absorbed during my science coursework in middle school and upper school from outdated textbooks. I came to that realization thanks to my senior nuts here in this community who, though their posts, have guided me to delve deeper into soils, both physically and academically.
It started with hydrology. For thirteen years prior to joining this website, I had been trying to grow trees based entirely on information from books blended with my high-school-level understanding of soils. I did not understand the importance of a loose, granular substrate. I used primarily field soil from the forest in the locations where I collected my trees. I reasoned that mother nature knows best. If that's how trees grow in nature, then that's what I should use in a bonsai pot. I found some success with ironwood trees (Carpinus caroliniana), which isn't surprising in hindsight, since they commonly grow in wetland soils. I struggled more with conifers and beech trees, which prefer well-drained, highly-aerated soil. Moreover, I had erroneously assumed that shallower pots would require finer, more water-retentive soil. On the contrary, deeper pots have counterintuitively superior drainage to shallow pots. I now understand that the soil's ability to suspend moisture against the force of gravity is limited by the vertical height of the soil and the additional weight born by the force of adhesion between the lower soil particles and the water. Twentieth century bonsai substrates compensate for this effect with larger particle size, significantly stretching the tension of the water between particles and limiting the water table height that the substrate can support.
More recently, I've been exploring fertilizers, and unsurprisingly, there's a lot of conflicting information. My quest to understand soil nutrients (and Google's algorithms) led me to Dr. Elaine Ingham. Earlier today, I stumbled on this recording of one of her presentations posted to YouTube.
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" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In the past, I've succumbed to the naturalistic fallacy. The fallacy that natural is always better than artificial. Also, as mentioned previously herein, I've mistakenly applied wisdom from gardening to container growing. The best soil for ground growing is not the same as the soil best for container growing. Accordingly, it is my hope that you will weigh in and comment on the applicability of the information from the video embedded above. In time, I hope to truly be deserving of the title of Dirt Whisperer.
It started with hydrology. For thirteen years prior to joining this website, I had been trying to grow trees based entirely on information from books blended with my high-school-level understanding of soils. I did not understand the importance of a loose, granular substrate. I used primarily field soil from the forest in the locations where I collected my trees. I reasoned that mother nature knows best. If that's how trees grow in nature, then that's what I should use in a bonsai pot. I found some success with ironwood trees (Carpinus caroliniana), which isn't surprising in hindsight, since they commonly grow in wetland soils. I struggled more with conifers and beech trees, which prefer well-drained, highly-aerated soil. Moreover, I had erroneously assumed that shallower pots would require finer, more water-retentive soil. On the contrary, deeper pots have counterintuitively superior drainage to shallow pots. I now understand that the soil's ability to suspend moisture against the force of gravity is limited by the vertical height of the soil and the additional weight born by the force of adhesion between the lower soil particles and the water. Twentieth century bonsai substrates compensate for this effect with larger particle size, significantly stretching the tension of the water between particles and limiting the water table height that the substrate can support.
More recently, I've been exploring fertilizers, and unsurprisingly, there's a lot of conflicting information. My quest to understand soil nutrients (and Google's algorithms) led me to Dr. Elaine Ingham. Earlier today, I stumbled on this recording of one of her presentations posted to YouTube.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
In the past, I've succumbed to the naturalistic fallacy. The fallacy that natural is always better than artificial. Also, as mentioned previously herein, I've mistakenly applied wisdom from gardening to container growing. The best soil for ground growing is not the same as the soil best for container growing. Accordingly, it is my hope that you will weigh in and comment on the applicability of the information from the video embedded above. In time, I hope to truly be deserving of the title of Dirt Whisperer.
