oversaturated soil loses nitrogen

[Cousin_suds]

This paragraph was in our local newspaper, its a quote from our local county extension agent. I have never heard of this

Soil that becomes oversaturated tends to release nitrogen into the air, which means there isn’t as much for corn or other crops to use as nutrients,
"The growers put fertilizers on for the crop, but this is a biological situation where soil microbes, under saturated soil conditions, will release that nitrogen into the (atmosphere)," he said. "It goes off into the air and de-nitrifies, so even places that don't have any nitrogen fertilizer on it, if you have saturated soils that are really wet ... the plants get starved for nitrogen."

 

[xtsho]

Oversaturated soil can cause plants to be starved for more than just nitrogen. The roots can't get oxygen, the soil can become anaerobic leading to root rot and the plant being unable to uptake nutrients. Overwatering is a pretty common problem especially with new growers that just have to fiddle with their 3 day old seedling and water it everyday until runoff. Then they ask why their plant is stunted and isn't growing.

 

[Northwood]

This paragraph was in our local newspaper, its a quote from our local county extension agent. I have never heard of this

Soil that becomes oversaturated tends to release nitrogen into the air, which means there isn’t as much for corn or other crops to use as nutrients,
"The growers put fertilizers on for the crop, but this is a biological situation where soil microbes, under saturated soil conditions, will release that nitrogen into the (atmosphere)," he said. "It goes off into the air and de-nitrifies, so even places that don't have any nitrogen fertilizer on it, if you have saturated soils that are really wet ... the plants get starved for nitrogen."

Yeah it's called denitrification and it's a major part of the Nitrogen Cycle. It's what makes it a cycle and the major pathway that N can go back into the air at some point. Otherwise we'd run out of N in our atmosphere in another couple billion years cause it would all be in the ground! Lol

Many species of bacteria are responsible and most of them can live in anaerobic conditions. Every drive by a big flat cornfield with a couple low spots, and notice that the corn there is stunted compared to the rest? It's not because their roots lack air really, or at least the main reason in most cases. Denitrifying bacteria exist everywhere, even in your brewing compost teas most likely. In very well drained conditions, all these bacteria use oxygen and are aerobic. However under lower levels of oxygen they start to use nitrate or nitrites instead for their metabolism and switch to being anaerobic. Crafty buggers.

Farmers for the most part understand this process very well because fertilizer costs money.

 

[Kerowacked]

If only they gave off N2O, the world would be better off

 

[Northwood]

If only they gave off N2O, the world would be better off

Not really. It's a greenhouse gas with at least 300 times the warming potential than CO2. N20 is part of the pathway that bacteria use to convert fixed nitrogen back to the elemental gas, and some N20 does escape the process. But by far the main source of atmospheric N2O is due to human activity such as burning fossil fuels.

That being said, I do ask for it whenever I go to the dentist! Hahaha

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Not really. It's a greenhouse gas with at least 300 times the warming potential than CO2. N20 is part of the pathway that bacteria use to convert fixed nitrogen back to the elemental gas, and some N20 does escape the process. But by far the main source of atmospheric N2O is due to human activity such as burning fossil fuels.

That being said, I do ask for it whenever I go to the dentist! Hahaha

I was just reading an article recently that claims N2O is a far worse greenhouse gas that everyone doesn't pay mind to. To think all the whippets I've done in the past....I was contributing to global warming!

 

[Northwood]

I was just reading an article recently that claims N2O is a far worse greenhouse gas that everyone doesn't pay mind to. To think all the whippets I've done in the past....I was contributing to global warming!

Well the good thing about N2O is that it has a lifetime of only about 100 to 200 years in the atmosphere. CO2 on the other hand just stays there until it's all sequestered on land which takes many, many thousands of years

I think you're good!

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Well the good thing about N2O is that it has a lifetime of only about 100 to 200 years in the atmosphere. CO2 on the other hand just stays there until it's all sequestered on land which takes many, many thousands of years

I think you're good!

Lol yea I'm not too worried.

 

[living gardening]

lol
How about if your soil is oversaturated it would be anaerobic. That means no O2 to the roots. No plant I'm trying to grow, grows in those conditions.
Any soil that has anaerobic conditions will lose N to the atmosphere through digestion of OM with those anaerobic organisms you would be breeding.
As for the rest of it. CO2 is a thing that has always been on earth and has been released and recaptured so many times man can't count it. Who cares!
More CO2 actually means more plant growth and more food for all. That is how plants work. Why do you think the dinosaurs were so large? They had BIG plants to eat. If you all keep believing that global warming crap they feed you, in a couple of years you fools will be paying a tax just to breathe.
If you are into organics then you already didn't buy what you were told about conventional growing. . .

 

[poundofyourfinest]

You can water in a nitrogen fixing bacteria like azos if your worried. It pulls it from different things one is from the atmosphere

 

[Northwood]

If you all keep believing that global warming crap they feed you, in a couple of years you fools will be paying a tax just to breathe.

Dude, I'm over 60 years old and still accept basic physics is a thing in this universe. Is that a bad? LMAO

I'm not sure why you mention breathing. Humans and all other organisms on the earth are part of the carbon cycle. Humans cannot breath out more CO2 than the organisms we ate originally sequestered from the atmosphere. It's why they call it a cycle because the net atmospheric balance remains constant. So things like breathing, and even the burning of biomass to keep warm such as wood in your wood stove, are considered carbon neutral. It's only when we add a source of carbon that was not previously participating in the carbon cycle (like the burning of coal, oil, natural gas) that atmospheric levels rise (minus changes in land use, etc.). Obviously burning wood would add to the imbalance if we immediately pave over our woodlot so nothing grows there to replace the trees we felled and burned.

What I find most interesting though is that conservatives who believe that a formal STEM education is some sort of radical leftist indoctrination also can be attracted to organic growing methods. However I don't believe that organic methods can be completely embraced without at least accepting some degree of science may be involved. It isn't all magic or the work of your Lord or whatever. Perhaps you should come over to the Politics section where we can discuss this in more detail. If you like....

Edit: And I'm not the fool (thanks for the insult!), you are a fool for accepting Trumpian anti-science rhetoric without even questioning it. The Russian propaganda seems strong in you. Perhaps you should try crack a book instead of relying on far-right whacko news bites for your education in scientific matters. Just a suggestion.