Be Soil Smart
Your soil plays it smart. Do you?
Cation Exchange Capacity. Ever heard of it?
Let us explain. It's the soil's ability to absorb and use nutrients.
Consider your kitchen pantry. All those snacks need somewhere to go so they don't fall out of the cupboard. The higher the Cation Exchange Capacity in your soil, the more "cupboard space" is available to hold those nutrients. The more room, the more snacks...win, win, right?
Therefore, the higher your soil's nutrient holding capacity, the more nutrients for plants to use.
BUT...
If you added organic matter as well as nutrients but don't see a change in CEC, then the issue may be that the organic matter isn't being broken down properly.
Too much high carbon material (wood chips) added at once can make it difficult to breakdown. Try organic matter with better cation exchange levels (peat moss).
SO...Good news!
SAVE MONEY by considering your CEC along with adding soil amendments/topsoil to encourage lasting vegetation success. This means lower costs through reduced maintenance and fertilizer applications. Yay for money!
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