How to Improve Soil Health and Boost Yield With Ocean Minerals
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By Dr. Mercola Wouldn't it be nice if there were a simple supplement you could use to radically improve the quality and health of the plants you're growing in your garden, while simultaneously increasing their nutrient density? The good news is there is! Science researcher August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, has developed a really fantastic product called Ionic Ocean Minerals. Dunning also works as a visiting associate professor at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he received his training in chemistry and physics. His previous work history includes working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the International Space Station program as system engineer. After that, he studied elemental particle physics and molecular physics at the University of Chicago, before ultimately starting Eco Organics. I've been using his Ionic Ocean Minerals in my own garden for a few years now, and I've been spectacularly impressed with the ability of these minerals — which are typically applied as a foliar spray once a week — to radically improve the health and quality of my plants. Ocean Minerals Help Grow Your SoilThe ocean contains nearly all of the ionic minerals of the periodic table of elements. Dunning developed a process to extract these minerals from seawater without getting any of the salt. Their minerals are in a highly absorbable ionic form and the separation process removes nearly all the salt from the ocean water. Salt buildup in the soil will kill live organisms and is not healthy for the plants, so you definitely do not want any salt in the mixture.
Healthy Soil Makes for Healthy FoodIf the soil is healthy, the plants grown in it will be healthy too. The increased nutrient content may even make the food more medicinally useful.
Dunning's Ionic Ocean Minerals essentially provide the substrates required for soil organisms to grow and mature, allowing them to optimize the proper populations. We have recently come to appreciate that the biology of the soil is crucial. It's not just about adding minerals, because there's still a large percentage of farmers and gardeners who will do soil analysis and then supplement the soil with minerals based on a kind of individualized prescription. That's certainly better than nothing, but it's not the same process that we're talking about here. Those mineral supplements are frequently provided as salts, and if taken at too high concentration can do more harm than good by decimating soil microbes. There are a number of ionic ocean minerals on the market. I've tried a few of them and actually killed some of my citrus when using them. While they claim to have removed all the sodium, clearly they did not. Dunning's product has never caused any problems in my garden. It has only produced beneficial results, which is why I like to promote it. How the Minerals Are ExtractedTo extract the ocean minerals from the water, Dunning uses a process that involves vortexing that has a potent influence on the structure of the water. It also helps separate the minerals from the sodium. Dunning explains:
Remineralizing Soil Is Critical for Healthy Plant GrowthOne of the reasons Ionic Ocean Minerals is such a superior product is because it contains all the minerals in the periodic table. They're present at very low concentrations — far lower than mcg amounts in most cases. But even though they're in minute amounts, they can do a great deal of good. If any specific mineral is entirely missing, microbes may in one way or another be hindered in their function. Dunning explains:
The Importance of CalciumIn a situation such as this, you need to bring calcium back into the soil. Gypsum is an excellent choice, as many soils are also sulfur deficient, and gypsum is calcium sulfate. You could use limestone, but since it has a 1:1 ratio of calcium and magnesium, you're still not correcting the calcium balance. Once you have an appropriate calcium to magnesium balance, then adding ionic ocean minerals will allow the soil to regenerate by regrowing the microorganisms in the soil. The ionic minerals also boost plant health by providing all the micronutrients that are missing. For example, calcium attaches to manganese and water molecules, allowing water to be brought up to the plant, and boron modifies the ability of calcium to be brought up into the plant. In essence, plant health is very dependent on having all of these ionic elements present.
Remineralization Cuts Need for PesticidesVietnamese farmers around the Mekong Delta have been using the ionic ocean minerals for the past year and a half. As a result, they've managed to wean themselves off pesticides. This is yet another beneficial side effect of having healthy soils and plants. Once you provide the organisms in the soil with what they need, they in turn help the plant activate its natural defense mechanisms in the presence of pests. It's very similar to the human body; when you're eating healthy, getting plenty of rest, sunshine and sleep, you're able to resist most infections. I have about a dozen mango trees on my property, and as soon as a pest starts chewing on a leaf or two, the plant seemingly "wakes up" and produces the appropriate chemicals to dissuade the pest from doing further damage. This is really the perfect pesticide, and it's all-natural and already built into the plant's self-defense mechanisms. The reason why conventional farmers struggle with pests is because the soil is so barren the plants do not have the appropriate microbial support to activate these natural defenses.
Remineralization Extends Fruit DurabilityAs a foliar spray, the minerals are absorbed right into the leaf; into the organelles and the chloroplast, providing the nutrients the plant needs to make the phytocompounds that go into the fruit, and the nutrients necessary to keep the plant alive and generate repellant chemicals that ward off pests. Interestingly, once you have the proper mineral balance in your soil, you also end up optimizing fruit durability. Soil, animal and food scientist Carey Reams1 discovered that if your soil minerals are correct, your food will only dehydrate; it will not rot. This really challenges the alleged "need" for processed foods filled with preservatives. It's possible that if our soils were brought back to optimal health, our fresh food may last much longer without added preservation methods. It's certainly an intriguing possibility. Invest in Soil Analysis for Your GardenIf you have a garden, it would be a wise investment to spend $20 on a soil analysis to get a full understanding of what's going on in your soil. If your fruit rots or if you have an insect problem, you likely need to add some gypsum to raise the calcium content of your soil. You also likely need sulfur, which the gypsum will provide. If you have a sandy soil, you would likely benefit from limestone as well, because sandy soils need magnesium. To that, you can then add gypsum to improve the calcium ratio.
Adding the ionic minerals on top of that will then do most of the work for you to help you rebuild the soil.
Nicaragua Goes OrganicIn addition to bringing it to Vietnam, Dunning has brought his Ionic Ocean Minerals to Nicaragua, as President Ortega's son, Laureano, wants to convert the entire country to organic farming.
Nicaragua has a high incidence of liver and kidney disease at the sugarcane farms, which is likely due to heavy pesticide exposure.
The Vanishing Mineral Content in FoodMineral-depleted soils produce mineral-depleted fruits and vegetables. Just how depleted have our soils gotten since the introduction of mechanized and chemical farming in the 1930s? Dunning's research shows that iron content in apples has gone down from 4.3 milligrams (mg) per apple in 1950 to 0.18 mg in 1998, to 0.12 mg today. You now need to eat 36 apples to get the iron content you used to get from a single apple a mere 55 years ago. Just imagine where we'll be another decade or two from now if we don't make soil regeneration a focus of farming.
Soil Regeneration Is a Global Priority for Food SecurityModern farming methods, which are heavily mechanized and rely on synthetic chemicals, take a heavy toll on the soil and the critical microorganisms that live in it and provide nutrient transport for the plants. By altering the chemical composition of the soil, we're endangering our ability to grow food at all. Unless we change our ways, our farmlands will cease to produce. When too much calcium is extracted, magnesium becomes dominant, resulting in clay. It also changes the ratio of anaerobic to aerobic bacteria, which produces toxic gasses that attract pests. The good news is we already understand how to turn the situation around. Dunning is but one of many pioneers showing us how to regenerate soil and produce healthier more nutritious food. I've featured many others in this newsletter in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. Because I am passionate about regenerative agriculture and these ionic ocean minerals work so well, we actually carry them in our store. Acres USA is another great resource where you can find a lot of information about the minerals needed for optimal soil health.
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