There are some things that we only truly understand by observation. We may have learnt it in school, and believe we know it, but it really only sinks in when we see it.
I've realised this year, during the monsoons in Goa, that plants do not come from soil. On the contrary, soil comes from plants.
Plants come from water and air. That's all they need. Keep pouring water on a concrete floor and moss will grow there. And after three months of incessant rain, when you pressure wash the moss away, soil will emerge from under the moss. Soil that wasn't there when the rains began.
So what's happening here? Don't we "plant" plants in soil? Don't plants need nutrients from soil? Isn't it only certain plants like moss and money plants that'll grow without soil.
Well I'm not an expert. I'm not a botanist. What I've figured out is that ornamental plants, crops, trees - these sort of things need soil. But weeds and a variety of local plants will literally grow on hard rock. Rough concrete, and naturally uneven stone like laterite, give plants the grip they need to start growing.
And well, there's soil and there's sand. And sand is just ground up rock (and sometimes ground up coral). Mangroves will grow in sand, even though it offers no nutrients because it isn't organic material. Whereas soil is entirely of organic origin. It's all poop. It's decayed organic material - plant material that microorganisms and worms and insects ate and then pooped out.
So far I thought that the organic fertiliser we put in soil is poop. The poop of large animals. Dung. But the rest of the stuff is also poop. Decayed material is poop, it just fungus and bacteria poop.
So you're pressure washing the green stuff and then some filthy brown stuff comes out from under it and after you've smeared yourself with this unexpected dirt, it makes you think. In a manner that your biology teacher could never make you think.
All of the organic material we see around us, in all its vibrancy and complexity, is largely synthesised by plants using water and air (and minerals dissolved in water). It is hard for me to imagine that all these solids come out of water and air. And that all the complexity of soil comes from transparent inorganic liquids and gases.
I've realised this year, during the monsoons in Goa, that plants do not come from soil. On the contrary, soil comes from plants.
Plants come from water and air. That's all they need. Keep pouring water on a concrete floor and moss will grow there. And after three months of incessant rain, when you pressure wash the moss away, soil will emerge from under the moss. Soil that wasn't there when the rains began.
So what's happening here? Don't we "plant" plants in soil? Don't plants need nutrients from soil? Isn't it only certain plants like moss and money plants that'll grow without soil.
Well I'm not an expert. I'm not a botanist. What I've figured out is that ornamental plants, crops, trees - these sort of things need soil. But weeds and a variety of local plants will literally grow on hard rock. Rough concrete, and naturally uneven stone like laterite, give plants the grip they need to start growing.
And well, there's soil and there's sand. And sand is just ground up rock (and sometimes ground up coral). Mangroves will grow in sand, even though it offers no nutrients because it isn't organic material. Whereas soil is entirely of organic origin. It's all poop. It's decayed organic material - plant material that microorganisms and worms and insects ate and then pooped out.
So far I thought that the organic fertiliser we put in soil is poop. The poop of large animals. Dung. But the rest of the stuff is also poop. Decayed material is poop, it just fungus and bacteria poop.
So you're pressure washing the green stuff and then some filthy brown stuff comes out from under it and after you've smeared yourself with this unexpected dirt, it makes you think. In a manner that your biology teacher could never make you think.
All of the organic material we see around us, in all its vibrancy and complexity, is largely synthesised by plants using water and air (and minerals dissolved in water). It is hard for me to imagine that all these solids come out of water and air. And that all the complexity of soil comes from transparent inorganic liquids and gases.