Compost, soil, and electrical conductivity

I learned something new recently about compost and soil called "electrical conductivity".  A local soil scientist told me that electrical conductivity is a very important factor when assessing the quality of compost and soil.  Higher EC is better for plants to grow in than lower EC, generally.  If the EC is too low, or not within a certain range, plants can be stunted or may not even grow at all.

He said that food waste based composts are usually higher in EC, whereas wood waste based ones are fairly low.  Manures are also fairly low in EC.  To me, this could explain why some people see issues with their plants not growing that well in their SFG.  It also explains one of the "unknowns" about determining which type of compost to buy.  When people settle for lower quality bagged compost and their plants don't grow very well, this could be one of the factors.

Apparently, just using an EC test meter can help determine the EC of one's soil (https://www.hannainst.com/hi98331-soil-testtm-direct-soil-ec-tester.html / https://www.amazon.com/Groline-Soil-Direct-Conductivity-Tester/dp/B005LNSJ36 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IGXOK4/).  I have no affiliation with any of these products, and there are others out there: https://www.amazon.com/soil-conductivity-meter/s?k=soil+conductivity+meter.

So if you're wondering why your plants aren't growing in your MM, electrical conductivity might be something to consider testing.  And go for that food-waste-based compost if you can.

More info:
https://www.sdsoilhealthcoalition.org/technical-resources/chemical-properties/soil-electrical-conductivity/
https://blog.hannainst.com/soil

That is way too much over-thinking gardening for me. I prefer to just enjoy the relaxing time in the garden.

Ah okay.  Well, it's actually just like measuring pH, or NPK, so it's not really "overthinking" anything.  It just comes down to a basic soil test.  To me it's worth it, especially since it's a relatively simple way to understand how to obtain quality compost and build good soil / MM, which does actually help me enjoy my garden.  But to each their own, I suppose.

So true.  But then, I don't test for pH or NPK either. After 6 or 7 decades of farming and gardening, I've learned to let nature sort it out on her own. The plants thrive, and I'm good with that.

Fair enough, but I was posting it for newbies to SFG, like me.
And hey, some old dogs do enjoy learning new tricks!

I highly recommend newbies, as well as us aged ones, to follow the guidance of the All New Square Foot Gardening, 3rd Edition, or the 2nd Edition.  No testing nor amendments needed.

EC of compost and Vermiculite are high. Perlite has near zero. Seems that Mel was on to something when he designed Mel's Mix.

Just sayin'

Well, there goes Sanderson deleting my posts again...  Can you please stop doing that?  I'm not being offensive by posting this type of material.

The EC of compost is not always high, actually.  It varies from compost to compost.  Compost with high wood content has lower EC and manure based composts also have lower EC.  Food waste compost generally has higher EC than those.

That is why I posted this info, in an effort to be able to help people find good quality compost.  And, no, I never said people shouldn't follow the book.  Learning new things is not a bad thing.

goodtogrow wrote:That is why I posted this info, in an effort to be able to help people find good quality compost.  And, no, I never said people shouldn't follow the book.  Learning new things is not a bad thing.

Learning is a good thing, as long as it on topic.  There is no point, though, of wasting time or money doing unnecessary testing just to learn the "value" of it.  Soilless mixes, such as MM, is totally different from farm fields where there is great interest in increasing organic matter in order to increase the EC.  MM is nothing but organic matter.

The Square Foot Gardening Foundation created and pays for this Official SFG Forum for the purpose of furthering the teaching of Mel Bartholomew to follow the principles of SFG as detailed in the All New Square Foot Gardening.

This is on topic, as it fits the need of finding good quality compost, and certainly no more off-topic than many other posts on this forum.  Take Bokashi, for instance, and how it is an interesting and different way to create compost.  Yet you guys accept that and find it useful.  However, when it comes to putting an electronic probe into compost, you are suddenly repelled by the idea and close your ranks to invalidate it.  How silly.

Learning about Electrical Conductivity is a vital part of determining healthy compost for those who are interested, and is useful not just in farm fields, actually.  In fact, it is something advised by soil scientists as one of the main metrics in determining compost quality, whether in a soil-less mix like MM or in a farm field - because all composts do actually differ in EC, hence the usefulness of this information.

All you're doing by calling this idea "overthinking" and "off topic" is telling people who ask themselves how to determine and find higher quality compost is "don't do it".  Do you need to?  Of course not.  Am I saying you have to?  Of course not.  Is it a question new SFG'ers might ask themselves?  Maybe.  To those who might ask themselves this valuable question, you are shutting their thinking down.  Don't penalize people for trying to learn.  That is terrible.  They already know this is not something Mel taught, nor is in the book.  And that's fine.  People know that and I'm not claiming otherwise.  Sure, you advise people to stick to the book.  Great.  I'm not telling them not to stick to the book by posting this info.  For those who wish to seek a way to determine higher quality compost, using EC is the way to go, according to the compost experts themselves.  Just because it stresses you out, OG, doesn't mean that it isn't a viable and useful endeavour for some.

The issue I can plainly see here is that you guys just don't like anyone posting on here unless it is 100% in lockstep with Mel's book.  That's fine, but that's also not how to run a forum.  A forum is for discussion, and if you don't agree with a certain topic, that is fine, but you shouldn't invalidate other ideas and delete their posts.  For some people, EC is useful.  Sure, it wasn't in Mel's book but neither was drip irrigation or coconut coir, originally.

A more professional, polite, and courteous way to run a forum is to encourage discussion, not to immediately shoot down posts and participants and invalidate them.  For without users posting on here, you would have no forum.  But it also explains to me why this forum is so quiet.  And why it is so immediately dismissive of anything outside the realm of Mel's book.  I know some people are afraid to post on here because of the backlash they will encounter from the moderators, and so they don't.

There is a way to run a forum such as this by involving people and ideas but still advising them that certain concepts "may not be supported by Mel's book", but that's okay.  That is how improvements are made to existing systems.  That's how drip irrigation and coconut coir and other points got into the book.  But that's what you're shooting down.

It would be far more useful to the SFG foundation if tweaks were shared and welcomed instead of immediately invalidated.  To some people Bokashi composting is "overthinking" and unnecessary, for example, but OG likes it.

You can advise people what the book says, but there can also be an understanding and acceptance of concepts and practices that have merit but may lie "outside the book".  In the real world some people do adjust the teachings of SFG and gardening to suit their needs so they can enjoy it the way they would like to.

You might even consider changing this from a "forum" to a "help desk" so you don't give users the misguided impression that our input is valued.  Good bye.

goodtogrow wrote:Learning about Electrical Conductivity is a vital part of determining healthy compost for those who are interested, and is useful not just in farm fields, actually.

I'm wondering, did you buy this device? I'm certainly curious about my compost, but -- whoa! -- not $160 curious! What does this meter do that a typical voltage meter can't? In ye olde days BC (Before Covid) I acquired several free voltage meters from Harbor Freight. They seemed to give reasonable values, with an apparent 3 or 4 significant figures.

OH was an EE, so maybe he'd have some insight into what difference there would be between using this and some other voltage (and/or resistance) meter. For Ph, and certain chemical detections, they sell meters with  probes that have especially designed ampules with precision amounts of chemicals inside, which is why specialty detectors cost more. But for simple electrical conductivity, I wouldn't expect a high degree of precision or calibration was necessary.

In for a penny, in for a pound.... The expression may be lost to you folk on this mostly North American based forum. At risk of alienating you good people - and I do believe that you ARE all good people with good intentions, here for the betterment of SFG and with the sincere intent of helping and supporting your fellow SFG gardeners - I feel that Good to Grow has some valid concerns. It can be very hard to gauge tone in a written format, but I felt a little miffed at the response that I received yesterday when I posted in the Australian section of the forum about a new pest control app by Sustainable Gardening Australia. My post and Good to Grow's post were about concepts and tools that can enhance SFG techniques and results, not replace them. We all have the choice whether to adopt these additional tools and technologies or not. I have read some very technical posts here about composting. To be honest, I lean more towards the "nature will sort it out" philosophy when it comes to compost and will never get that hard core when it comes to making my own compost, but each to their own. Don't make assumptions about newcomer's knowledge and experience when they introduce themselves on this forum. I am new to SFG, but not new to gardening. I am a qualified horticulturalist with many years of industry experience. I have a Certificate of Horticulture Practice, a Certificate of Trade Studies - Turf Management, a Certificate of Turf Management and a Diploma of Horticulture. I have worked in retail nursery, grounds maintenance, biosecurity (for many years) and have also worked as a lecturer in horticulture at technical college. I do see myself remaining a lurker on the forum to increase my own SFG knowledge, but will certainly think twice before creating new posts or submitting ideas.