Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient • Hacker News Board

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#141

Post by luqtas » Wed, Apr 23, 2025, 12:08 AM UTC

southernplaces7 wrote: post #139

luqtas wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

actually i meant "geocentrism" but it was too late to edit but you are right, middle age didn't thought Earth was flat now if you are defending this absurd commentary that Amazonia was a grassland 10,000 years ago and turned out to be what's because humans, i think you both are on the level of flat earth 21° century people

No, not defending that, since evidence points to it having been a forest, but that a place like the Amazon could form from grassland in the span of a few thousand years is absolutely possible.

the western part once turned into a huge wetland, after the Andes emerged from the ocean. that was more than 10 Ma ago although. that was also what made the western Amazonia part differ on its biodivesity

humans may altered the biodiversity of Amazonia by breeding only wanted species. but we don't have too much evidence of that (yet). but if it was, the biodiversity of pre-humans was probably richer, as indigenous apparently managed the forests with fire and farmed hyperdominant cultures [0]

[0] https://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/181/1813954027/html...

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#142

Post by zeristor » Wed, Apr 23, 2025, 9:00 AM UTC

Jensson wrote: post #115

luqtas wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the Wiki citation doesn't even have a source, nor is calling that indigenous people made it your last link is about Llanos de Moxos, which isn't in Amazon. you don't seen to understand even basic geography... even if Llanos was 100% man-made (and isn't) and it was part of the Amazon (and not a region that borders it) it would be the equivalent of 2.6% of the whole Amazon area. concluding such a thing because 3% of an…

There were elephants there that humans hunted to extinction, elephants typically keep forests down and create grasslands. So it seems likely it happened, and that humans was the cause (by killing the elephants). Edit: So it is likely that the change happened and had nothing to do with the soil change.

Depends, there’s elephants in the Congo forest, they’re just not too easy to see.

The trees grow faster than the elephants can wreck them. But in areas with less rain fall elephants keep the grasslands more open.

As did Mammoths in the northern forests.

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#143

Post by panny » Thu, Apr 24, 2025, 1:13 PM UTC

jhide wrote: post #126

panny wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amusingly, it is catastrophically wrong, like AI slop typically is.

Can you explain the catastrophe? It does seem AI generated but it doesn’t seem wrong

It doesn't mention soil pH at all. AI didn't mention anything about sending off samples to a soil lab for testing, just "dump good sounding stuff on your soil, that'll make everything better!" It didn't even mention grabbing a recent soil survey to get a rough idea of what soil you are dealing with. It is garbage advice which will lead you to waste money and likely make your soil worse instead of better.

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#144

Post by lukas099 » Fri, Apr 25, 2025, 9:41 AM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #131

lukas099 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> difference in tree height observed in nature vs. "in cultivation"... often 50% height! Trees in nature are usually in forests, where they grow tall in competition for light. Terra in cultivation tend to be grown surrounded by grass, growing wider and shorter to collect sunshine.

Exactly that sort of false reductionism is missing the point. While reduced sunlight can have a role in early stage height differences, this occurs both in cultivation and in nature and therefore is not a sole causative factor. The sort of factors being indicated that were previously ignored by western horticulture are interaction based. Cultivated trees often face simplified fungal communities, limiting nutrient div…

It’s not ignorant to point out the main reason that trees in cultivation are shorter, which is that there is no need for them to grow tall. They’re also a lot greater in trunk diameter, fwiw.

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#145

Post by contingencies » Sat, Apr 26, 2025, 8:15 AM UTC

lukas099 wrote: post #144

contingencies wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly that sort of false reductionism is missing the point. While reduced sunlight can have a role in early stage height differences, this occurs both in cultivation and in nature and therefore is not a sole causative factor. The sort of factors being indicated that were previously ignored by western horticulture are interaction based. Cultivated trees often face simplified fungal communities, limiting nutrient div…

It’s not ignorant to point out the main reason that trees in cultivation are shorter, which is that there is no need for them to grow tall. They’re also a lot greater in trunk diameter, fwiw.

> main reason

{{citation-needed}} # good luck with that

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#146

Post by lukas099 » Sun, Apr 27, 2025, 6:09 AM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #145

lukas099 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not ignorant to point out the main reason that trees in cultivation are shorter, which is that there is no need for them to grow tall. They’re also a lot greater in trunk diameter, fwiw.

> main reason {{citation-needed}} # good luck with that

Have you never grown a plant? They grow towards the light. If there’s not enough light, they grow tall and leggy. This isn’t revolutionary.

Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient

#147

Post by contingencies » Tue, Apr 29, 2025, 9:57 AM UTC

lukas099 wrote: post #146

contingencies wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> main reason {{citation-needed}} # good luck with that

Have you never grown a plant? They grow towards the light. If there’s not enough light, they grow tall and leggy. This isn’t revolutionary.

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