Study Soil Health

You will learn how a healthier soil ecosystem is critical to achieving better and heathier plant growth, on a farm or in a garden.

The microbes that exist in soils are critical to the health of a soil and it's ability to grow plants. You will learn how the way you treat a soil can change the nature of a soil microbiome either for the good, or for the bad. Ultimately the soil in any garden or farm can become degraded in places and remain good in other places if you don't understand the things taught in this course - and that can lead to lower growth rates, poorer plant health and a reduction in farm or garden productivity. 

Course Duration - 100 hours

Course Content

There are nine lessons as follows.

Lesson 1. Scope and Nature of the Soil Microbiome 

• Nature of soil
• Soil Structure & Texture
• Soil Structure and Porosity
• Soil Structure Research
• Topsoil Thickness
• Nutrient Components
• Carbon and Nutrient Content
• Carbon Retention
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Sulphur
• Other Important Indicators of Soil Health
• Acidity (pH)
• Salinity
  Environmental Factors Affecting Soil Health
• Drought
• Frost
• Erosion
• Water Retention
• Nature of soil Microbes
• Bacteria 
• Archaea
• Viruses 
• Fungi 
• Protozoa
• Scope of the Soil Microbiome
• Plant-Microbe Relationships
• Microbe Interrelationships
• Changes to the Soil Microbiome
• Key Definitions and Concepts for Understanding Soil

Lesson 2. Evaluating the Soil Microbiome Status

• Measurement vs. Monitoring in Soil Biology
• Things the Soil Microbiome can Help Measure or Monitor
• Types of Soil Biological Testing and Analysis
• Deciding on the Right Type of Test
• Overview of Different Testing Types
• Cotton Strip Assay
• Microbial Activity Using Basal Carbon Dioxide Respiration
• Microbial Biomass
• Identification Through Culturing
• Potentially Mineralisable Nitrogen
• Biolog Plates
• Microarrays
• Community Profiling
• More Advanced Approaches to the Microbiome: Omics
• Transcriptomics
• 16S rRNA
• PCR
• PCR-ELISA 
• Bioinformatics

Lesson 3. Man’s impact on Microbiome 

• Human Impact on Microbiomes
• Land Development and Urbanisation 
• Changes in Land Use and Microbial Communities
• Problems with land development on soils
• Climate Change
• Pollution
• Air Pollution
• Deposition
• Precipitation
• Erosion
• Microplastics 
• Anti-microbials
• Antibiotic Resistance
• Monocultures 

Lesson 4. Soil Substrates and Additives 

• Soil Substrates 
• Inorganic Substrate Materials 
• Perlite
• Vermiculite
• Sand
• Rockwool
• Organic Substrate Materials
• Peat 
• Coir
• Bark
• Soilless Substrates and Microbes
• Substrate Technology
• Substrate Engineering
• Substrate Evaluation
• Novel Technologies used in Substrate Management
• Tomography
• Rhizometrics
• Mini-Horhizotron
• Rhizometer
• INORGANIC ADDITIVES
• Organic Additives
• Manures
• Compost
• Fungal Additives

Lesson 5. Conventional vs Organic soil management

• Conventional vs Organic Soil Management practices
• Conventional Practices
• Soil Carbon Modelling
• Organic Practices
• Composting
• Crop Rotations
• Cover Crops
• No Tillage Farming
• Organic Pest & Disease Control
• Weed Control
• Rotational Grazing
• Livestock Management
• Biodynamics 
• Biodynamic preparations/sprays

Lesson 6. Soil Fertility Management 

• Soil Management Strategies
• Soil Organic Matter
• Cover Crops
• Cocktail Cover Crop 
• Legume Crops
• Longer Crop Rotations 
• Reduced Tillage
• Planting Trees 
• ORGANIC Additives
• Soil Humus
• Building Soil Humus
• Humates
• Composting
• Animal Manures
• Microbial Inoculants
• Use of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Inoculants
• Specific Inoculums 
• Protozoa Tea
• Earthworms
• Inorganic Additives
• Gypsum
• Lime

Lesson 7. Plant Interactions with the Soil Microbiome

• Soil Organisms
• Function of Plant Microbiome
• Effect of Non-native Species
• Soil Microbiome and Plants
• Plant-Soil Feedback
• Plant-Microbe Associations 
• Examples of Plant-Microbe Associations with Plant Families and Species 
• Effects of Different Microbes
• Cover Crops & Grapevines
• Crop Rotations & Microbiomes
• Types of Cover Crops & Microbiomes

Lesson 8. Pest & Disease Interaction with Soil Microbiome

• Biopesticides
• Advantages of Biopesticides
• Biological Control Agents
• Microbial Pesticides
• Advantages of Microbial Insecticides
• Entomopathogenic Fungi 
• Protozoa
• Bacteria
• Engineering Microbial Inoculants to Suppress Disease

Lesson 9. Soil Regeneration Practices 

• Restoring the Soil Microbiome
• Practical Methods Which Benefit the Soil Microbiome
• Reducing soil disturbance
• No tillage (Zero Tillage)
• Advantages of no till farming
• Controlled Traffic Farming 
• Advantages of Controlled Traffic Farming
• Increasing crop diversity & ORGANIC matter
• Alley Farming 
• Cover Crops
• Mulching & Composting
• Biochar
• Increasing soil microbes 
• Microbial Inoculation
• Plant Breeding and Microbiome Engineering

Aims

• Describe different ways of identifying and monitoring components of a soil microbiome.
• Explain a range of human impacts on soil microbiomes.
• Compare different soil substrates and additives in different soil environments.
• Compare conventional soil management with organic soil management methods.
• Describe methods of managing soil fertility with consideration to the soil microbiome.
• Describe how plants interact with their microbiome in a variety of different situations.
• Explain different ways that pathogens and pest organisms interact with the soil microbiome.
• Determine appropriate soil regeneration strategies to boost the soil microbiome.

THIS COURSE, THE TEACHERS AND COURSE DEVELOPERS

Over several decades team has included dozens of tutors and course writers with university training and experience in soils. We have been gathering information and teaching aspects of soil microbiome management since the 1980's. This field of study has advanced a great deal though over the years. We know things we never used to know, and  we can manage aspects of the microbiome today with a far greater level of sophistication than what we once could.

This course brought together our decades of collected resources and was developed by a team who have soil management experience across different climates, countries and soils. It continues to be constantly reviewed and revised in response to feedback from staff and students.

The team of tutors and course developers include:

John Mason Dip.Hort.Sc. FCIH, FAIH - ACS principal, author of over 50 horticulture and agriculture books

Dr Kerry Claydon PhD (microbiology)

Jade Sciacia B,Sc.

Parita Shah  M.Sc Horticulture

Timothy Walker M.Hort.

Why Study this Course?

Learn techniques that you can apply in order to improve soils on a farm, in an urban landscape, or anywhere else.

Soil-based microorganisms have a direct and crucial role in the promotion of soil health, quality, and fertility. Soil fertility is not simply a consideration of soil nutrients, but it is determined by chemical, physical, and biological factors in the soil. It is a balance of soil components, structure, texture, pH, and microorganisms. We have a very good understanding of how chemical and physical factors influence soil fertility, but the impact of soil microorganisms (the biological factor) is less well understood. Furthermore, biological fertility is continuously changing in response to soil conditions. Besides their role in soil fertility, soil organisms are also involved in crucial nutrient cycling which helps to sustain plant life and ultimately all forms of life on earth. 

This course helps you to understand a variety of strategies that can be applied to improve the soil microbiome, including:

• Adding Organic matter
• Growing Cover crops or cocktail cover crops
• Growing legumes
• Longer crop rotations
• Planting taller plants including trees
• Reducing cultivation/soil disturbance
• Adding humates,animal manures, compost
• Microbial inoculants
• Adding earthworms
• Inorganic additives such as lime or gypsum 

WHEN DOES THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THIS COURSE BECOME REALLY IMPORTANT?

For Permaculture

For Organic farming or gardening

For Rehabilitation of degraded land  e.g. mine sites, reclaimed wasteland, old tipping sites

Wherever plant growth is irregular across a property

Places damaged by erosion, land clearing, after extreme weather events that damage soil e.g. flood, drought

Land with soil fertility issues - e.g. extreme pH or E.C. conditions

If you want to reduce the use of fertilisers, and improve long term sustainability

Have questions? Click here to email our course counsellors.