GreenTech Sustainable Organic Solutions – Page 2

January 22, 2018April 15, 2020

Healthy Soil Supports Native Organisms Including Pollinators

Your soil is extremely important to the future of your landscape. Building and conditioning healthy soils is critical to the wellbeing of the millions of microorganisms living in and around your landscapes root systems. Soil structure is directly related to the health of your soil. The better your soil structure, the better your roots! Healthy roots ensure healthy a plants and turf. Improved soil structure directly relates to improved water holding capacity, therefore less irrigation is required.

Organic hardwood mulch landscape bed top dressing once a year is just as important as composting. It is important to note that all your landscape needs is 2 to 3 inches of mulch. Anything thicker will create negative results. Do not mound around the base of trees, palms and shrubs.

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Landscaping For Pollinators

Attract and Provide for Pollinators with Your Landscape

GreenTech Can Help Design Your Landscape To Attract and Support A Wide Variety Of Important Florida Native Pollinators

It is important that you attract bees, butterflies and moths to your landscape. Pollinators like honeybees are declining but what is thought to be the increased use of pesticides and loss of habitat. You can help pollinators thrive by planting with them in mind. There are a number of Florida friendly plants, both native and non-native, that will attract pollinators to your yard. Choosing the right plant is always an important factor; and whenever possible, go native and drought resistant.

A varied selection of plants in your garden will attract all kinds of beneficial and non-beneficial organisms. Over time, an equilibrium will be reached whereby the beneficial insects, carnivorous mites, carnivorous nematodes and other beneficial organisms will control the non-beneficial organisms.

Great Gardens start with great soil! Building a healthy landscape soil with aerobically produced compost helps to reduce weeds through competition, improves water holding capacity by nearly 50% and provide slow release nutrients to your plants.

GreenTech Tree & Landscape Solutions, Inc. is actively promoting and developing eco-friendly, organic lawn care practices and programs. Our sister company GreenEdge Technologies, Inc., a landscape fertilization and pest control company has an organic program and a hybridized program in place. It is important that your landscape soil is not depleted of organic material. Organic material feeds the soil, which in turn provides a consistent and sustainable food source for your landscape.

September 25, 2017

Shade Trees Hurricanes and Southwest Florida

Having just experienced the wrath of Hurricane Irma and as we are going through the cleanup process there may be a pause for thought to rid our landscapes of what we deem to be “messy” shade trees.

Yes, Hurricane Irma has become an inconvenience and so will future storms. However, it is imperative that we learn to preserve our urban tree canopy. Research over the years has confirmed the significant value and benefits that mature urban trees offer to our neighborhoods. A number of our neighborhoods have smaller trees that were decimated by Irma’s strong winds. It is these trees that are going to become mature tree canopy of tomorrow.

With new attention being paid to global warming causes and impacts more is becoming known about negative environmental impacts of treeless urban neighborhoods. We at GreenTech SOS, Inc. would like to impress upon the community at large to help save those trees that may have been adversely impacted by Hurricane Irma.

If, for some reason you are unable to save a particular shade tree and would like to consider replacing your shade tree; I would like to take this opportunity to make the following recommendations:

· replace with trees that are slow-growing trees stand a better chance against hurricanes

· native trees, especially those with a wide-spreading canopy, low center of gravity, strong deep penetrating roots, and a small leaf size may hold up better and tropical storms especially if they are growing in a cluster of trees.

· Southern Magnolias fared extremely well during Hurricane Irma. I was amazed to see very little damage to recently planted Southern Magnolias, especially in the Lakewood Ranch area. Their large leaves seem to withstand the high wind speeds.

Please find a list of “not so common” shade tree replacements for your landscape:

o Sand Oak
o Pigeon Plum
o Ironwood
o Fiddlewood
o Gumbo Limbo
o Spicewood
o Myrsine
o Marbleberry
o Green Buttonwood
o Pond Apple
o Wild Cinnamon
o Sweet Mahogany

· Finally, it is important to consider planting your trees in groves or clusters, all the while keeping in mind that a significant amount of our community trees are native trees that have evolved to withstand coastal storms and flooding.

September 24, 2017September 26, 2017

Palm Care After Hurricane Irma

It is true that many palm species are adapted to high velocity winds. However, a hurricane can damage even the most wind tolerant palm.

Sabal Palm Trees, Sarasota Florida.

The apical meristem, also known as the “bud” is the active cell division area of the palm. The apical meristem is found at the top of the trunk and is surrounded by leaf bases. All new leaves come from this bud. If the bud is damaged, new leaves failed to develop and the palm slowly dies.

It is very difficult to determine or to predict which palms will survive when damaged and which ones will not. The bud is not visible or accessible for inspection. The native Sabal Palm and the Royal Palm tend to tolerate high winds. Royal Palms tend to shed most of their leaves, while Sabal Palms/cabbage Palms tend to hold onto their leaves.

Cuban Royal Palm Trees, Southwest Florida

It is important to note that it can take up to 2 years before you will be able to determine whether a palm has recovered from a wind storm event. Recovery consists of new leaves emerging from the bud; abnormal at first but slowly becoming normally shaped, until eventually normal leaves will appear. It is recommended that damaged palms should be carefully monitored for the next 2 years.

Storm related damage to palms:

Uprooted:

Palms should be stood upright as soon as possible and replanted at the same depth they were originally planted. Bracing may be required. Braces should be kept in place for at least 6 months. Uprooted palms that are replanted should be considered newly planted. Establishment irrigation is critical and should be monitored closely.

Damage leaves:

Damaged green leaves should be left attached to the palm. Palms reallocate resources from old leaves 2 new leaves. Damaged green leaves left on the palm will allow the palm to recover quicker.

Fertilization:

For wind damaged palms that have not been uprooted, it is recommended to maintain the same fertilization regiment that was in place prior to the storm event. For those damage palms that have been uprooted and replanted, it is recommended that no extra fertilizer be applied.

Fungicides:

There is no empirical scientific research that justifies the use of fungicides after a hurricane. However, GreenTech Sustainable Organic Solutions recommends the application of copper in the form of a bud drench, together with a trunk injection of an insecticide and fungicide. It is quite possible that the apical meristem/bud may have been damaged. This recommendation is nothing more than an “insurance policy”.

September 20, 2017September 26, 2017

Compost Can Improve The Effectiveness Of Fertilizers And Improve Soil PH

The Use of Compost as a Soil Amendment – Chemical Effects: pH and CEC

Compost is recommended as a soil conditioner, soil enhancer and soil builder. Organic amendment, such as compost, will improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of your soil. Incorporating compost would increase the moisture holding capacity of our Florida sandy soils, thereby reducing drought damage to plants. When compost is added to heavily compacted soils, it will improved drainage and aeration, thereby reducing waterlogging damage to plants. Compost increases the ability of the soil to hold and release essential nutrients and promotes the activity of bacteria, fungi, protozoans, arthropods, mites, beneficial nematodes, earthworms and other important soil microorganisms beneficial to plant growth.

Compost’s pH is near neutral. It has the ability to balance pH due to the fact that it is able to boost Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC). Soil pH affects whether nutrients present in the soil can actually be taken up by the plant roots. Nitrogen is most available at a neutral pH because the microbes that convert nitrogen into usable forms of ammonia and nitrate operate based at near neutral pH levels.

Other nutrients are also affected by soil pH. Plants require seven micronutrients, elements essential to plant health but needed only in minute quantities. Five of these essential nutrients – Manganese, copper, iron, Zinc and Boron – become less available in alkaline (higher pH) soils. Molybdenum, on the other hand, becomes less available in acidic soils.

Soil Exchange Capacity

CEC of a particular soil is the measurement of how well the soil retains nutrients and therefore how available its nutrients are to plants.

A low CEC indicates that the soil has a low capacity for attaining nutrients, meaning that applied fertilizers quickly leach away. A hike CEC (over 50) indicates a greater capacity to retain nutrients, meaning that fertilizers can remain viable for long periods. Pure organic matter may have a CEC of 150. A loam soil will have a CEC ranging from 10 to 25, while humus has a CEC of 200.

Many plant nutrients (potassium, calcium, magnesium and ammonium, a plant available form of nitrogen) exist in soils as cations, which are positively charged ions-molecules that have lost one or more of their negatively charged electrons leaving the molecule with a net positive charge. Plays and organic matter, especially humus, tend to accumulate extra electrons, forming negatively charged particles called anions. These large anions attract and hold cations, preventing them from washing away with irrigation or rainwater.

No matter how much fertilizer you apply to a low CEC soil, you will achieve only a brief nutrient boost after which many of the nutrients will simply wash out of the soil leaving your plants deprived and your local waters polluted. Fertilizer in high CEC soil, however, will hang around longer, providing greater benefit to your plants.

Soil Topdressing and composting will greatly improve the quality of the sandy soils so common in Sarasota and across Florida and create an environment conducive to better plant health care, and a better foundation for landscape design.

July 19, 2016October 9, 2017

Compost Improves Sandy Florida Soils Structure and Nutrients

The Use of Compost as a Soil Amendment – Physical Effects: Soil Structure and Nutrients

Compost performs two very important, but contradictory functions in clay and sandy soils like we have in Sarasota and throughout Florida. On the one hand it improves drainage in clay soils and on the other hand improves water retention in sandy soils. In both cases what is really happening is that compost is improving soil structure.

Good soil structure-also defined as good tilth-is the basis for any good landscape. Good soil structure has good soil aggregates; small, irregularly shaped particles or clumps. This clumping of material opens up spaces or channels between the aggregates, space which allows air to circulate and water to drain. These channels also provide easy paths for plant roots to follow. Plants in loose, friable soil develop deeper and more complex root systems than do those in heavy soils. Since some nutrients such as phosphorus tend to stay where they are, roots must come to them. A large root system means that the plant can access more of these key nutrients which might otherwise remain out of reach.

Soil with good structure will hold water better than sandy soils do and drain better than clay soils do. Compost in sandy soils ensures that soil holds water long enough to dissolve nutrients-an essential role since plants can only use the nutrients when they are dissolved.

Soil structure is also very important for soil biology. Good structure makes a soil a better habitat, that attracts more soil organisms.

An aerobically produced compost provides vital micronutrients such as iron, manganese, copper and zinc which are essential to plant health in minute quantities and which are often missing from synthetic fertilizers and are overlooked by most landcapers.

GreenTech offers professional application of advanced compost formulas with soil topdressing. Use of composting will improve the quality of your growing environment while reduce the need for excessive chemical fertilizers and even pesticides.

April 20, 2016September 26, 2017

Stop Rugose Spiraling Whitefly With Arborjet Tree Injections

March 29, 2016October 9, 2017

Composting as a substitute for synthetic chemicals

A homeowner has many options when it comes to providing a healthy environment for plants. While numerous types of fertilizers can be an effective way to quickly amend soil to grow healthy plants, they contain synthetic chemicals. Compost, on the other hand, is an organic alternative to fertilizers, and a homeowner has easy access to compost. There are pros and cons to both methods of providing plants with nutrition.

Compost application via soil top dressing

Benefits of Compost

Compost, sometimes called “black gold,” consists of decomposed organic matter that enhances the soil with nutrients and microbes. Typically it includes recycled material including decayed vegetables, fruit, grass clippings and plant foliage. Compost also has microscopic fungi, mycorrhizae, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes; together with earthworms and arthropods. This mixture creates a symbiotic food web within the soil. The decomposing material feeds the organisms and helps to aerate the soil while also keeping it moist. Compost also helps plants fight disease, helps to prevent erosion, controls weeds and can be mixed with store-bought potting soil. Tightly packed soil, such as clay, becomes easier to work with when you add compost. If you create your own compost, you also decrease the volume of trash that goes into landfills.
Disadvantages of Compost

The drawbacks of compost are few. If you make your own compost, it is important to make sure that any plant remnants you add to the mix do not have soil-borne pathogens that might infest healthy plants. Destroy diseased or damaged plant parts instead of adding them to a compost pile. Patience is very important when making your own compost. It takes time for the decayed matter to break down and you might have to wait a few months until you see significant results from your composting efforts.
Benefits of Fertilizer

Fertilizer applications target the needs of plants to help them grow faster. If a plant is lacking micro- and macronutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium or phosphorus, adding fertilizer provides a quick and easy solution to alleviate deficiencies. You can purchase fertilizer for specific types of plants. If your plant needs immediate nutrition, fast-release fertilizers provide instant nutrition. On the other hand, slow-release fertilizers, like pellets, provide nutrition over an extended period.
Disadvantages of Fertilizer

The biggest difference between fertilizer and compost is that while compost enhances the soil to create a beneficial environment for plants, fertilizer feeds plants. Fertilizers may overload the soil with nutrients. Chemicals in fertilizer can upset the symbiotic relationship of microbes in soil while compost is a naturally balanced mixed of microorganisms that provide a healthy medium for plant growth. The chemicals in fertilizer can also harm the environment if they are overused and seep into underground water reserves or runoff into nearby bodies of water. The excess nitrogen from fertilizers can spur algae growth that depletes the oxygen supply for fish. From an economic standpoint, compost, especially if you make your own, is less expensive than fertilizer. Poor plant health is often due to poor soil conditions. Improving the soil with compost instead of using fertilizer is a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way of maintaining healthy plants.

March 29, 2016

Compost benefits to the soil ecology, plant roots and overall plant health

Compost contains fungi and bacteria that help prevent diseases. The microorganisms in the compost are competitors of the pathogens such as Pythium and Rhizoctonia.
Compost is a 100% organic fertilizer containing primary nutrients as well as trace minerals, humus and humic acids, in a proportion that almost exactly matches plant requirements, and in a slow release form that is available to plants even during the fertilizer blackout periods.
Compost encourages the development of healthy populations of earthworms, beneficial insects, protozoans, arthropods, nematodes and microorganisms.
Increases moisture-holding capacity of soils. A 5% increase in organic matter, in the form of compost, significantly increases the soils ability to hold and store water. Compost will retain ten times its weight in water yet excess water drains off easily.
Compost helps clay soil become more friable and allows air to reach plant roots better thus improving plant growth. This is important in new subdivisions where retention pond excavation material is used to define the building pad of the new home.
Compost is a great buffer. Compost protects soils against extremes in acidity or alkalinity (high or low pH)
Contains growth-promoting hormones. Experiments on wheat, barley, potatoes, grapes, tomatoes, beets, etc. show that even when in very low concentrations (0.01%), humic acids in compost act to stimulate plant growth.
Compost contains fungi that destroys harmful nematodes
Compost helps unlock minerals present in existing soil
Compost helps increase air spaces, drainage and aeration of soils and resists compaction
Compost acts as a buffer against chemicals and absorption of dangerous heavy metals by plants
Compost helps maintain the soil cation exchange capacity
Compost releases nutrients over a long period of time (up to 5 years)
Encourages plants to develop large healthy root zones (wider and deeper) that help plants tolerate drought conditions
Compost is better than pine bark and peat moss- because it is alive, contains mineral nutrients (including trace minerals) and loaded with beneficial microorganisms. Pine bark and peat moss are lifeless and have little nutrient value!
Compost is an excellent slow release fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, trace minerals, humic acids, and other needed nutrients. Compost in the soil releases its nutrients exactly when plants need them most…when they are actively growing. Note: This slow release prevents loss of nutrients to runoff and it does not pollute our waterways as compared to synthetic chemical fertilizers.
Compost is used as a treatment for many plant diseases such as “Brown Patch”.
Compost increases the available nitrogen for plants far in excess of its own contents. Compost contains about 2-4% nitrogen. However, compost stimulates the growth of microorganisms (they use compost as a food source) and these microorganisms absorb nitrogen from the air to grow. When they die (some microorganisms have lifetimes of less than 1 hour) the nitrogen is then released to the soil for plants to use. Thus some compost’s can have effective nitrogen content of 12-18% in the best form for plants to use!
Research at Cornell University has indicated that well aged or mature composts successfully suppress a number of turf grass diseases.
Topdressing of compost and bio-natural soil blends to the turf provides substrates on which disease suppressive soil microorganisms can grow. At the same time this introduces populations of microorganisms that may reduce disease severity by interfering with the activities of pathogenic fungi. Topdressing also reduces thatch buildup
Augustine grass is much more prone to disease and insect infestation. Top dressing with compost reduces disease and insect infestation.
Humus in compost is important to plant health. They include:
- provides a storehouse of essential plant nutrients: it stores over 95% of the nitrogen, 60% of the phosphorous, and 98% of the sulfur available to plants!
- helps make nutrients more soluble and available to plants
- contains substances that stimulate plant growth, improve crop quality, and increase a plants resistance to pests and disease.
Research has found that the contents of plant cells (the sap) have the ability to suppress the growth of bacteria and fungi. …organic substances produced by soil microorganisms, when absorbed through the plant’s roots, increase the natural immunity of plants to infections.
Compost encourages the growth of many types of bacteria that have the ability to help detoxify many types of pesticides, simply by using them as food. High humus levels are the most important property facilitating pesticide degradation.

March 1, 2016April 15, 2020

Top dressing with compost is a more sustainable and affordable alternative

Top dressing with compost is meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Top dressing with compost is a responsible process that will not deplete our resources or harm natural cycles.

What is compost? It is the end result of controlled aerobic decomposition of organic matter.

Compost comes from municipal solid waste as in household refuse; leaves, twigs and grass clippings as in yard waste; sewage sludge also known as biosolids; animal manure and food residuals.

Composting is a biological process, where organic wastes are stabilized and converted into a product to be used as a soil conditioner and organic fertilizer.
Composting process takes soil micro and macro organisms together with organic residues, and by adding oxygen and water we get water, carbon dioxide, heat and the compost byproduct.

There are significant benefits in the use of compost top dressing:

1. soil structure is improved, the creation and improvement macro and micro aggregates
2. improved aeration and plant root development
3. nutrient availability, especially nitrogen is available in slow release form
4. reduced erosion and improved soil conservation
5. prevention and suppression of diseases
6. organic matter recycling
7. less landfill waste
8. carbon capture and sequestration
9. the reduction in fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides
10. decreased nitrogen leaching to surface water ; ultimately reducing nitrogen and phosphorus to groundwater and receiving bodies of water

Compost suppresses the following diseases in turf grasses:

1. Fusarium Patch
2. Damping-off
3. Brown Patch
4. Large Patch
5. Dollar Spot
6. Different types of molds and leaf spot

In our Florida sandy soils compost top dressing would increase water and nutrient retention, make nutrients available and increase microbial activity.

When top dressing with compost it is very important to ensure that you using the right equipment. Warm season turfgrass species that have a stolen and a rhizome (such as Zoysiagrass, Seashore Paspalum and Bermudagrass) should be verticut at least one time per year. Verticutting in the Spring and Fall is ideal using a verticutter, also called a vertical mower. A verticutter has blades that cut down into the thatch without damaging the healthy grass. This breaks up that dead layer and brings it to the surface so it can easily be collected and removed. Verticutting is a seamless process when performed by professionals. It is not necessary to clean up any dead thatch that has accumulated after verticutting. A thin layer (approximately a 0.25” to 0.125”) is then laid down at least one time per year. The microbes in the compost top dressing will metabolize the dead thatch.

How to select the compost to use in turfgrass top dressing?

choose a compost that has been tested by some university, company or a colleague
a physical and chemical analysis of the compost is essential
The compost color should be a brown to black. It should ever odor like earth and should have a particle size 1/4” to 3/8”.

Organic matter content should be greater than 30% and the carbon/nitrogen ratio should be below or equal to 30:1. Nitrogen content should be 0.5 to 3% and phosphorus should be greater than 0.2%. pH should be 6.0 to 7.0.