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262 points gnabgib | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.867s | source
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ralusek ◴[] No.43744184[source]
I'm a gardening and landscaping enjoyer, but I am constantly confused about the bordering magical thinking surrounding dirt, among other aspects of growing things.

If you look at hydroponics/aeroponics, plants basically need water, light, and fertilizer (N (nitrogen) P (phosphorous) K (potassium), and a few trace minerals). It can be the most synthetic process you've ever seen, and the plants will grow amazingly well.

The other elements regarding soil health, etc, would be much better framed in another way, rather than as directly necessary for plant health. The benefits of maintaining a nice living soil is that it makes the environment self-sustaining. You could just dump synthetic fertilizer on the plant, with some soil additives to help retain the right amount of drainage/retention, and it would do completely fine. But without constant optimal inputs, the plants would die.

If you cultivate a nice soil, such that the plants own/surrounding detritus can be broken down effectively, such that the nutrients in the natural processes can be broken down and made available to the plant, and the otherwise nonoptimal soil texture characteristics could be brought to some positive characteristics by those same processes, then you can theoretically arrive at a point that requires very few additional inputs.

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greenie_beans ◴[] No.43744301[source]
sure, we can make them grow well in a lab. but a natural system is so much simpler and elegant
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1. greenie_beans ◴[] No.43744608[source]
and easier and time tested and resilient
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2. lazide ◴[] No.43744892[source]
Uh, pretty much every farmer I ever met is going to disagree.

Farming is hard, unpredictable (prone to disasters/famine/plagues), and prone to all sorts of problems with soil, weather, etc.

The reason modern fertilizer and pesticides are used so widely is they make that fundamentally extremely difficult process easier and more predictable.

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3. johnisgood ◴[] No.43745412[source]
I am pretty sure he was referring to lab-grown, but as to its accuracy; I cannot comment.
4. greenie_beans ◴[] No.43746819[source]
lol yes, farming is hard as fuck. i'm comparing to growing food in high tech ways outside of soil