Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
How are you applying scientific knowledge in the real world when the theories you have advanced are not actually sufficiently backed by scientific knowledge?
|
a lot, not all, of the scientific aspect of permaculture, has to do with plant relationships. here a few examples;
symbiotic nitrogen fixation - legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen to their roots, which makes it available for surrounding plants thru rhizobium bacteria. nitrogen is an essential building block of amino acids, essential to life. if you plant a legume (nitrogen fixer) next to a tomato plant (heavy nitrogen consumer), you complete the nutrient cycle without having to add any outside nutrients, like your typical miracle-gro tomato food.
biochemical pest suppression - some plants exude chemicals from roots or above ground parts, that can suppress or repel pests and protect neighboring plants.
then there is the entire field of soil science. it's not just sun the plants need, it's all the nutrients in the soil. in conventional farming, n p & k are the 3 nutrients used to feed the plants. problem is, healthy plants need much more than the 3 macro nutrients. they need many other micro nutrients to remain healthy, such as calcium, magnesium, sulphur, iron, manganese, zinc, boron and copper. a shortage of any of the nutrients the plant needs will result in a nutrient difficient plant. and what do you think happens when humans eat a nutrient difficient plant? we don't get the nutrients we need and begin to suffer the consequences.