5 ms·

Why is tilling bad for the soil? Genuinely curious as I've seen it as an option for my terrible salty clay soil at my house.

bluGill 5y ago
Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided. On a different note, tilling also costs large amounts of energy. The less tilling your do, the less CO2 you are putting into the atmosphere (even if you do the tilling by hand with a shovel you are still emitting more CO2 than if you just sat in your easy-chair)
- 0xffff2 5y ago
  >Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided. Does this still apply when talking about farming? I just started growing food this year, but once I've harvested the first crop and am planting the second crop of the season, the roots in the ground are surely going to break down quickly in any case, because I've harvested all of their tops, no? >even if you do the tilling by hand with a shovel you are still emitting more CO2 than if you just sat in your easy-chair I'm sorry, what? By that logic I should also never exercise.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    It applies to farming in general. You really need to consult an agronomist for better answers (which can be very specific/different depending on which part of a field you are asking about ) I was hoping you would notice the exercise connection. I don't have answers to that, just an interesting consideration.
    - bobiny 5y ago
      "Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy, you don't need it: if you are sick you should not take it." Henry Ford
  - toofy 5y ago
    > Does this still apply when talking about farming? I think many farmers have moved towards using various types of something called “cover crops” rather than tilling. These cover crops have different impacts depending on which are used: some have incredibly prolific rooting systems that dig deep and break up the soil on their own; some pull nutrients from deep in the soil and grow massive green above ground so farmers let these grow to pre-seed levels and then plow it over, and leave it so it decomposes and re-releases those same nutrients to the surface, and also draws all the micro biome critters in which then fertilize the soil even more; some plants fix nitrogen levels and some bloom various types of flowers which pull in pollinators. Some do a premise mix of multiple types of cover crops. I think tilling is still done sometimes but it’s only for certain situations but is avoided most of the time these days. I just got into gardening a few years ago, so I’m still learning most of this as I go along, but from what i’ve read, tilling is phased out except for certain situations. I can say with absolute certainty that by my third year of working on soil, my gardens soil absolutely does not need tilling at all, it’s fluffy and soft for at least two feet down with plenty of life in there. But much of the surrounding area is pretty clay tough. Honestly it was super easy, just needed like a season of building the soil properly. Another Ive noticed is, many of our home/hobby gardening techniques which our parents generation adopted were really only useful for enormous factory level farms and were actually not good for small or home gardens. These two situations need entirely different things but marketing and such over the years really steered that generation into doing a lot of the wrong things. I don’t know your situation, tilling may be the best option for you, but it also may be to just dump a bunch of compost on top, let it settle, then plant some rooting cover crops and let it do it’s thing for a couple months. The latter may be much much healthier for your soil.
  - bobiny 5y ago
    I guess it depends on a plant, but it's not only about roots. Top layer of soil has highest concentration of organic matter and it builds up over time when plants and possibly animal excrements decompose. By tiling you kill fertility a bit, that's why most farms have to use fertilisers.
  - bobiny 5y ago
    I guess it depends on a plant, but it's not only about roots. Top layer of soil has highest concentration of organic matter and it builds up over time when plants and possibly animal excrements decompose. By tiling you kill fertility a bit, that's why most farms have to use fertilizers.
gbrown 5y ago
It disrupts the fungal life and dries it out, while also increasing erosion and weed pressure. It’s not that you can’t ever till, but it’s generally to be avoided. In the case of clay, deep mulch will do wonders, and the earthworms will gently improve the soil over time.
- afrodc_ 5y ago
  I'm not sure if you know, but is there a way to promote earthworms in my soil? It's pretty compacted after the build and apparently they don't like that, so I'm trying to aerate and let my grass grow longer to break up what it can before I trim and let the roots die. For the garden I'm also planning on planting plants with deep roots, like sunflowers, to improve the soil.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Where do you live? Earthworms are not native everywhere and they can be a harmful invasive species if introduced to the wrong place. If you have a new house, developments are horible, just enough soil to grow grass. You might be stuck buying good compost and soil and tilling that in deep, then letting grass grow for a few years before trying anything more.
    - afrodc_ 5y ago
      Seems to be the case I'll have to play the long game. They bring in this disgusting but shapeable soil to surround the foundation out here in central Texas. I remember growing up finding earthworms and fishing all the time, so they should be native.
      - gbrown 5y ago
        > should be native. The word you’re looking for is “naturalized”. Not native, but they’re already there, so...
        afrodc_ 5y ago

bluGill 5y ago

Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided. On a different note, tilling also costs large amounts of energy. The less tilling your do, the less CO2 you are putting into the atmosphere (even if you do the tilling by hand with a shovel you are still emitting more CO2 than if you just sat in your easy-chair)

0xffff2 5y ago
>Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided. Does this still apply when talking about farming? I just started growing food this year, but once I've harvested the first crop and am planting the second crop of the season, the roots in the ground are surely going to break down quickly in any case, because I've harvested all of their tops, no? >even if you do the tilling by hand with a shovel you are still emitting more CO2 than if you just sat in your easy-chair I'm sorry, what? By that logic I should also never exercise.
- bluGill 5y ago
  It applies to farming in general. You really need to consult an agronomist for better answers (which can be very specific/different depending on which part of a field you are asking about ) I was hoping you would notice the exercise connection. I don't have answers to that, just an interesting consideration.
  - bobiny 5y ago
    "Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy, you don't need it: if you are sick you should not take it." Henry Ford
- toofy 5y ago
  > Does this still apply when talking about farming? I think many farmers have moved towards using various types of something called “cover crops” rather than tilling. These cover crops have different impacts depending on which are used: some have incredibly prolific rooting systems that dig deep and break up the soil on their own; some pull nutrients from deep in the soil and grow massive green above ground so farmers let these grow to pre-seed levels and then plow it over, and leave it so it decomposes and re-releases those same nutrients to the surface, and also draws all the micro biome critters in which then fertilize the soil even more; some plants fix nitrogen levels and some bloom various types of flowers which pull in pollinators. Some do a premise mix of multiple types of cover crops. I think tilling is still done sometimes but it’s only for certain situations but is avoided most of the time these days. I just got into gardening a few years ago, so I’m still learning most of this as I go along, but from what i’ve read, tilling is phased out except for certain situations. I can say with absolute certainty that by my third year of working on soil, my gardens soil absolutely does not need tilling at all, it’s fluffy and soft for at least two feet down with plenty of life in there. But much of the surrounding area is pretty clay tough. Honestly it was super easy, just needed like a season of building the soil properly. Another Ive noticed is, many of our home/hobby gardening techniques which our parents generation adopted were really only useful for enormous factory level farms and were actually not good for small or home gardens. These two situations need entirely different things but marketing and such over the years really steered that generation into doing a lot of the wrong things. I don’t know your situation, tilling may be the best option for you, but it also may be to just dump a bunch of compost on top, let it settle, then plant some rooting cover crops and let it do it’s thing for a couple months. The latter may be much much healthier for your soil.
- bobiny 5y ago
  I guess it depends on a plant, but it's not only about roots. Top layer of soil has highest concentration of organic matter and it builds up over time when plants and possibly animal excrements decompose. By tiling you kill fertility a bit, that's why most farms have to use fertilisers.
- bobiny 5y ago
  I guess it depends on a plant, but it's not only about roots. Top layer of soil has highest concentration of organic matter and it builds up over time when plants and possibly animal excrements decompose. By tiling you kill fertility a bit, that's why most farms have to use fertilizers.

gbrown 5y ago

It disrupts the fungal life and dries it out, while also increasing erosion and weed pressure. It’s not that you can’t ever till, but it’s generally to be avoided. In the case of clay, deep mulch will do wonders, and the earthworms will gently improve the soil over time.

afrodc_ 5y ago
I'm not sure if you know, but is there a way to promote earthworms in my soil? It's pretty compacted after the build and apparently they don't like that, so I'm trying to aerate and let my grass grow longer to break up what it can before I trim and let the roots die. For the garden I'm also planning on planting plants with deep roots, like sunflowers, to improve the soil.
- bluGill 5y ago
  Where do you live? Earthworms are not native everywhere and they can be a harmful invasive species if introduced to the wrong place. If you have a new house, developments are horible, just enough soil to grow grass. You might be stuck buying good compost and soil and tilling that in deep, then letting grass grow for a few years before trying anything more.
  - afrodc_ 5y ago
    Seems to be the case I'll have to play the long game. They bring in this disgusting but shapeable soil to surround the foundation out here in central Texas. I remember growing up finding earthworms and fishing all the time, so they should be native.
    - gbrown 5y ago
      > should be native. The word you’re looking for is “naturalized”. Not native, but they’re already there, so...
      - afrodc_ 5y ago