Kenaf Root System Pot Grown Earth Grown

Kenaf Test Plants Tap Root Comparison images

Container Grown and Earth Grown with side by side
comparisons.

Kenaf Test Plants Tap Root Comparison image

Container Grown and Earth Grown side by side

MOhemp has shared information on why the Kenaf Tap Root system can be a key to improving the biodiversity of the soil at

https://mohempkenya.blogspot.com/2016/11/soil-treatment-taproot-kenaf-plant.html

Soil Treatment TapRoot Kenaf Plant

Treating the Soil and Growing Biomass Energy Part 1

-so easy a kid can do it!

Raising and harvesting Kenaf aka-Indian Hemp; is so easy even a child can do it! The kids helped with the Test plants and were used in as Props to document the stages of growth of the Kenaf Test Plants from planting to harvest.

I also included mathematical figures of how the Kenaf plants tap-root system would aid in adding biodiversity to the soil by creating what I call: biodiversity reserve holding tank for the soil that lessens the water runoff scenarios after rain storms. Which is like having 150- 4 person hot tubs dispersed over an acre of land.

Kenaf Test Plant Tap Root System

Nov 21-2016

Lets now use the root system to demonstrate how the tap root system will assist in conditioning and adding biodiversity to the soil.

When Kenaf is planted for fiber it is generally sown at: "populations of 185,000 to 370,000 plants/ha (75,000 to 150,000 plants/acre) -Purdue University"

• 100,000 amount of plants per acre
• Volume of the Root 
  V
  =
  π

  r

  2

  h

  3
   6 inch long, 1 inch base= 56.55 cu in
• 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft / 100,000 plants = 2.34 plants per sq ft of Kenaf roots breaking up a hard pan clay type soil.

• 2.34 roots X 56.66= 132.58 cu in water pockets per square foot spread over an acre is: 5,666,000 cu in of water pockets. 

•  Which is about eight-and-a-half times as big as a Concrete Mixer Truck or its like having 150- 4 person hot tubs holding water on an acre of land.

Update Volume Estimates 3- Kenaf Plant Root System Measurements





• {I will weight the roots this week} 100,000 Total roots X weight of root = ____weight of root-mass in the soil.

This important for a few reasons:

• As the roots deteriorates it will add nutrients to the soil; while at the same time-  
• creating a water pocket or a biodiversity reserve holding tank for the soil that lessens the water runoff scenarios after rain storms.

Most Importantly, This

  "Process cycles and returns the carbon  from the air we breathe back into the Earth- 

eliminating the effects of climate change"

 

Raising and Harvesting Kenaf 

-so easy even a child can do it.  

one-half inch tall Kenaf Sprouts

July 14-2016 1/2 in Sprouts

Aug 7-2016

 One Month Plant Growth 40 inches Tall

August 20-2016 

 50 inches tall at 6 weeks

August 26-2016

Ferocious Guard Dogs and the Little Green Thumb

Sep 9-2016

 Look at how fast they grow! 

Oct 8-2016

Even on a milk crate I can't reach the top... 

Oct 8-2016

...neither can I!

great for exploring

Oct 31-2016 #Peace

One night a rain storm broke a stalk

Nov 3-2016

This Kenaf plant become the 

Little Green Thumb's 1st Kenaf Harvest

Love the Determination

Growing Kenaf to condition the soil is so easy even a kid can do it!

Holistic Management: Plants are a bridge that connect atmospheric CO2 wi...

You can think of plants as the sort of bridge that connects atmospheric CO2 to soil carbon...When soils are managed carefully, when organic matter is returned to the soils, when runoff is prevented, and erosion is prevented, soils can be managed to dramatically increase the amount of carbon they contain. Recent estimates are that we could be sequestering in soils worldwide something on the order of one to two billion tons per year of carbon with the best possible management techniques. That is a significant fraction of the approximately ten billion tons that were releasing to the atmosphere.

Sustainable Plastic from Kenaf

Sustainable Farming Videos

3 Sustainable Farming Videos

Number 1: 100,000 Beating Hearts

One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts from Peter Byck on Vimeo.
Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, tells us his evolution from industrial to regenerative farmer.

Number 2: Soil Carbon Cowboys

SOIL CARBON COWBOYS from Peter Byck on Vimeo.
Meet Allen Williams, Gabe Brown and Neil Dennis - heroes and innovators! These ranchers now know how to regenerate their soils while making their animals healthier and their operations more profitable. They are turning ON their soils, enabling rainwater to sink into the earth rather than run off. And these turned ON soils retain that water, so the ranches are much more resilient in drought. It's an amazing story that has just begun.

Number 3: Soil Carbon Curious

Soil Carbon Curious from Peter Byck on Vimeo.

Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (AMP grazing) is regenerating soils around the world, producing healthy grass-finished beef. But the science on AMP grazing is sparse, to say the least. Now, a group of leading soil, rangeland, bug and social scientists are setting out to fill the science gap. Led by Dr. Richard Teague of Texas A&M, and convened by filmmaker Peter Byck of Arizona State University, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team is positioned to do large scale science that's never been done before.

Option of Raising Beef on Cover Crops

Sunn Hemp the Organic Alternative

Sunn Hemp is another Hemp Plant that falls under the Radar as a solution to what ails the World

Sunn Hemp is another Hemp Plant that falls under the Radar as a solution to what ails the World

USDA: Organic Matter Builder Rotar and Joy (1983) reported:

• ‘Tropic Sun’ sunn hemp reaching heights of over 4 feet in 60 days and over 6 feet in 90 days in Hawaii. 
• Biomass production in Hawaii reached yields as much as 6,000 pounds in 60 days. 

Mansoer et al. (1997) conducted cover crop studies in Alabama and showed similar results.

• ‘Tropic Sun’ was planted in August or early September after corn harvest and was grown as a cover 3 crop/green manure crop until wheat planting (early December).
•  Biomass production achieved an average of 5,200 pounds in 9 to 12 weeks over a two-year study at two locations in Alabama. 
• This compares with 4,300 pounds per acre with hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.) and 4400 pounds with crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) (Mansoer et al., 1997). 
• Ground cover from the “Tropic Sun” averaged approximately 96 percent at mowing and approximately 65 percent soil coverage 16 weeks later (mid-April). 
• This amount of residue will provide erosion control and promote increases in organic matter accumulations in no-till or conservation tillage systems. 
• In Alabama, Mansoer et al. (1997) reported an average of 126 pounds of nitrogen in 9 to 12 weeks. With this large amount of nitrogen produced, whether in spring, summer or fall, a crop such as small grain should follow sunn hemp to utilize the symbiotically produced nitrogen. 
• However, in the study conducted by Mansoer et al. (1997), 38 percent of the N in biomass remained available for corn planted in mid-April, 16 weeks after the sunn hemp was mowed. 

Nitrogen Producer In Hawaii, Rotar and Joy (1983) reported:

•  ‘Tropic Sun’ added 134 to 147 pounds of nitrogen per acre after 60 days of growth. 

Sunn hemp has bright yellow flowers that bloom at about 60 days. Due to its rapid growth and nitrogen-fixing capability, sunn hemp is gaining popularity as a cover crop in the Midwest. Photo by Molokai Seed Company https://mosesorganic.org/sunn-hemp/

Cover Crops as Carbon Sequestration

 http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/05/cover-crops-store-carbon/

Cover crops, which are grown when fields are usually idle, can also be chopped and lightly worked into the top layer of soil – returning even more carbon to the ground. Johnson says this method can capture almost fifteen tons of carbon dioxide per acre.

JOHNSON: “About fourteen percent of the world’s cropland, if they adopted this approach to agriculture, you could capture all anthropogenic CO2.”

Johnson says sequestering carbon dioxide with this method would be relatively easy to implement and would cost about seventeen dollars per ton – less than other carbon capture techniques.