Benefits of Electroculture On Soil - Electro-Horticulture - page 58

electrical polarity and the electrode configuration), will be made available to the plant
roots, much like a large vacuum cleaner would act - pulling in nutrients from as far as the
extent of the electrodes allow.
This environment of enhanced mobility enables the nutrient uptake process to operate
with greater efficiency. Furthermore, this knowledge can possibly be taken advantage of to
deliberately transportdesirednutrientmixesfromoneportionofagrowingareatoanother.
Separation of Nutrients from Soil Particles
Where formerly plant roots needed to actively reach out to touch soil particles or into new pockets of
soil solution, in the case of electroculture, the nutrients become much more available because nutrients
can be removed and transported with greater ease through the soil.
Through the processes of electromigration, electrophoresis and electro-osmosis, nutrients from portions
of the soil mass that are not immediately adjacent to the plant roots can be separated from the soil
particles to which they are normally bound and actively transported throughout the rhizosphere 3 to
become available for intake.
For instance, when naturally occurring charged nutrients are exposed to an electric field, they can
be easily dissociated or knocked off of the soil particles on which they hold themselves. Once this
happens, they are carried through the soil in the direction of their oppositely charged field. E.g.
positively-charged nutrients like calcium (Ca 2+ ) will move in the direction of the negatively-charged
pole while negatively-charged substances will be moved toward the positive pole.
Enhances Nutrient Breakdown
Scientists of the past correctly posited that the application of electric fields onto soil
media causes an effect upon the chemical composition of soil. There was also a basic
understanding of the how electric fields cause the electrolysis of water. Similarly to the
concept of electrolysis, there were also speculations that the presence of electricity may
cause the breakup of more complex compounds into simpler ones which are more readily
absorbed.
Today, it is known within the field of geochemistry, especially in the area of
bioremediation , thatbetweentheamountofenergythat'saddedtothesoilnutrientsolution
and the amount of energy that's innately present can cause electrochemical reactions
to occur. Since soils contain a very complex mix of free-floating elemental ions and
molecules, the number and types of reactions that are possible are mind-blowing. In
keeping with the goal of simplicity, a brief, high-level description follows.