Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Energy Released per Gram of Soil (ERGS)
ERGS, energy released per gram of soil is another Reams term. It's measured with an
electrical conductivity meter, which gives the electrical current flow of soluble salts in the
soil. Basically, it measures how much energy is available to plants and microbes.
We want ERGS to be between 200 and 800 microSiemens (µS) above a reading taken of
a wild corner of your property that isn't gardened. If you don't have a wild corner, you can
just use your garden very early in the spring as the starting point, before the soil food web
has come to life. If that sample is 100 µS, for example, you're looking for at least 300 µS
(100+200=300) in the spring and higher in the summer and towards fruiting. If your ERGS
is too low, your plants won't grow very much. If it's too high, microbes and plants may suf-
fer, roots may burn, and nematodes may infest. “Too high” is relative, as some people do
well at 2,000 µS, but mostly 800 µS and below is what we are looking for.
Much of this energy balancing is accomplished by reaching our other goals of balancing
nutrient ratios, particularly calcium to magnesium and phosphate to potash, and building
humus in the soil. In the short term, however, it can be difficult to get enough energy into
the soil. Even one to three tablespoons of table salt per 1,000 square feet can help, assum-
ing you're low in sodium. Liquid calcium can help, as can using the soil conditioner
product I mentioned in the last chapter, or tilling to dry out the soil, all of which increase
energy.
Low energy is one of the main reasons biological labs may recommend chemical fertil-
izers, such as aluminum sulfate mixed with liquid calcium. In conventional farming, chem-
ical fertilizers are the main or only input brought into the soil. In biological farming, miner-
als and organic matter are the main elements brought in, with the chemicals used only in
tiny amounts to supply energy to the system.
Too much rain or not enough air can also bring down ERGS. We can use irrigation to do
this on purpose if the ERGS is too high. Lack of sodium, nitrogen and other nutrients can
also bring down ERGS. Like a pH test, ERGS doesn't tell you what you need to add, but
just gives an indication as to what might be going on, and how your management practices
are working throughout the year. As such, it's not something you need to rush out and start
measuring right now, as soil tests allow you to make more educated soil management de-
cisions.
