Complex fig root system sprawling into the rainforest soil layer.

Healthy soil is full of life and represents an ecosystem all of its own – it is not just carbon, minerals and matter. The logic behind the saying “a healthy gut results in a healthy human” can also be adequately applied to the theory of “healthy soil results in healthy plants”. The recipe of life has many facets and supplementing soil that is deficient in microbial life due to drought, heat or salinity issues can bring back life where hope was once lost. Great soil = great plants and an abundance of life – Poor soil = poor plants and limited life.

When it comes to soil, the mineral content and availability of trace elements is vitally important yes, but it is the ability for complementary life forms to be able to live in the soil that will ultimately determine potential. The right density, water absorption capacity, composting capabilities and the ability to breathe are all general concepts that we look for when determining soil health.

A substantial volume of evidence is proving that molecular hydrogen is able to assist with many aspects of plant growth, root development and stress responses due to the varying challenges it faces. Many of these challenges can be traced back to the soil, the microbial life within it, and the ability for that microbial life to produce hydrogen. Salinity for example creates an environment that is inhospitable for these microbes to live in, consequently reducing the plants access to the life giving by-product the soil microbes would normally provide. This in turn significantly hinders the ability of the plant to survive in these less favourable conditions.

For soil to be healthy enough to support the lives of the plants growing in it and of the animals that live on it, it is imperative that the essential gases of life can either be produced within the soil, or can at least be supplemented into it. Aerobic life must come from an aerobic environment and to think otherwise is fanciful. All life starts the same way with cells dividing and multiplying again and again, and if its environment is not able to support this process, then it will stress, abort, and die.

“Soil Health” can be characterised by its ability to create the sustainable aerobic environment, nutrients and gasses that support life. Our entire planet depends on this vital living system. It is the microbes in the soil that facilitate the processes required to create that environment and with the death of the microbes, as is the case with herbicide and pesticide usage, so to the death of the soil environment and virtually all that comes from it.