HUMIC SUBSTANCES

The production of humic substances by redworms and their value in the process of vermistabilization is misunderstood and immensely important to understand to realize why a lowly worm has a unique ability to convert organic waste/biosolids into a resource, (vermicastings)  through a “non-thermophilic process”, (absence of heating).  If the soil is covered and has humus (organic matter), it absorbs the carbon from the atmosphere. Soil is a significant carbon sink - globally, approximately 75% of terrestrial carbon has been estimated to be stored in soil, which is three times more than the amount stored in living plants and animals. Unhealthy soil, from a variety of reasons, i.e; development, pollutants, excessive plowing, inorganic chemical fertilizers, natural disasters, weather, toxins, poor agricultural practices etc., can cause a source of emissions of both carbon dioxide and methane from soil. Whether you want to reduce or reverse climate change, attempt carbon sequestration, limit the temperatures rising in the world, or resolve water scarcity, the connecting need is the need to improve the soil health. (21) Many research papers agree not everything is known about Humus; (some don’t know what they don’t know).  Humus is made up of humic acids, fulvic acids, and humins.  It is the basis of soil life.  The worms provide this important element within its castings. The carbon held in soil humic substances is so stable that it can be retained in soils for hundreds or even thousands of years. Humic materials contain stable semiquinone free radicals, and that their concentration increases as humification progresses. It's highly stable with free radicals of 10 to the 15th.  The castings are indigestible for microorganisms and eventually become fossilized with little or no degradation of the soil over time.  The castings also retain moisture. If soil is organically rich, it can store eight times more water than all the rivers on the planet put together!” That can have a significant impact on local resilience to drought and/or floods. Microorganisms (soil bacteria) are the most important component of any soil.  In addition to carbon, humus also contains oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and Sulfur; essential elements for microbial life.  All microorganisms act to decompose decayed vegetation or other microorganisms. There are good and bad microorganisms. When worms ingest organic decomposed material they increase the “beneficial” microorganisms by 1,000x, (5,000,000/gram of soil), crowding out “bad” microorganisms that can cause disease or inhibit growth of the plant. 

Humus (Castings) Production Process

Decaying organic material from a variety of sources creates microbes and microorganisms that emit an odor which the earthworm identifies as food.  The worm ingests these into its mouth and through a digestion incubator or reactor made up of microbicidal and virucidal components, they separate the components of the microorganisms into 2 categories: Absorbable enzymes and unabsorbable active ingredients.  The absorbable enzymes; carbohydrate, fatty acids and amino acids are used by the worm. The unabsorbable enzymes-fulvic acids, humic acids, and humins are excreted in the castings as humic substances.  

HUMIC/FULVIC ACID BENEFITS

Humus creates chemical reactions in the soil that positively influences the plants metabolic processes. It is active in dissolving minerals and metals when in solution with water.  The fulvic acid actually transforms these minerals and metals into elaborate fulvic acid molecular complexes that have vastly different characteristics from their previous metallic mineral form.  Metallic minerals dissolve into ionic form and disappear into the fulvic structure becoming biochemically reactive and mobile; It is nature’s way of “chelating” metallic minerals, turning them into readily absorbable bioavailable forms.  It makes minerals and metals available to plant roots and easily absorbable through cell walls.  It makes the actual movement of metal ions such as iron, easily transportable through plant structures.  It is a natural organic electrolyte. (Capable of conducting electrical current).

Humus modifies the damaged or toxic compounds such as heavy metals and free radicals.  It consists of phytochemicals, biochemicals, supercharged antioxidants, superoxide dismutases, nutrients, enzymes, hormones, amino acids, antibiotics, antivirals, and antifungals.

• Humus stimulates plant growth and increases the yield of crops via a variety of mechanisms.

•  It influences soil fertility through its effect on the water holding capacity of the soil, it provides the structure, drainage, aeration, and energy provided for growth and development of microorganisms.

• Humic substances are a reservoir for chemical elements essential for plant growth, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and Sulfur, (N P K Su). 

• Humus binds the soils into aggregates for water to enter and percolate.  

• HS increase the ability of soil to resist erosion and hold more water through large pores.

  Humic substances have the greatest beneficial effects on soil properties, including increased water and nutrient holding capacity, aeration and support for microorganisms. 

• Other effects of humic substances include increased CEC (cation exchange capacity), stabilization of soil structure, and the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers.  (See links)

Humic substances change their structure, depending on pH and the type of metals present. High pH (or the presence of multivalent ions, such as calcium Ca2+) makes humic substances open up their long-chain polymers, whereas low pH makes them close. In the presence of toxic metals, humic substances remove the metals from the surrounding environment by forming insoluble aggregated spheres around them.

Any change in solution pH, concentration or the presence of metal ions — especially calcium ions — will cause huge changes in the physical makeup of the humic molecules. Even slight changes cause the molecules to change in orders of magnitude. Rapid changes in molecular structures are not unique to humic substances — water molecules, for example, change their structure 10 trillion times a second. Although water is an extremely simple molecule, the determination of its structure at any given instant is still not fully known. The amazing complexity of humic substances may forever keep their structures a secret.