Is it possible to turn poor soil into fertile one by simply sprinkling it with a packet of cereal from the store? It was this question that the author of the Zen channel “At Grandfather Yegor’s Dacha” (18+) decided to test, and the result of his experiment turned out to be much more interesting than expected.
The story of the “magic cereal” has been circulating on the Internet for several years now. They say that if you sprinkle the beds with buckwheat, millet or pearl barley, the soil “comes to life” and begins to produce record yields. The logic is simple, since grain is nutritious, which means it will “feed” the earth. But does this work in practice? The summer resident decided not to argue, but to check. In the fall, he chose an old bed for cabbage – dense, impoverished soil, where the harvest had been weak for several years.
“I poured out a pack of cheap millet – about half a glass per square meter. I sprinkled earth on top and left it until spring,” the author said.
In the spring, the result was surprising: the soil became softer and looser, the smell was like that of fresh forest litter. Over the winter, bacteria processed the grain and “revitalized” the earth.
Why does this work?
Cereals in themselves are not fertilizers. There is no available nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus like manure. But it serves as food for soil bacteria, which create fertility. It turns out that cereal becomes a kind of starter for life in the soil.
However, as the blogger emphasizes, The method only works if the following conditions are met:
- you need to sprinkle the cereal in the fall,
- definitely under mulch,
- with the addition of an EM drug or herbal infusion to activate the bacteria.
If you just scatter the cereal and forget, there will be no effect. In damp soil it can turn sour and attract mice or ants. Therefore, the approach requires system and attention, and not belief in a miracle.
“A pack of cereal for 37 rubles will not replace KamAZ manure,” the author admits. “But it can become the key that will launch life in the soil. The main thing is to feed not the plants, but the earth itself and its micro-inhabitants.”
