The Soil Doctor

The Soil Doctor The Soil Doctor is a pioneering platform dedicated to revolutionizing food cultivation through organic farming, urban gardening, and hydroponics.

We empower individuals and communities to grow fresh, healthy produce organically🪴

It's short rainy season!Where are you planting and which variety?The Soil Doctor is moving with Tosheka in Migori, Rongo...
26/09/2025

It's short rainy season!
Where are you planting and which variety?

The Soil Doctor is moving with Tosheka in Migori, Rongo💥🔥

🌱 KNOW YOUR SOIL BEFORE YOU PLANT 🌱Every seed carries potential, but the soil decides how far that potential goes. Soil ...
09/09/2025

🌱 KNOW YOUR SOIL BEFORE YOU PLANT 🌱

Every seed carries potential, but the soil decides how far that potential goes. Soil is more than just the ground beneath us — it is a complex living ecosystem that determines crop performance.

🔬 Why test your soil scientifically before planting?

1️⃣ 🌾 Nutrient Balance (NPK & Micronutrients)
Plants require a balanced diet, just like humans. A soil test reveals deficiencies in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients like zinc, boron, and iron. Over-application of fertilizers without knowing your soil leads to wastage, nutrient lock-up, and even environmental pollution.

2️⃣ ⚖️ Soil pH – The Master Variable
pH determines how available nutrients are to plants.

* 🌋 Acidic soils (pH < 5.5) can tie up phosphorus and increase toxic aluminum.
* 🏜️ Alkaline soils (pH > 7.5) can lock up iron, manganese, and zinc.
Most crops thrive between pH 6.0–7.0.

3️⃣ 🍂 Organic Matter Content
Soil organic matter improves structure, enhances microbial activity, stores nutrients, and increases water-holding capacity. Without it, soils become weak and infertile.

4️⃣ 🏗️ Soil Structure & Texture
Clay soils hold water but may suffocate roots. Sandy soils drain fast but lose nutrients quickly. Loamy soils balance both. Knowing your soil type guides irrigation and fertilizer management.

5️⃣ 🦠 Microbial Life – The Invisible Workers
Healthy soils are alive. Billions of microbes break down organic matter, cycle nutrients, and form symbiotic relationships with plant roots. Soil testing and management help maintain this hidden workforce.

🌍 In short:

* 🚫 Don’t guess. Test your soil.
* 📊 Understand its chemistry, biology, and physics.
* 🌾 Apply inputs based on science, not tradition.

💡 A farmer who knows their soil farms with certainty. A farmer who ignores the soil gambles with their harvest.

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Soil sampling and testing as the number one Priority 😎Call the soil doctor, experience dignity 😊
04/09/2025

Soil sampling and testing as the number one Priority 😎
Call the soil doctor, experience dignity 😊

IN IMBO, NYAUU in Homa Bay😇Through MarinBio AgritechSolutions Ltd, we installed 20 Bee hives and introduced lemon grass ...
27/08/2025

IN IMBO, NYAUU in Homa Bay😇
Through MarinBio AgritechSolutions Ltd, we installed 20 Bee hives and introduced lemon grass scent to attract bees organically.

Your satisfaction, our happines 😊

Pin the dates ✨️ The Agricultural Advocate, The Soil Doctor himself will be in attendance. Miss Not!
02/08/2025

Pin the dates ✨️
The Agricultural Advocate, The Soil Doctor himself will be in attendance.

Miss Not!

🏵🏵RECLAIMING ZAMBIA'S SOILS BACK TO AGRICULTURE BY FARMITA, BIOFERTILIZER FROM MARINBIO 🏵🏵Zambia's agricultural potentia...
27/06/2025

🏵🏵RECLAIMING ZAMBIA'S SOILS BACK TO AGRICULTURE BY FARMITA, BIOFERTILIZER FROM MARINBIO 🏵🏵

Zambia's agricultural potential, rooted in its arable land and favorable climate, is being hindered by degraded soil health. Many of the country's soils, including acidic Oxisols and Ultisols, waterlogged Vertisols, and over-cultivated Alfisols and Luvisols, are now tired, compacted, low in organic matter, acidic, biologically inactive, and poor at retaining nutrients and moisture. This degradation poses a threat to food security and long-term agricultural sustainability.

Farmita is presented as a biological solution designed to restore and regenerate these fragile soils. It acts as a soil revitalizer by:
🌲Restoring Microbial Balance:Introducing beneficial bacteria and fungi to rebuild the soil food web, enhance nutrient cycling, and improve soil structure and aeration.
🌲Recharging Organic Matter Processing: Activating microbial pathways to decompose crop residues and convert them into humus, thereby boosting fertility and carbon retention.
🌲Enhancing Root Health:Stimulating root-zone activity in clay-rich Vertisols and acidic Ultisols, which helps roots pe*****te compacted layers and absorb locked nutrients like phosphorus.
🌲Naturally Buffering Soil pH: Regulating pH through microbial action to create a more stable, nutrient-accessible root environment without excessive reliance on lime.
🌲Improving Moisture Holding & Drought Tolerance: Enhancing soil texture and microbial resilience to help soils retain water, which is vital for Zambia’s rainfed agriculture systems susceptible to dry spells.

Ultimately, Farmita aims to restore fertility, rebuild soil life, and prepare the land for future productivity, bridging the gap between Zambia's agricultural potential and its realization.

Phosphorus Deficiency !Not because you didn't apply Phosphorus based fertilizers! This is is due due to the immobility o...
26/05/2025

Phosphorus Deficiency !
Not because you didn't apply Phosphorus based fertilizers! This is is due due to the immobility of Phosphorus in the Soil colloids.

Benefits of Earthworms in the Garden• Earthworms burrow through the soil creating space for air to reach plant roots and...
28/12/2024

Benefits of Earthworms in the Garden

• Earthworms burrow through the soil creating space for air to reach plant roots and create tunnels that allow rain and irrigation water to pe*****te the soil.

• They break up dense soil that is inhospitable to plant roots. Earthworms can burrow to as deep as 6 feet in the soil.

• Earthworms leave behind excrement or castings containing from 5 to 11 times the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they have ingested.

• When earthworms die their protein-rich bodies return nitrogen fertilizer to the soil.

• Earthworms eat dead leaves and grass, rotting plants, animal manure, semi-rotted compost, and bits of soil; organic matter is ground in their gizzards, mixed with digestive juices and enzymes in the stomach then returned to the soil.

• Earthworms remove surface debris and fungal spores from the garden; they clean the garden of unwanted organic materials.

• Earthworms turn soil into humus improving soil structure. Their coil-like castings are stable when both wet and dry thus improving soil structure.

• If there are few earthworms in your garden it could mean that the soil is compacted or low in organic material. Add chopped leaves, grass clippings, semi-decomposed compost, and animal manure to your garden; these will allow worms to thrive.

To all Farmers,I want to extend my heartfelt wishes to all the hardworking FARMERS merry Christmas and happy New Year. Y...
25/12/2024

To all Farmers,

I want to extend my heartfelt wishes to all the hardworking FARMERS merry Christmas and happy New Year. Your dedication to nurturing the land and feeding the world is truly inspiring. May this festive season bring you peace, joy, and time to rest with your loved ones. As we look ahead to the new year, I wish you bountiful harvests, healthy soils, and continued success in all your endeavors. Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

The Soil Doctor

Causes Of Soil AciditySoil acidification occurs naturally very slowly as soil is weathered, but this process is accelera...
23/12/2024

Causes Of Soil Acidity

Soil acidification occurs naturally very slowly as soil is weathered, but this process is accelerated by productive agriculture. Soil acidification occurs because the concentration of hydrogen ions in the soil increases.
Nitrate leaching

Ammonium-based fertilisers are major contributors to soil acidification.

Nitrogen in agricultural systems may be fixed from the atmosphere by legumes, decomposed from soil organic matter (the dead remains of plants and animals) by soil organisms, or added in various types of fertilisers. Different nitrogen fertilisers follow slightly different chemical pathways as they break down in the soil and contribute different amounts of hydrogen ions (acid) to the soil.

Fertiliser nitrogen that enters and leaves the system in the same form does not contribute to soil acidification, for example, potassium nitrate. Nitrogen that stays in the system does not contribute to soil acidification, for example, nitrogen added to the soil as fertiliser is taken up by a plant and then returned to the soil when the plant dies and decomposes and is taken up by another plant

Ammonium-based fertilisers are the major contributors to soil acidification, especially if the nitrogen is leached rather than taken up by plants. Only if the nitrogen is returned to the soil again when the plant dies is there no acidification. Many ammonium fertilisers contribute to soil acidification even if the nitrogen is taken up by plants.

Ammonium nitrogen from fertiliser or soil organic matter is readily converted to nitrate and hydrogen ions by bacteria in the soil. This contributes different amounts of hydrogen ions to the soil, depending on the fertiliser.

When nitrate, which is negatively charged, is taken up by plants, a hydroxide ion, also negatively charged, is released from the plant to maintain electrical balance. This hydroxide ion combines with a hydrogen ion in the soil to form water (the hydrogen ion is no longer contributing to soil acidity). Depending on the fertiliser, all hydrogen ions released by nitrification may be neutralised or there may be a net increase in hydrogen ions.

If nitrate is not taken up by plants, it can leach away from the root zone, meaning that no hydroxide ion is released from the plant to bind with a hydrogen ion. Nitrate ions are readily leached from most Western Australian agricultural soils because there are more negatively charged surface sites on soil constituents than positively charged surface sites (required to retain the negatively charged nitrate ions). If nitrate leaches, a positively charged cation is also leached to maintain electrical balance.

The cations that leach are usually sodium, potassium or calcium rather than hydrogen, because hydrogen ions are more strongly held by the soil. If the nitrate is from ammonium fertiliser, the result is a net increase in hydrogen ions.

18/12/2024

BLACK ROT IN CABBAGES

Signs of Black Rot in Cabbages:

- Yellowing or browning of leaves, starting from the oldest leaves
- V-shaped lesions or blisters on the leaves, often with a black or dark brown color
- A foul, sour smell from the affected areas
- Soft, mushy, or slimy texture of the affected leaves
- Eventual collapse of the plant

Causes of Black Rot in Cabbages:

- Bacterial infection (Xanthomonas campestris)
- Contaminated seeds or seedlings
- Infected soil or water
- Poor sanitation and hygiene practices
- High humidity and temperature fluctuations

Treatments for Black Rot in Cabbages:

- Copper-based bactericides ( Copper Oxychloride)
- Antibacterial products (Streptomycin)
- Organic alternatives (Garlic-based products, Neem oil)
- Remove and destroy infected plants to prevent spread
- Improve sanitation and hygiene practices
- Ensure good air circulation and water management

BOOST SOIL WITH VERMICULTURE Vermiculture is the practice of breeding and cultivating earthworms, primarily for the purp...
18/12/2024

BOOST SOIL WITH VERMICULTURE

Vermiculture is the practice of breeding and cultivating earthworms, primarily for the purpose of producing vermicompost (organic fertilizer), worm tea (a liquid fertilizer) and for other agricultural or environmental benefits. Earthworms play a vital role in soil health by breaking down organic matter into nutrient-rich compost, improving soil structure, and increasing soil aeration.

BENEFITS OF VERMICULTURE

1. Soil enrichment: Vermicompost improves soil fertility by providing essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
2. Waste management: It helps recycle organic waste, turning it into valuable compost instead of allowing it to go to landfills.
3. Enhanced plant growth: Vermicompost improves water retention, aeration, and microbial activity in the soil, leading to healthier plants.
4. Eco-friendly: Vermiculture is a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice that reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

KEY ASPECTS OF VERMICULTURE

1. Vermicomposting: This is the process by which earthworms consume organic waste (such as food scraps, manure, and plant matter) and convert it into rich compost. The output is called worm castings, which is a high-quality organic fertilizer used to enhance soil fertility.
2. Earthworm Species: The most commonly used earthworm species in vermiculture is the red wiggler worm (Eisenia fetida), known for its ability to digest organic material quickly and efficiently in confined spaces. Other species like Lumbricus rubellus are also used.

APPLICATIONS OF VERMICULTURE
1. Agriculture: Vermiculture is used to improve soil quality for growing crops.
2. Gardening: Home gardeners use vermicompost to enrich their garden soil.
3. Waste management: Vermiculture is employed in organic waste recycling programs to reduce landfill waste.

CHALLENGES FACED BY VERMICULTURE FARMERS
1. Temperature and Moisture Control: Earthworms need stable conditions; fluctuations can harm them.
2. Pest Infestation: Pests like ants and rodents can disrupt worm bins.
3. Feed Quality: Improper feed can harm worms and affect compost quality.
4. Overfeeding/Underfeeding: Incorrect feeding amounts can affect worm health and composting efficiency.
5. Harvesting: Harvesting vermicompost without disturbing worms is labor-intensive.
6. Worm Health: Diseases and poor conditions can reduce worm populations.
7. Market Demand: Finding buyers for vermicompost can be difficult.
8. Lack of Knowledge: Inexperienced farmers may struggle with effective management.

Address

Kisumu

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+254746553531

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