- Dynamic accumulator
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Dynamic accumulators are plants that mine nutrients from the soil through their roots. These plants can then be used as a fertiliser, or as part of a fertiliser mix, for other plants that may be deficient in those particular nutrients. They play an important role in many permaculture guilds.
Here is a list of plants that work as dynamic accumulators:
- Arrowroot
- Borage
- Bracken
- Buckwheat
- Carrot leaves
- Chicory
- Clovers
- Comfrey
- Daikon
- Groundsel
- Kelp
- Lemon Balm
- Marigold
- Mentha (Mint)
- Stinging Nettle
- Strawberry leaves
- Yarrow
Microbiologist Kristine Nicholas[1] showed that native grasses like switchgrass, blue gama, bluestem, Indian grass not only send down deep roots but increase glomalin levels and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that help "glue" the soil together, make it coherent, and most importantly, shuttle biologically available nutrients from soil to plant. Some land reclamation companies are now using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and triticale to accomplish a similar end, and most likely Orchard grass (especially in combination with chicory and clover), and yacon, Jerusalem artichoke, chicory and many other plants will also eventually be shown to increase glomalin. Whatever that mysterious quality of "fertile" and "fertility" turns out to be in the soil, it must have something to do with these processes.
It seems that you can hardly do better than plant lots of chicory and stinging nettle. These are very tolerant of other plants, stable, persistent but not invasive, and seem to bring out the best of whatever they are planted next to.
Notes
- ^ University of Maryland, 2003 - USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, ND Research Area/Activity: Soil Microbiology and Aggregate Stability
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