Why I Back The Black Stuff: 36 Reasons from the Atherton Tablelands

Good soil is built, not bought in a single bag. That is why I’m involved with The Black Stuff, a natural peat soil conditioner mined from an old volcanic crater lake on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland.

Growers often ask me what it actually does. Here is my answer in 36 points, based on what the material is and what growers using it have reported.

A different kind of humate

1. It is biogenic peat, formed from plant matter on a crater lake floor over tens of thousands of years.
2. It is mined and screened, and that’s all. Nothing goes in and nothing comes out.
3. It isn’t leonardite. Most commercial humates start as oxidised brown coal and are chemically extracted.
4. The humic and fulvic fractions stay bound up with their natural organic matter.
5. There is no filler in it.
6. It is sourced locally for North Queensland growers.

What it does to soil structure

7. Fine particles clump into a crumbly, friable tilth.
8. Heavy clays open up, so roots can find more minerals.
9. The soil resists compaction from machinery and stock.
10. More air moves into the soil, and roots follow it deeper.
11. Cultivation and seed-bed preparation get easier.
12. Stable aggregates stand up better to heavy tropical rain.

Water

13. The organic matter soaks up and holds water like a sponge.
14. Rain infiltrates instead of sheeting off the surface.
15. Moisture is stored in the root zone between rain events and irrigation.
16. Crops are better placed to ride out a dry spell.

Nutrients

17. Cation exchange capacity rises, so the soil can hold more calcium, magnesium and potassium.
18. Those nutrients are released steadily rather than all at once.
19. Less nitrogen is lost to leaching.
20. Phosphate, sulphate and boron are held closer to the roots.
21. Phosphorus and trace elements already locked up in the soil become available again.
22. Chelation keeps metal micronutrients in a form plants can absorb.
23. Better buffering helps keep pH stable and slows acidification.
24. It complements a fertiliser program, and it blends with lime, gypsum and other minerals.

Biology and plant health

25. Soil microbes get food and somewhere to live.
26. Mycorrhizal fungi establish more readily and extend the roots’ reach.
27. Roots grow longer and respire more actively.
28. Nutrients pass more easily across root membranes.
29. Seed germinates better and seedlings establish faster.
30. Growers see the change in the canopy. Oscar Bugno at Dimbulah says his trees are now dark green and setting commercial fruit.

Feed the soil, and every season builds on the last.

What growers are seeing

31. John Jennings at Mareeba has seen more than a 200% increase in lime fruit per set, held across seasons. His story is on the TBS website.
32. In trials it is still present and active more than five years after one application.
33. Each application builds on the soil gains of the last one.
34. Healthier soil can reduce spending on fertiliser and sprays over time.
35. It is clean to handle, with no smell and none of the pathogen risk of raw manure.
36. It is used on citrus, custard apple, bananas, papaya, plantains, blueberries, taro, native fruit, turf and pasture.

Try it on your own block

The trial rate is 3 m³ per hectare. It comes in 10 L pails for gardens and test plots, 1 m³ bulk bags, and loose bulk loads from 20 m³. Results depend on soil, crop and season, so the best evidence is a trial strip on your own ground.

For prices, grower results and ordering, visit The Black Stuff.

The Black Stuff is a soil conditioner, not an agricultural chemical or a registered treatment for any plant disease. Grower results are as reported by the growers named and will vary with soil, crop and season.

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