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Grittyville, WA

I was wondering why the soils seem to be losing nitrogen in arid eastern washington despite getting only 12" of annual rainfall (not enough to lose it to leaching). There are three modes of nitrogen loss:

Volatization
Leaching
Denitrifucation

I wasn't aware of this 3rd way of losing nitrogen. If you want to read about it:

https://kochagronomicservices.com/knowledge-center/understanding-types-of-n-loss

Or do your own search. Ps the article above makes a small error in claiming the negatively charged nitrate wont stick to the positively charged soil. It should be noted that negative nitrate moves freely (out) because the also (<-- italics needed) negatively charged soil/clay particles are not attractive/binding. As I understand it!

Anyhow I guess I'm on alert for minor errors... These kind of errors really throw a wrench in the ol' cognative machine! Which is barely moving to begin with, ugh.

[Last edit: 04/19/26 3:52:43 PM]

4/19/2026 3:46:48 PM

Iowa (West Coast)

Don't forget about organic fixation as a 4th. If you are building organic matter there is a good chance that you have stored N. Its not considered 'loss' but it is unavailable.

5/21/2026 9:34:39 AM

Grittyville, WA

Great point. It takes a lot of nitrogen to convert 200:1 C:N wood chips into 20:1 C:N compost. And same with any other carbon source that is low in nitrogen.

[Last edit: 05/21/26 12:00:26 PM]

5/21/2026 11:59:03 AM

Grittyville, WA

Or, the competition from microbes could result in a deficiency even if the microbes and nitrogen are still technically "in the soil" it will be temporarily banked in an insoluble form.

Please correct me if I missed the point. This is why I'm hesitant to add plain sugar to the ground... it will surely tie up minerals (nitrogen, sulfer, etc?) albeit temporarily. I would like to see some side by side comparisons before believing that this is a good idea.

Fyi folks, a cover crop on a sunny day will add more sugar to the ground than you can afford to buy from the grocery store. But, whatever works!

[Last edit: 05/21/26 12:15:51 PM]

5/21/2026 12:10:06 PM