The Effects of Soil on Plant Growth

The soil is, it's like growing on rock or sand. It's got almost zero nutrients. If you go down one centimeter, you just start getting nothing. And yet the tree has got its roots down there. When a farmer plants a crop of corn on a freshly cut down virgin forest, here's what happens. The first heavy rains drag most of that ash right into the water streams, right out into the ocean. There's just like a giant sponge just absorbs all of it.