Cation Exchange

Not all soils are created equal. Chemistry helps agriculture succeed in a variety of environments. This video explains how soils (often negatively charged) interact with nutrients (often positively charged) through cation exchange. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of a soil determines how frequently and in what doses it should receive fertilizer.

© 2016, NMSU Board of Regents.
NMSU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. This material is based upon work supported by the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement No. 2014-38422-22089. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

[SenLightyear]

Taking a soils course now and it took me a whole chapter and six lecture videos to get the same information. Brilliantly done, well organized, and I love the faces and high fives exchanged by the cations. I'll never read H+ without imagining it's cute lil face again.

[Horsingabout]

Absolutely brilliant presentation. Wish this had have been around 20 years ago. Should be compulsory study for all agricultural courses! Congrats! Would have made my seminars so much easier to understand!

[greenline]

I have never seen such beautifully explained the concept.

Great work

Love from India

ALL the best

[suminayeoh]

The high fives will make me remember cation exchange process FOREVER. No kidding. Well done and thanks for this high-quality informative animation! :)

[MariaNunez-ksxi]

Taking ecology this semester in college and we covered this concept. Not going to lie I was very confused but this totally clarified my confusion!

[alexandrealmeida]

Amazing, I study Agronomy in Brazil and it was so useful for me Thanks

[SarahMasikini-wpvf]

This is great and I really don't understand why this can not be learn at schools in America. Soils are of different types and need different care for them to produce well. This chemistry video was well planned and organized for any normal person to understand. Farmers need to watch this and know that excess fertilizer added to some soil types is not good.

[masteryourgardenoregon]

Fantastic! What a great tool to help clients understand how certain soils need to be fertilized differently.

[weathergenerator]

absolutely brilliant explanation. you have a task my friend to educate millions with your style of teaching.

[harmonyhorticulturalconsul]

Can I just say that I've spent hours trying to explain these concepts to clients, but now, I just have them watch this video and I follow up with, "It all makes sense now?" I send clients to this video almost weekly, so you are welcome for all of the views!

[zeyadramadan]

One of the best most efficient videos ever on Youtube...

[wiandryadiwasistio]

this is really helpful for houseplant keeping too! now i know why it's necessary to mix and match ingredients for potting mix; it's more than soil ph, porosity, and water-holding capacity.

houseplant community shall see and discuss this

[naman]

I usually don't comment on any video...and this is my first comment ever...no need to say you expained this concept in the most efficient and simplest way possible...Thank you so much...

[bonesdoes]

THIS is the video I’ve needed for a long time! I can actually say I understand cation exchange now. Amazing video that I’ll be recommending to anyone who will listen. 😊

[night]

Awesome explanation in the most simplest way possible. Thanks

[localagronomist]

thanks a lot for this brilliant explanation of the CEC.

[samuelezike]

Well explained. Currently studying soil ecology and I find this video very helpful

[StillOnTrack]

This video is fantastic!!!! I'm studying soil & plant nutrients and needed to brush up on CEC and this was pretty helpful and entertaining.

[Thilicio]

Excellent work, the illustrations, the explanations and the sounds are perfect!!. I also looove how you didn't just assume scientists would be boys. <3 <3

[muhammedashraf]

I am professor of botany belive me the way you explained is awesome. Thanks