This blog is written by Francesca (@franchubarona), Juan (@juanferriccioni), Federico (@riverofede_), and Lautaro (@lautyramirez289), Geoscience students at the National University of Comahue in Neuquén, Argentina. They are passionate about finding real, ecological solutions for soil problems, starting right in their university’s campus!
This is part of our “Ground Beneath Our Feet” series by students at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina. Each piece is aligned to the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals- this one is aligned to SDG11, Sustainable Cities and Communities.
If you walk around our university campus at National Comahue University (UNCo) located in Neuquén, Argentina, you’ll notice something: in many areas, the ground isn’t exactly a garden. It’s pale, hard, and if you look closely, you can sometimes see a white crust on top. This is halomorphic soil, which basically means it’s loaded with salt and sodium.
The Comahue University Campus
For plants, this is like trying to live by drinking seawater. The excess salt stresses them out, stops them from absorbing water and nutrients, and the soil gets so compacted that their roots cannot breathe. As geoscience students, we see this problem every day. We knew there were chemical solutions, but we wanted to try something more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Sample of halomorphic salty campus soil
The big question was: Could we use our own organic waste to “heal” our soil?
The Mission: Creating “Super Compost”
Our first phase was to become soil-makers. We gathered the ingredients: good black soil, all the organic waste we could get (fruit and vegetable scraps, etc.), and a team of star workers: Californian red worms. They are incredible at speeding up decomposition and turning trash into nutrient-rich soil.
A close-up of our compost in action, full of worms.
The Experiment: Three Pots, One Destiny
Once our compost was ready, we went to the most affected area of campus and collected samples of the worst soil we could find.
Then, we set up three treatments in pots to see what would happen:
- Pot 1 (The Control): 100% salty campus soil. (Basically, the “disaster” scenario).
- Pot 2 (The 25/75 Mix): 75% salty soil + 25% of our compost.
- Pot 3 (The Big Bet): 25% salty soil + 75% of our compost.
We planted the same plants in all three, gave them the same amount of water and light, and for two weeks, we watched the battle unfold.
The Results: It Was a Knockout
It didn’t take long to see the differences. The plant in Pot 1 (100% salty soil) was a complete failure. After just a few days, the leaves started turning yellow and wilting. The soil dried into a hard crust on the surface that prevented water from getting in. By the end of the two weeks, the plant had completely stopped growing.
Pot 2 (25% compost) showed a slight improvement. The plant grew, but only moderately, like it was constantly struggling.
But Pot 3 (75% compost) was a revelation. The plant grew vigorously, with a dark green color and strong leaves. The soil itself was transformed: it went from pale and compacted to dark, loose, and fluffy, holding moisture perfectly. Most importantly, there was no sign of the salt crust.
We even measured the pH. The original salty soil was extremely alkaline (which is bad for nutrients), but the 75% compost mix brought it to an almost neutral level—the sweet spot for plants to absorb food.
What Does This Mean?
We proved that compost isn’t just fertilizer; it’s a remediation tool. It has the power to transform nearly dead soil into a living, breathing medium.
This experiment showed us that we have a real, sustainable solution right at our fingertips. We can take the organic waste generated by the university itself and use it to heal our campus. It’s a perfect closed loop: our waste becomes life, helping to create greener, more resilient spaces for everyone.