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Re: [compost_tea] calcium sulfate
Gypsum can give you salt impacts - that is, osmotic shock. Too much of anything is a problem. So, keep the application down to less than 100 pounds per acre, and no problem. More than that, and in general, we see problems.
Typically, gypsum helps improve flocculation for a short time, and then the soil turns into bricks because the biology was lost.
Hard soil surfaces suggest a lack of the appropriate biology, a lack of food (organic matter) to keep the organisms active, or an impact in the past that wiped out the biology, or a disturbance that compacted the soil. I don't care what soil health you have, you can compact anything given a big enough machine, a large enough volume of salt, or a period of negligence in a high traffic area (which is my lawn). Rain can compact soil where the biology is too low.
I got my yard to a place where I had good soil tilth, and then proceeded to ignore my yard for about 8 years. I have thatch developing, the moss is out of control in the back and side yard, and the soil is now HARD. Darn. I have lost my fungi. I forgot to feed my critters for the last few years. They are letting me know. Still have good grass, but lots of thistle, composites, and the grass is encroaching on my trees, and perennial areas. All signs that my fungi are not happy.
Why did my fungi disappear? The neighborhood association hired someone who came around two years ago and sprayed something that killed everything - grass, weeds, rose bushes, donkey's ear, clover, etc in a swath all along the back side of my property. Impressive. And the soil is cement there.
Was that the only insult that has put my land over the edge? Probably not, too many kids playing soccer on my lawn, total clay substrate, and lack of diversity of fungal foods probably helped. I have forgotten the compost for many years now.
So, how to fix? Compost tea alone has not been enough. Probably have herbicide residues in there that are just out of sight. Probably lacking calcium. I use eggshells to help the calcium situation, and that's helping (at least the dandelions are no longer growing faster than the grass). How much gypsum would be beneficial? Keep it under 100 pounds per ac per application.....
So, I have to get some compost, keep spraying tea, and get that calcium out there. I'll put calcium in the compost (calcium carbonate, or calcuim hydroxide or oyster shell), in the tea, and as eggshells direct to the lawn. And corn gluten in the spring to tie up excess nitrate.
Hope this helps.
Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
SFI Oregon, USA
SFI Australia
SFI New York
SFI Europe
SFI New Zealand
"Hope is not a feeling. It is not the belief that things will turn out well, but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how things turn out." -- Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic
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