RE: [compost_tea] Re: When to add amendments to the soil

From: Stephen Steyn <ssteyn_at_wcaccess.co.za>
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:37:17 +0200

Tim:

The article encapsulates his theory very well I think.

You must bear in mind that Albrecht did his work in the 1930's and was a
very controversial figure at the time - going against the conventional
wisdom with his ideas on calcium and cation balance. Many of today's soils
scientists were not given the opportunity to understand the Albrecht work
during their studies. Albrecht was an outcast amongst his peers and
eventually was forced out of the University of Missouri. Today there are
three systems of soil "balancing" in use in the USA (for example), each
coinciding with different regions of soil humus percentage. The beauty of
the Albrecht system is that it is universally applicable.

Also, in practical terms, there is little difference between the
recommendations made when using the Albrecht system and the other local
systems. So you may wonder what the fuss is about. They give the same
answer. The problem came when Albrecht proved that he could grow good crops
even in acid soils - as long as Ca was adequate. He had thrown down the
gauntlet and academia took revenge in their own fashion. By deriding him and
effectively excluding him from their ranks. If it were not for people like
Charles Walters of Acres USA, he would still be unknown.

About glaciers. No such thing in darkest Africa. Our rocks were scoured by
acids and biology as well as the heat of the sun. Your story about the
marauding buffalo herds is probably correct. Nutrients were returned to the
soils when they died. Their hooves churned and loosened the soils and
incorporated the seeds in the topsoil.

SS

 

From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com [mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Tim Wilson
Sent: 18 June 2011 19:46
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: [compost_tea] Re: When to add amendments to the soil

 

  

>From the lips of Albrecht;

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010143albpap/pH.balanced%20nutritio
n/pH.bal.nut.htm

Here is the article which (to me) does not really seem to follow that
philosophy (but its just an article)

http://www.loganlabs.com/doc/SoilProbe201101.pdf

In something else I read of Albrecht's that I really agree with is that
modern North American agriculture does not fully consider the importance of
grasses and legumes (semi-wild).

I think that on our old farm we had the level of success we did because we
allowed the established turf to remain with her deep roots, rather that
tilling everything up every few years [admittedly partially due to
laziness], like the neighbors. Instead we just tried techniques to improve
the health of the turf by hacking on weeds and dropping seed of desired
species, harrowing and burning once in a while.

Do these deep roots mine nutrients? What is the reason the prairie grasses
maintained for so many thousands of years? Certainly huge herds of ungulates
grazed many areas bare; as bare as taking a crop off. I wonder.

Stephen; you likely have similar history where you are. Did you have
marauding glaciers to blame?

Tim

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com> ,
"Stephen Steyn" <ssteyn_at_...> wrote:
>
> For what it's worth, and I promise I won't bore you all who've heard it
> before again, here is the Albrecht take on pH.
>
> You can largely disregard pH. Its only real use is to signal that
something
> is out of kilter. It's like temperature in humans. If someone has a
> temperature, it's not the temperature that's the problem (otherwise you
> would give them a glass of cold water to cure them), rather it's a signal
> that something is wrong. Often this is simply an infection that your body
is
> trying to ward off, other times it may signal some other type of stress
> event.
>
> Now in soils pH is a signal that you have too many H+ ions making up your
> Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC). H+ ions are swopped for nutrient cations
by
> the plant during its growth. This can be any of the cations, Ca, Mg, Na,
or
> K or even some of the trace element cations. In general though plants
> require a lot of calcium so usually it's this element that is lacking.
>
> Albrecht recognised that the major cations had to be in a certain ratio to
> one another for plants to grow optimally. That is his major contribution
to
> agriculture.
>
> Having too many H+ ions present means they're taking the place of nutrient
> cations. (Yes, H+ is a cation but not a nutrient cation). Adding lime
> (Calcitic or Dolomitic) is a way to correct this imbalance. A ton of lime
> will contribute about 5kg Ca to your soil solution when you apply it. It's
> not very soluble, usually taking about three years to solubilise. The rate
> is affected by the acidity of the soil, the fineness of the lime and the
> microbial activity in the soil, as well as how well it is incorporated in
> the soil. Gypsum is another source of Calcium. More soluble, with 180kg of
> Sulphur too per ton of gypsum as a bonus, and with the ability to
> precipitate Na from your soils under the right conditions. The sulphur in
> the gypsum is very acidifying and in effect counteracts the neutralising
> effect of the added Ca.
>
> Having a soil that is biologically active will tend to neutralise the pH,
> and can buffer it effectively against the acidifying effect of the plants
> growing in it. If the plant material is being removed by harvesting or
> grazing, you are essentially removing nutrient elements from your soil. If
> the plants are not being removed but are allowed to be decomposed in the
> soil, the nutrients will be held in the humus. This is an excellent way to
> store nutrients for a following crop.
>
> SS
>
>
>
> From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
> Behalf Of Tim Wilson
> Sent: 17 June 2011 20:00
> To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [compost_tea] Re: When to add amendments to the soil
>
>
>
>
>
> The only guts info I could find quickly was their newsletter with the
> articles about pH manipulation. Need to follow up before I can really say
> anything besides (??). In the farming community I lived in before I
watched
> the locals chasing pH year after year following recommendations from the
> lab. It seemed to no avail, as we got equal to better yields completely
> ignoring pH and all manor of 'chemical soil tests' but (???)
>
> Tim
>
> --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com> ,
> "steved3602002" <steved_at_> wrote:
> >
> > Logan Labs is an offshoot of Brookside Labs
> > and both are based on the classic Albrecht
> > soil test which is geared to mineral balance
> > for soil structure and optimal microbial
> > habitat, taking care of plant fertility,
> > ultimately aiming for nutritionally balanced
> > feeds and foods.
> >
> > Albrecht was a soil microbiologist, you know.
> >
> > Steve Diver
> >
>







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Received on Sun Jun 19 2011 - 05:50:32 EDT

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