Re: [compost_tea] Adding Lime/Calcium to Soil

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 16:03:21 EST

 
Hum, could be we're getting into specific situations, and so need to be
clearer about the specifics.
 
When you add a calcium salt to the compost, AND you have good fungal growth,
and probably bacterial growth helps as well, then that salt will be
re-structured and turned into organic matter with more calcium immobilized in it.
The "other part" of the salt will be sequestered too, as in the carbonate will
be immobilized in various ways, or released as CO2.
 
So there is no salt build-up. The salt is turned into organic matter. But
it requires proper biology to be present, and foods to feed that biology.
 
No loss of nutrients when we have good biology. Well, ok, some nutrients
will be lost, at certain times when the biology is cycling in certain ways, so
let me not make a blanket statement here. There is more to understand about
how the interactions between bacteria and fungi and their predators affect
soil chemistry than we know. But we just don't see the losses of nutrients
from systems where the biology is present as compared to systems where we have
little biology.
 
Elaine
 


If you are adding calcium to the compost and then to
the soil will there be a build up. And will there be a
build up from heavy rain because its not leached. Now
I took your explaination to say that the salt leaches
away so build up from that angle is not a problem.
--- soilfoodweb_at_aol.com wrote:

> Adding calcium to the soil will harm the organisms
> in that soil.
>
> Calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, calcium nitrate
> - all inorganic salts.
>
> Salt, in whatever form you add it, takes water away
> from your organisms. If you happen to add a salt
> when you are adding water, or when alot of rain is
> occurring, taking water away from your organisms is
> less of a worry, but then think.
>
> Salt moves with water. So where is any soluble
> material you are adding going if you add a salt when
> there is alot of water in the soil? Yep, right out
> of the rooting zone of your plant.
>
> The proverbial catch - 22, right?
>
> Add the calcium to your compost pile. This way the
> organisms tie-up the calicum in PLANT AVAILABLE
> forms, instead of in a salt where the organisms will
> be harmed. Add calcium carbonate to the compost at
> 1/60 of what the recommendation was for your soil.
> Why so much lower? Because you won't have the
> leaching losses. The beneficial biology grabs the
> calcium and holds it in organic forms.
>
> This work was developed with Arden Anderson, and he
> has been doing testing in Mexico. Arden still likes
> to add a little salt (calcium carbonate) directly to
> the soil, but no more than 100 pounds per ac of the
> salt to the soil, the rest of the addition to the
> compost, usually 70 to 100 pounds per ton of
> compost. Use half a ton of compost to teh acre
> then, and we are seeing the same benefit to the soil
> as adding the tons and tons of lime or gypsum.
>
> OK? We go over this in any SFI course being given
> now. Please come to the Fresno seminar that Arden
> and I are giving together in January 24, 25, 26 the
> end of this month. We'll be covering this
> biologically friendly way to apply nutrients.
> --
> Elaine Ingham
> President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
> SFI Corvallis, OR
> SFI Port Jefferson, NY
> SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
> SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
> SFI Culiacan, Mexico
> SFI Jerome, Idaho
> SFI South Africa
> http://www.soilfoodweb.com
>
>


=====
Butch Ragland
Conflict is as addictive as
cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes,etc
I'm sorry to report that
cooperation is not



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Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institute Cambridge, New Zealand
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho
Soil Foodweb Inc., South Africa








Received on Thu Jan 13 2005 - 17:15:51 EST

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