RE: [compost_tea] Inclusion of clay in compost

From: butch ragland <wilddog_202_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 15:52:13 -0800 (PST)
All very interesting but I think the question was
should clay be added to tea not to compost. The better
the compost the better the tea but is this the
question?

--- Tom Jaszewski <tom_at_livesoil.com> wrote:

> From Steve Diver on another list...
>

> Selman Waksman wrote about clay addition to
> composts.
> Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, an early compost pioneer in the
> US,
> promoted clay additions to compost.  More recently,
> Siegfried Luebke in Austria developed the Controlled
> Microbial Compost method, also based on clay
> additions.
> Edwin Blosser with Midwest Biosystems in the USA
> promotes Advanced Composting Systems based on
> clay additions.  CMC and ACS amount to a whole
> system
> of "intensive" windrow managment to achieve humified
> compost.   Analysis via laboratory and microscopy
> show
> consistene, good compost quality with humification
> of organic
> matter.

> Excerpts from "A Treatise on the Vital Role of
> Clay-Humus
> Crumb Structure and Organo-Mineral Complexes in
> Soils"
> on my web page.

> "Among the important aspects of humus in the soil,
> the most
> significant is its interaction with the clay
> constituents, which
> give rise to clay-humus."

> "In this respect two types of soil are frequently
> recognized:

>        in one the clay and humus particles are held
> together by
>        calcium ions, in the other iron (and possibly
> manganese and
>        aluminum) may replace calcium.

>   Tiulin classified the soil colloids into two
> groups:

>        The group I colloids of Tiulin comprise the
> clay-humus complex
>        which is held together by calcium ions.
> Agriculturally, it is
>        believed to be the most important type. This
> complex is largely
>        responsible for the favorable physical
> condistions found in
>        various soils and composts. The clay appears
> to have an
>        appreciable base-exchange capacity. The
> presence of calcium is
>        essential if only for ensuring the formation
> of the correct
>        type of humus.

> "Increasing the amount of soil organic matter in
> this combination is
> of great importance. The addition of clay to sandy
> soil may be as
> important as the addition of organic matter itself."

> "A certain quantity of stable manure or compost or
> mass of plant
> residues can be converted into this type of complex
> only when it is
> composted with a certain amount of clay before it is
> applied to the
> soil."

> Waksman, Selman. 1952. Soil Microbiology. John Wiley
> & Sons, New
> York. p. 129-130.

> There is relevant information on soil applied
> organic matter
> vs composted organic matter in the two volume series
> from Wallace Laboratories.... "Soil Conditioner and
> Amendment
> Technologies". 

> There is a microscope method that is a great way to
> view
> humification of soils and composts, used by
> Siegfried Luebke's
> lab in Austria.   Pike Agri-Lab in Maine put $30,000
> into a
> comparable microscope setup.

> The Humus Colorimetric Test based on the sodium
> hydroxide
> method was upgraded by Austrian soil scientists to
> handle
> the high-end humified composts from CMC.    It is
> now
> being used by several labs in the US.  Humification
> with
> CMC compost was off the charts based on the humus
> test in the old LaMotte Soil Test. 

> The Potential pH Test is simple, but interesting.
> From
> "Controlled Microbial Composting and Humus
> Management:
> Luebke Compost" on my web page. 

> "The potential pH test is a simple method for
> determining the exchange
> capacity of a soil or compost sample.  Indirectly,
> it is a measure of
> biological
> activity and degree of humification.  This test is
> described by
> Struchtemeyer
> in Basic Properties of Forest Soils (5).

> In brief, two samples are prepared.  The first
> sample is diluted with
> distilled
> water.  A pH reading of this sample will provide the
> actual pH.  The second
> sample is diluted with potassium chloride (.1 Molar
> KCl solution).  A pH
> reading of this latter sample provides the potential
> pH.

> The degree to which potassium ions displace hydrogen
> ions on the soil
> or compost colloids in solution will be reflected in
> the difference between
> the actual and potential pH readings.  This is an
> indication of the ion
> buffering capacity, or the cation exchange capacity,
> of the sample.
> When the pH readings are further apart, they are an
> indication of poor
> exchange capacity.  The aim is to achieve as little
> difference as possible;
> less than 0.5 pH units for soils and 0.3 pH units
> for compost is ideal.

> During the humification process, microbes are
> actively building
> long-chain polymers of polysaccharides and other
> molecules.
> Well-developed humus has numerous exchange sites and
> therefore
> holds hydrogen ions more tightly.  The actual pH and
> potential pH
> readings will be close together and indicate a high
> degree of microbial
> activity, humus structure, and surface area.
> Conversely, pH readings
> with divergent numbers are an indicator of poor
> humus development."

> Pfeiffer and Luebke use the terms "Breakdown and
> Buildup"
> phases of composting.  That is really a great way to
> understand
> the composting process; the phases can be integrated
> with
> temperature and pH curve charts to see how the
> process
> changes with over time.

> Steve Diver
> ATTRA
>

>
>

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


     
           
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Received on Fri Feb 04 2005 - 21:39:06 EST

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