Douglas Hinds wrote:
... mixing compost with rock dust will help prevent leaching of the nutrients in the compost. Micronutrients in the dust will nourish the bacteria and fungi in the compost creating new nutrient cycling, tieing up some NPK in the compost by those microorganisms which then release them to your trees while significantly enriching your soil mix with substances (chitin) that contribute to tilth and water and nutrient holding capacity.That alone should increase total nutrient availability to your trees. I would use 50/50 rockdust/compost...Have you considered applying enhanced compost tea? ...I prefer the addition of a generous amount of compost each year, as I am primarily interested in the constant build-up of organic and humic matter at the base of the trees, and its interaction with the soil.
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The primary function of compost tea is not to enhance the soil's fertility but rather, to increase the presence, activity and diversity of soil microorganisms that generate growth stimulating phyto-hormones and substances with antibiotic activity against pathogens. IOW: Although soil organisms are also responsible for capturing and facilitating the assimilation of nutrients by plants, compost tea is used as a means to provide resistance to pests and disease to a greater extent than compost, since it adheres to the plant's foliage - something compost doesn't do. One is mainly directed toward soil improvement, the other toward crop protection.
***************** Thanks for reminding us of this, Douglas. I captured the lengthy thread in sanet a few years ago where Elaine explains all this in great detail. It was one of those classic debates. Does compost tea work to protect plants from disease and how. I have all that archived. LL -- Lawrence F. London, Jr. Venaura Farm lfl@intrex.net http://market-farming.com http://market-farming.com/venaurafarm http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com/ http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech ******************************************************** To unsubscribe from SANET-MG: 1- Visit http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html to unsubscribe or; 2- Send a message to <listserv@sare.org> from the address subscribed to the list. Type "unsubscribe sanet-mg" in the body of the message. Visit the SANET-MG archives at: http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html. Questions? Visit http://www.sare.org/about/sanetFAQ.htm. For more information on grants and other resources available through the SARE program, please visit http://www.sare.org.