Re: [compost_tea] Dandelions and Ca

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 02:35:55 -0400

I have to smile on this one. There was an Extension study done where they put calcium on some composites (of which dandelions are a type). They gleefully announced that adding calcium didn't do a thing to slow the dandelions down.

Does this prove that I don't know what I'm talking about?

How much calcium is needed to get the grasses to have teh nutrition they need to outcompoete the dandelions? Did the study put anywhere near enough calcium down?

And when would I say to just add some inorganic nutrient? Snort. The life in the soil had to be fixed as well. Duh. There isn't much point in adding calcium to the soil unless the fungi and bacteria are improved as well.

The extension guys didn't measure the life in the soil. Of course not!

So of course they failed. Maybe they should try to figure out how productive grassland ecosystems manage to not have weed problems. That seems to escape their notice somehow.

Anyway, the point is, you have to get the biology balanced in your soil in order to have the addition of THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF calcium start helping your plants compete against plants like dandelions.

If you add calcium, without improving fungi, the calcium just leaches and ends up at too high levels in your drinking water.

And how much calcium is it that needs to be added? How low is the calcium level in your soil? How bad is the plant not-available calcium conversion system in your soil? No protozoa? No nematodes? No microarthropods? No mycorrhizal fungi? Sorry, the calcium may stay on and in the fungi......

Are you going to measure all these things? Why not just get out there and start improving your biology, and then add increasing amounts of Ca? Find out for yourself what your lawns needs. I actually like to add the calcium to my lawn as as eggshells. I keep promising myself that I'll take a picture of the not-calcium, versus plus calcium areas of my lawn so everyone else can see.

Maybe this week?

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

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Received on Thu May 08 2003 - 10:55:40 EDT

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