Re: [compost_tea] moss control ?

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 00:48:50 -0500

Hi Reece -

How's the tea brewing going? Is the sludge on the bottom of the brewer getting dealt with?

For moss control, what you need to do is provide the nutrient that is lacking in the soil, and is why the moss can out-compete the grass.

So, what is that nutrient? I believe there is some good evidence from the turf folks at Oregon State to indicate that iron is the limitation.

But if you test your soil, the soil chemistry report will come back and say that iron is in excess.

Explain that one.

So, I'll explain what's going on. The extracting chemicals that most soil chemistry labs use are quite harsh, and extract iron that is not available to the plant. If the soil has become compacted and anaerobic, iro will be reduced, but the instant any air enters the picture, the iron will precipitate as hydride. Not plant available.

It takes the proper biology to minieralize that hydride material back into a plant available form. But the proper biology will not survive anaerobic conditions.

So, the recommendation from the turf folk is to add ferric sulfate. Which kills the fungi, which are the organisms which are responsible for mineralizing hydride material.

It means you keep applying more iron, and keep killing the fungi. Is it that the turf folk don't understand what they are really doing, or are they just trying to keep you buying the product that is sold by the company that provides funding to their society?

Anyway, how do you get off the treadmill? You need iron in a plant available form, that does not kill the fungi, and may in fact allow fungi to grow better.

The form of iron? Ferric citrate. So, same dosage as the ferric sulfate, just make it ferric citrate. Encourages some good bacteria, as well as some fungi. Probably still want to follow up with some better fungal foods, and possibly an inoculum of beneficial fungi, if you need to improve diversity of the fungi.

OK?

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 Tue Jan 06 2004 - 04:29:15 EST

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