Re: [compost_tea] soil chemistry facts

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 02:33:34 EDT


Lynton asked -
My first question is about trace elements. For eg, in NZ there is said to be
a shortage of Selenium (among other things).
Nope, no shortage of Selenium in any of your soils. It may not be available
for your plants, but there is definately plenty of Se in the soil.

Locked up - correct. But how do you "un-lock" any locked up nutrient?

You get the proper biology back in the soil.

Just exactly how do you do that? You have to have GOOD compost. That means
checking the compost for organisms.

If you don't bother making sure you have the organisms, just quit now and
apply toxic chemicals for the rest of your life.

Not checking to make sure you have what you THINK you have is like assuming
that when someone says there's anti-biotic in your medicine, it is actually
there. Why do we have the FDA? People try to sell bad things all the time.
Regulations are unfortunately necessary.

Also, of course, the result of the NPK mindset is that what Se there is has
been further locked out). Isn't there a case for 'dosing' the soil (via
compost preferably) (or plants or animals) with the likes of Se, Cu, etc?

Only if you REALLY are out of nutrients. And we are looking at the FACT that
there is NO AGRICULTURAL SOIL, in the US or in Austrailia where we really
have LOST anything!!!!!

Do you have soils in NZ where you have actually lost, completely, or to below
plant-requirement levels, any nutrient? I am not aware that anyone has ever
documented that. Perhaps the nutrients are not available, but that doesn't
mean you need to add back in more nutrients. It's a waste of your money, and
destroys water quality.

Lynton wrote:
Then there is the question of soil type. For example could a sandy soil be
lower in nutrients and need suppliments? (extreme case: sand itself).

Any hard data for that? No - there's plenty of any nutrient in any soi,
straight sand or otherwise. The nutrient is present in the soil - not available,
perhaps, but again, that doesn't mean you add more of something you already
have plenty of.

Lynton wrote:
And thirdly, what about climate? I am thinking that a wet climate would
have more opportunity to leach minerals, while a dry climate would retain
them (one of Albrecht's theories).

That's the theory, of course. But where's the data? All we have is that
exchangeable nutrients are lacking.

That doesn't mean add something that is in plenty in your soil. You have to
get the biology back. That's all, They'll move those nutrients from the huge
storage concentration of nutrients, but not-available nutrients, into the
available nutrients.

Why buy something you don't need? Get the biology back, and never add more
chemicals.

This has been an eye-opener for me. I've been saying, you have to add back
into the soil the nutrients you take off in the crop.

But the DATA show that is not true! We have 15,000 years of PO4 sequestered
in most ag soils. You don't need more!

Lynton wrote:
I've done a bit of reading of different theories recently, and one thing
that stands out is the health of plants and animals grown on the
Albrecht-Reams-Beddoe chemical approach. And when I buy vegetables and fruit
(organic of course), most have blemishes and don't keep long - signs of lack
of health, and I'm assuming mineral deficiency. (One exception that stands
out in memory is some BD apples grown in Hawkes Bay).

Lynton, think this through. Just because you stop using toxic pesticides,
have you got your biology back? Properly balanced?

No. Many organic people do not make compost properly. They kill the biology
by using copper sulfate, rotenone, peroxide, and so forth. Aren't those
toxic chemicals? what's the effect on the biology?

Death.

Albrecht - Reams are looking at EXCHANGEABLE nutrients. Are the nutrients in
your soil in a plant available form? No, they aren't.

Why not? You don't have the biology you need to make teh nutrients
available.

Start working on how you get the biology right. The sign that you are doing
it right is when you don't need to add nutrients, when your roots are down a
metter or more into the soil. Easy to assay? Sure.

OK? Did I make the message clear this time? I apprecaite you asking when
something I say isn't clear. and I apprecaite that your resopnse isn't nasty,
attacking or arrogant. I try my best not to be any of the above, but sometimes
I don't always get the fact that people take what I say as me attacking.
Hope you don't interpret my response in that light. Just trying to be
arrow-clear.

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






Received on Sun Aug 29 2004 - 11:47:02 EDT

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