Re: [compost_tea] soil chemistry facts

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 17:39:38 EDT

Thomas -

Parent material is the mineral fraction of the soil. This is a standard soil
term.

I did not say that there is an inconsequential amount of nutrients in 1 to 3
tons of compost. Please re-rread my e-mail.

When you consider soil that has less than 0.5% organic matter in it, and you
need to have the total set of nutrients or even the exchangeable nutrients
turned into available nutrients for the plants, you either have to add compost,
with all of the great sets of available nutrients in it, or (!) you have to add
compost so the great set of diverse organisms in it begin the job of
solubilizing the massive set of nutrients locked up in the soil parent matterial.

You are trying to make it sound as if I was arguing against compost, when my
message was nothing of the kind.

I don't like when someone tries to get argumentative, and tries to tell me I
am saying something that I never said! Please stop doing that.

The organisms - whether from compost, or compost tea, will solubilize the
massive set of total nutrients tied up in plant-not-available forms in the soil.

The point of my message was that INORGANIC FERTILIZER is absolutely a waste
of people's money, except for that short period of time when you are trying to
get the organisms established, and have to have soluble nutrients present for
your plants don't die of lack of available nutrients.

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 Sat Sep 04 2004 - 18:25:39 EDT

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