[compost_tea] Re: Adding Lime/Calcium to Soil

From: Steve Diver <steved_at_ncat.org>
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 17:37:08 -0000

Jerry -

Glad to see you're on board and looking into
the integration of minerals and biology.  

This is a situation where a few agricultural
details make all the difference... before
anything specific can be suggested.

*soil test data
*location (geography = soil type, climate)
*soil description
*cropping and fertilization history

To really get connected to advice on calcium
in soils, cation exchange capacity, and base
saturation in the eco-farming tradition.... the
fertility management systems based on William
Albrecht and Carey Reams... then I suggest you
talk to an eco-farming lab.  Many are summarized
in the following resource list.

Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/soil-lab.html

Just this morning I had a turf manager call out
of the blue to tell me how impressed he
was with hi-cal lime, gypsum, & micronutrients,
based on the advice of an eco-farming lab in
Wisconsin... and improvements to turfgrass
quality and soil structural improvements.

All the best,

Steve Diver


--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Jerry Cunningham"
<Jerry.Cunningham_at_C...> wrote:
> I was interested in Steve Divers last post, in it was this sentence:

> "CaCO3 is hypothesized to provide high calcium base saturation
> levels to the soil, supporting plant resistance to
> insects and diseases."

> I want to add calcium to my pasture, used for grazing for two
reasons;
> 1. To feed the fungi, and 2. To floculate my heavy clay soil.

> Is CaCO3 a good way to do this? If so where do I get it. What are
some
> other ways that I can do this?

> I tried adding 5 pounds of lime to a batch of tea and it seemd to
lower the
> pH so much that it killed the biology.

> Your suggestions are appreciated.

> Jerry Cunningham
> Coyote Creek Farm





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Received on Mon Jan 10 2005 - 14:07:39 EST

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