Re: [compost_tea] Inclusion of clay in compost

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 13:13:29 EST

 


But is it the clay, or the fungi, that stabilize carbon?
 
Fungi. And often by adding clay to an otherwise anaerobic pile, structure=
 
is improved. Which allows fungal growth.
 
So, everyone needs to go back and do all the compost testing over again, b=
ut
PAY ATTENTION TO THE ORGANISMS and what they are doing, this time around.
 
Grin!
 
Elaine
 
 
 

Clay is also added to compost to stabilise the humus fraction – th=
e
clay-humus complex is more stable than humus alone, and therefore more sta=
ble and
more resistant to weathering in arid and semi-arid regions. The climatic=
 
conditions in South Africa are such that on average, carbon (not clay stab=
ilised)
mineralises 5 times faster than in temperate regions, so, you need stabili=
se
it as much as possible. This is most probably the most important reason =
to
add clay to compost in arid and semi arid regions.

Stephen

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








Received on Sun Feb 06 2005 - 14:43:23 EST

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