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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Test
  • Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:29:26 -0800

eureka AT hctc.net wrote:

Yes, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer. I presume peat moss, like the other soil amendments readily avialable, pine mulch and cotton seed hull compost, etc. leach acid into the soil when it is watered...is that where you are headed with your questioning? I tried growing blueberries in this without success, the alkaline soils won out after a year.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas


you know sage, i'm planning to do blueberries in raised beds. the ones in the ground are pitiful after 10 years. i could never seem to get enough fertilizer on them.

they say that real alkalinity is hard to ovecome. in droughty places, there's never enough rain to wash away sodium buildup. each watering only adds more. have you tried sulfur? it's the only thing that works for my farmer/nephew in Yuma. the sodium is still there, but at least it's neutralized to form sulfites and sulfates.

i assumed that peat moss was already as leached as can be, so i have an alternate theory. organic acids basically just have a carboxyl group (-COOH) attached to them, like vinegar (CH3COOH). but as molecules become larger, they're less likely to be soluble. so why not huge organic molecules left over from anaerobic decomposition of cellulose, with lots of -COOH groups attached? now the mechanism would not be leaching out acid, but sucking up metallic ions like Ca++ and Na+. this seems reasonable to me, a total chem novice, but i'm just guessing.

bill
s. oregon coast




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