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[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

Lynda wrote:

> You're getting too much fertilizer.  Grow some peas around them, toss some 
> coffee grounds and mulch with pine needles not compost.  Or, if you cut your 
> own firewood, you can mulch with Doug Fir and pine shavings, chips, etc.
>
>  
I've been a bit lazy, and they're in a seasonal water course.  The 
little alfalfa I tossed around usually rinsed away before it did any 
good.  The peat moss and other mulches did the same.  They're well known 
for requiring large amounts of fertlizer, as opposed to none 
(successfully), in my case.

> Drought areas don't have much to do with alkaline vs. acidic.  We're in what 
> would be called a permanent drought area and the soil is very acid.
>
>  
It that why my greenhouse, where it never rains at all, has a layer of 
white alkali just as in a desert?

> If you are growing your own peat moss (sorghum, not "muck") then that is 
> what happens to the surrounding ground.  Once the peat is "dead," it stops 
> the ionizing.
>  
I'll have to read Bev's post before I respond to that.

> Lynda
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Jones" <billj AT harborside.com>
>  
>
> > 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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