Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Soilsecrets@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/10/2006 12:11:23 A.M. Mountain Standard Time, tradingpost@lobo.net writes:

But wouldn't you advise
composting these amendments for surface application rather than turning
them under and depleting existing humus?

I don't agree with turning it over as this disrupts what little flora and fauna may still be on the site.  Sheet composting of the material if there is enough of it and if you can irrigate and keep it moist enough works.  If you can't do that, grow and collect more organic matter for composting in a controlled environment.  Also, avoid using animal manures as an organic matter amendment as this can and will cause an osmotic potential imbalance which will haunt you.  Soils of New Mexico and the west, unless you are in a precipitation zone of 20 inches or greater, are almost always high in salts and manures will only make that problem worse.  Composting manures will only concentrate the salts making a very high salt index product that I would not use on my soils.   In the east where it rains 40 inches or greater almost every  year, they have the opposite problem with excessive leaching of minerals/salts.This is where remineralizing is needed using such products as rock dust, calcium and so forth.  But it's not needed in the west where leaching cannot overcome the evaporation rate.

 

Dr. Michael