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- From: "Shoemaker, William H" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
- To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?
- Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2011 14:07:38 +0000
Well, clearly that was better than "rocks at the hedgerow"! Thanks Brian, good coverage.
And good point about bioavailability. Rock phosphate is pretty slow to become bioavailable too, which is why commercial ag treats it with acid to make triple-super phosphate, making it more immediately useful to crops. But, if you're growing organically, you should be stimulating the biological community of your soil such that it imitates that process in a more regulated manner, meaning your crops can have their phosphorus and eat it too. Good stuff, even if a little expensive.
Bill William H. Shoemaker University of Illinois, Crop Sciences St Charles Horticulture Research Center 535 Randall Road, St Charles, IL 60174 630-584-7254, wshoemak AT illinois.edu From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] on behalf of Brian [bcluton AT aol.com]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 7:59 AM To: Market Farming Cc: Market Farming Subject: Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate? Greensand is actually derived primarily from sedimentary ocean deposits that are rich in Glauconite which is an Iron Potassium silicate and thus lends the green color. It is ultimately a weathered sedimentary formation and not a metamorphic rock such
as granite that has undergone chemical and structural changes associated with temperature and pressure. Thus you can see various degrees of crystallization in granites depending on the mineral origins, depth of deformation, cooling period, etc. Granites
tend to be EXTREMELY slow weathering which is part of the reason that we have old and big granitic mountains like the Adirondacks in NY. I only mention this because of the whole bioavailability thing again. There is very low nutrient mobility and/or nutrient
holding capacity in granite based rocks. Obviously the smaller the particle size the better but even still they are chemically locked up.
Brian
the guy with a geology degree that has used it primarily to throw rocks into the hedge row!
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[Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Thomas P Hurtgen, 12/01/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Road's End Farm, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Shoemaker, William H, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Brian, 12/02/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?, Shoemaker, William H, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Brian, 12/02/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?, Brian, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Shoemaker, William H, 12/02/2011
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?, rstewart AT zoomtown.com, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
KAKerby, 12/02/2011
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[Market-farming] transplanters,
John Ehrlich, 12/02/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] transplanters, Andy Fellenz, 12/02/2011
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[Market-farming] transplanters,
John Ehrlich, 12/02/2011
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Re: [Market-farming] What is Rock Phosphate?,
Road's End Farm, 12/02/2011
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