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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Long term soil sweetening

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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Long term soil sweetening
  • Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 12:25:38 -0500

You have to be very careful when applying amendments that raise soil pH
because if you apply too much correcting that is difficult and time
consuming, usually done withelemental sulphur.
My advice is to raise pH only where you need it, i.e. where you plan to
plant gardens, orchards and pasture, meadow or hay crops.

Materials that can be used include

dolomitic lime
high calcium lime
aragonite
pulverized shell meal (oyster, clam, etc.)
quarry rock dusts

I recommend using a combination of very conservative amounts of each
(except for the quarry dusts which can be applied by the ton) on plantings
that need it, i.e. grass and clover like high pH while blueberries are
calciphobes and like an acid soil (only apply quarry dust plus any needed
nitrogen, potash in the form of greensand or azomite and rock or colloidal
phosphate.

Rule of thumb is to raise soil pH only as needed and with very sparing use
of amendments.

dolomitic lime has magnesium so if you apply too much too often you can
render your soil unable to support plant growth and it takes a long time
returning it to normal or neutral pH.
The same is true with using wod ashes; great care needs to be exercised
when applying it. Use it in small quantities with other amendments or
spread it far and wide on fields or throughout orchards

On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 7:49 AM, Elizabeth Hilborn <ehilborn@mebtel.net>
wrote:

> Hi folks, I am a newbie to the group and to permaculture.
>
> I just started a project (still at the thinking and planning stage) in the
> mid-Atlantic US for a sloping parcel with a plan for pasture at the flat
> top, fruit trees on the slope, and vegetables on the fertile bottom.
>
> My overriding issue is the inherent acidity of the soil. Can I spread
> crushed oyster shell (sold for chicken feed) on the land for a long-lasting
> solution. I am looking for longevity, because I do not want to be spreading
> lime every 2-3 years.
>
> In colonial New England, they used crushed oyster shells to sweeten the
> soil. The bigger fragments of shells are still there in old fields, slowly
> leaching away, so I know this is potentially a long term solution.
>
> However, I do not know how to calculate the correct amount of crushed
> shell to apply given pH, and area. Do I need other soil quality parameters?
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Betsy Hilborn
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--
Lawrence F. London
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
http://www.avantgeared.com
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