To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Soil test
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:35:48 -0500
Bill and all,
Yes, sandy soil has a low CEC because it is basically inert, the silica
can't absorb or hold nutrients. Western clays have a very high CEC because
they have layers that not only attract cations to their surface, but adsorb
them in between layers. Eastern clays have had many of these binding sites
filled by hydrogen, and have a much reduced adsorption capacity, mostly they
just absorb. Cations are alkaline ions, and the best ratio to have in your
soil is something like 70% Ca, 15% Mg, 5% K and under 1% Na. (Don't quote
me on this, my book's still out on loan.) As most poisons are alkaline in
nature, clays have long been used to protect from them. Kaopectate will
absorb toxins from a bacterial infection of the gut, so you don't have
anymore symptoms. Acorns do not need leaching if you cook them with enough
clay, preferably western clay with a very high CEC. There was a National
Geographic article showing flocks of macaws eating clay during the time of
year when their main food is seeds with lots of toxins designed to ummm...
keep things from eating them.
If you had a high CEC soil that was well balanced, you could "mine" it
for many years without adding nutrients... but the person who inherited it
would have a hard time fixing it back again. Donna