Here's a link to a posting by Steve Diver to a permaculture list that I sometimes go back to when things look depressing... describes the importance of humic acids in soil through the addition of compost and organic matter. There are some good further references, plus some talk on leonardite and rock dusts.
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture/1997-November/004330.html
I have never seen a problem where plants suffer nitrogen deficiency because of poorly made compost, and I don't think it's because the compost I make is that good. It just looks as if our soil is so poor, that anything added to it improves its quality.
I myself would appreciate finding a list that correlates between specific problems and specific rock dusts. Maybe Lawrence L. could add
some input here. That way I would feel that the cost of the operation is worth the experiment. I sometimes do trials in small pots, but I can't say that I've seen something that seems more significant than the addition of compost and the build up of organic matter. I also have to hope that if there are benefits seen in small plants in pots, they will somehow apply also to trees in our orchard.
Joe
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.