Re: CULT:Fertilization (Was Iris Myths)

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From: m*@junction.net

To: i*@onelist.com

Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 1:45 AM

Subject: Re: [iris-talk]CULT:Fertilization (Was Iris Myths)

From: John Montgomery <m*@junction.net>

Gullo wrote:
>

> temperatures are achieved.  One has to look seriously at the possibility that
> when a sterilized soil is planted in with plants carrying the rot producing
> microbes ( whether showing active disease or not ) at the potential for said
> microbes getting a strong foothold in the absence of other competing organisms.
>
This may be a reasonable hypothesis but I am not sure that the disease
would become much worse in "clean" soil or untreated soil.  If infected
plants are introduced to a garden, they will probably rot whether or not
the soil has been sterilized.  The rate of spread may vary but
eventually the outcome will' I expect be about the same.

>  Heavy applications of compost
> (again I would think hot compost especially) could under conditions of high heat,
> humidity or moisture result in in more problems.
>

There is an awful lot that I do not know about compost but I use it
heavily and without problems.
There are at least two ways to think of compost or rather motives for
using it.
      1) As a fertilizer.
      2) As a soil amendment.

Most analyses of compost which I have read, indicate that it has a
fairly low NPK content. despite this, it does produce very real increase
in growth. Our soil is quite sandy and we get almost no useful amounts
of rain during the summer. This combined with temperatures in the 90's
produces a situation where I believe it is imperative that I add as much
humus to the soil as I can. Whether the resulting growth is due to the
typical fertilizer chemicals in the compost or to the provision of
increased water retention or increased microbial or catalytic reactions,
I don't know.  Probably it is all three but on our soil anyway, I don't
think it does a whole lot in terms ofwater retention.

I suspect that the beneficial results are mostly due to better soil
tilth and the addition of microscopic organisms.  I probably should say
here, that I do not mulch with compost but till it into the soil before
planting.  When I mulch it is with hog fuel which is a combination of
waste wood products (bark, wood chips & sawdust) from a local plywood
mill. My aim here is to retain moisture and for this purpose it works
well. A sprinkling of urea or other high nitrogen fertilizer in the
first year will prevent nitrogen deficiency and thereafter it seems to
reach an equilibrium as the hog fuel gradually is turned into humus.

> Climate Conditions-sort of a general term to encompass temperature , humidity and
> moisture.
>
I agree that high temperature combined with high humidity must be a
difficult problem to cope with. When it is hot here, the humidity will
usually be extremely low and we have to irrigate quite heavily.

This brings to mind an observation.  I am certain that when we get a
good summer rain, that almost everything responds to it with better
growth than I can see after an equivalent amount of irrigation.  Of
course our irrigation water will be cooler than a summer rain and that
may be important.  What I really do wonder about though is the amount of
chlorine in the water. During the summer it is very heavily chlorinated.
It is irritating to your eyes in the shower and we do not drink it
(primarily because of the taste.) Chlorine is quite volatile and the
people at the irrigation district office think that it will have pretty
much evaporated before hitting the surface, when overhead irrigation is
used.

I remain sceptical, however, and wonder if a shower bath of chlorinated
water does affect the plants.  Some of you must water with untreated
water and it would be interesting to know if you observe similar
results.

I guess I am straying from the topic here and this post is already too
long.

Cheers
John Montgomery
Vernon  BC  Zone 5

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