Re: Cult: Soil - Available iron question

Linda; i am not a chemist but i seem to remember that
the red color is ferric Iron which is rather inert. In
the presence of a more acid environment it can become
ferrous (yellow) Iron which is more usable. Bacteria
breaking down organic matter can give off organic
acids. these in turn could make the iron more
available. Desert soils often have a high calcium
content and therefore a high Ph, therefore are very
basic as opposed to acid. Of course volcanic soils
would have less calcium. The organic material in the
soil can help to moderate many effects and the soil
ecosystem with healthy diverse bacteria, fungi, etc.
all help to provide a suitable environment for plant
roots. With adequate water and your soil community
anything is possible.

--- Linda Smith <irisgrower@cableone.net> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> 
> There was some talk about the iron in our red soil. 
> Wondering if anyone
> knows or has an opinion if the iron in red soil is
> usable iron.  (Or if
> anyone else lives where the soil is red?)
> 
> For some reason I understand it is not in a usable
> form.  But the discussion
> we were having, someone suggested that they thought
> the iron became
> accessible to the plant as bacteria etc worked on
> the soil. I guess I just
> never thought about bacteria breaking down iron.
> 
> Anyone have any thoughts on this?  I do add iron to
> my soil and we have one
> other person in our group that does this.  Both of
> us have healthy plants
> but, so do some people that don't use it.
> 
> In our region, soil is almost different every so
> many miles. So we all just
> go w the flow of what we think might work and what
> our local extension
> service suggest.
> 
> Like I say, this hobby uses many skills. Not only
> does one need a strong
> back, but a wide range of help and/or
> intelligence!!!!!!! My hat is off to
> you professionals.
> 
> 
> 
> Linda in CW AZ
> 
> [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type
> Image/gif which had a name of 02.gif]
> 
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to
> majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index