Re: buffering
- Subject: Re: buffering
- From: J* R*
- Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 05:30:25 -0800
From: "Julia Rankin" <breckenridge@bnis.net>
Dear John,
That really is an excellent bit of research.
From the depths of ignorance, however, I must ask: what is buffering?
Julia
SZ 1-3
breckenridge@bnis.net
-----Original Message-----
From: monashee <monashee@junction.net>
To: iris-talk@onelist.com <iris-talk@onelist.com>
Date: Monday, November 16, 1998 11:46 PM
Subject: [iris-talk] Gypsum revisited
From: "monashee" <monashee@junction.net>
In spare moments I have been checking the gypsum - soil pH
question out and my results are as follows:
Gov't. Horticulturist - Gypsum will not increase soil acidity.
Soils specialist - gypsum will not increase acidity.
My chemist guru who is on a post doctoral fellowship at Scripps
Institute - Gypsum being a salt will not change soil acidity, it will
buffer the pH.
Then I went to my kitchen counter lab and prepared a concentrated
solution of Gypsum in our irrigation water. A litmus paper test
showed no discernible difference between the gypsum solution and
plain irrigation water.
The only caveat which I was able to find was a note in Rodale's
Organic Gardening to not apply gypsum when the pH is below 5.8.
No reason was given but since they also recognized that it was a
buffer, I assume it might be something to do with Calcium in acidic
soils.
I think it is safe to conclude that you can use gypsum with no fear
of acidifying your soil.
Cheers, John
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