RE: Soil mineral replenishment?
- To: "'pumpkins@mallorn.com'"
- Subject: RE: Soil mineral replenishment?
- From: M* C*
- Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 17:37:28 -0800
> > [Michalec, Chris] Compost is great. Problem is, if your soil is
> > already high in organic matter adding compost will prevent it from
> draining
> > properly. I can't recall what the optimum levels are for organic
> matter
>
> Huh? Uh, compost IS organic matter, so, adding it will, if anything, help
> solve that problem. (?) WRONG
> > right now, but if you get too much you have trouble. Just ask the
> > Pumpkinguru who once turned his whole patch into a gigantic compost
> pile
> and
> > burned up everything he tried to grow in it.
> Nooooooo, compost does not "burn" anything. You are talking about
> something
> else, like UNcomposted material or straight UNcomposted manure. Yes it
> was a lot of incompletely composted material. If compsot
> "burned", then everything in our forests and natural habitats would be
> burning. Compost is perfectly balanced organic material. It holds
> moisture, it
> drains well, etc. Of course certain plants prefer different ratios of
> organic
> matter to sand or whatever in their soil, but compost can't burn. I'll
> concede that, but if it's still composting it will cook your seeds or
> plants.
>
> > a delicate balancing act. Too much of anything will cause problems.
> If
> all
> > you need is trace elements then you look for things that can supply
> them
> > more directly.
> > Chris Michalec
> > Covington, WA
>
> But that is what CAUSES the imbalances, Just growing AG pumpkins in your
> soil will cause imbalances, they are heavy feeders, what they take from
> the soil is not necessarily going to be replenished in the proper
> proportions just by adding compost. It may help for a few years, but grow
> them in the same place long enough and you will end up with deficiencies
> that compost won't make up. when you start trying to play God and
> start "making up for deficiencies" by adding a little of this and a little
> of
> that, which causes something else to become unbalanced, so you try to fix
> that
> by adding a little of something else, which causes yet 2 more previously
> unaffected things to become unbalanced, which you try to fix by adding
> something else which might raise or lower the pH which will cause several
> other thing not to be taken up right, so you add something ELSE to adjust
> the
> pH back, which in effect, creates once again, a deficiency in the element
> you
> were trying to correct in the first place! Nature KNOWS what plants need,
> and
> it has all been worked out over millions and millions of years, why mess
> with
> it?! When you start using chemicals and trying to "cure" deficiancies
> checmically, you are just opening up a whole new bag of worms. Thanks,
> I'll take the worms. Yes compost is great stuff and I love to see it when
> it's full of worms. But I also believe in better living through
> chemistry. You cannot answer all your problems by building a bigger
> compost pile and spreading it on your patch. I don't consider it playing
> "God" to use amendments to help bring your soil into balance. Besides,
> thousand pound pumpkins weren't exactly something found in nature. They
> were developed through a lot of trial and error and hard work and
> determination by Mr. Dill and others who have built on his foundation.
> Some areas have soil that you cannot grow anything in and that is just as
> natural as deep rich loam and humus. We don't all have that to work with.
> The soil I grow in is very high in organic matter. If I add as much
> compost as I would need to bring the nutrient levels up the the optimum I
> would be too high in organic matter. It would hold too much moisture and
> not allow oxygen to get to the plants roots. I didn't plan on getting
> into a pissing contest with someone who probably hasn't walked this earth
> as long as I have been scratching it. You grow your pumpkins on your
> compost pile and I'll grow mine using all the resources and knowledge I
> can access. That means compost, organics, and better living through
> chemistry and we'll see who's pumpkins weigh in heavier in October. Go
> back to the second sentence at the top of the page. Too much of a good
> thing can be bad!
>
You know who, from you know where.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
