Seamaiden
Living dead girl
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Generally Ca loosens while Mg binds. How quickly the crushed oyster shell works is like DL--very much a function of the acidity of the soil or water column it's exposed to. At a pH of about 4-4.5 oyster shell fizzles, which means it's reacting. My experiments using DL in a water column of a pH of about 6 is that it will bring it up to about 8 or so within 1-2hrs.Knowing is 1/2 the battle
@Lazerus00 yes, oyster can act as a buffer BUT can generations of farmers be wrong?
Dolomite or sweet lime has been used a long time. I suppose it 'could' tighten up the soil but my guess would be you overdosed the lime or didn't have a proper ratio of aeration/permeable amendments ie perlite, rice hulls, etc...
Crushed shell probably is going to take a long time to affect/buffer pH. Crushed shell is what ya feed to chickens;)
That's the same reason why you don't want granular lime, it takes a long time to do anything.
Very well said. I too use gypsum for the same reason. Awesome stuff that gets over looked a lot. As always ur a fountain of information. Respect.@Tnelz -- I avoid dolomite lime for that reason, my soils are very, very tight and heavy and very poor in Ca levels. Adding Mg makes the tightness worse. I use gypsum to loosen it up without affecting pH. It also gives S.
Generally Ca loosens while Mg binds. How quickly the crushed oyster shell works is like DL--very much a function of the acidity of the soil or water column it's exposed to. At a pH of about 4-4.5 oyster shell fizzles, which means it's reacting. My experiments using DL in a water column of a pH of about 6 is that it will bring it up to about 8 or so within 1-2hrs.
hahahahaha....I noticed that like a day after I posted my comment! I didn't realize the first time that you listed it as an ingredient!...lol...sorry bro...but hey, I learned something!Both(actually all 3) are listed in my recipe I posted BTW so this has become a moot point
Hey rub the nub! How long do you let your soil cook?! Or do you even?Simple and easy, cheap too.
1/3 sphagnum peat
1/3 compost
1/3 perlite
You'll need to add lime to that mix.
I like the following recipe,
1 3.8 cu. ft. bale of sphagnum
1 4 cu. ft. bag of perlite
8 packed FULL 5 gal. buckets of compost, you'll want 4 cu. ft.
(bags of compost from a box store 'should' work in a pinch, I'm sure EWC would be great, although a little pricey)
5 lbs of Dolomite lime
that will yield close to 12 cu. ft. or 90 gallons of soil
you can use 'as is' with any nutrient line
OR
go organic(this is where you'll start adding costs ;)) this what I like to add
5-7 lbs bone meal
5-7 lbs alfalfa meal
4-5 lbs greensand
4-5 lbs kelp meal
4-5 lbs oyster shell flour
4-5 lbs gypsum
4-5 lbs all purpose organic fertilizer, espoma, sustane, etc..
2 cups of azomite(rock dust)
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