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starling starts with ... Anyone know what trace elements I should be adding to the soil for my fruit trees? I have a slightly acid clay soil. I have been adding pure cow manure with ash from bonfires mixed into it, as well as sand, to try and condition the soil. On top of this I've put a thock layer of sugarcane mulch and on top the sugarcane I've put sorghum mulch. Not sure what trace elements to add. When I dug the beds I pretty much drowned the soil in gypsum to try and break up the very dense clay. S | About the Author 18th September 2013 1:43pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
JakfruitEttiquette says... Trace elements have well known deficiency symptoms, shown up as leaf mottling/ patterns. You could check for symptoms. They can be in excess too if over supplied. Apart from that, soil pH (6.5 to 7.0 ) is more important in governing TE availability than the actual ammount of element present in the soil. If nothing is obviously wrong, you may consider composting some of your inputs before adding, which might make elements more available. | About the Author jakfruit etiquette 18th September 2013 5:55pm #UserID: 5133 Posts: 915 View All jakfruit etiquette's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author 18th September 2013 7:26pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Boris Spasky 18th September 2013 8:41pm #UserID: 7085 Posts: 184 View All Boris Spasky's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 18th September 2013 8:45pm | |
| About the Author 18th September 2013 9:48pm #UserID: 5418 Posts: 1438 View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Chris Sydney 18th September 2013 9:52pm #UserID: 2281 Posts: 263 View All Chris 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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denise1 says... Some really good info there folks. You could do a soil test or just do the organic material adding which carries little risk of imbalance. I have seen pure clay with pine bark stripping hoed in, and then a series of green manure also hoed in. After a couple of intensive years it became a vege garden. Little else was added. Sometimes crop rotation is necessary as allelopathic residues from a crop will work against growing the same or certain other crops afterwards. The signs could mimic a mineral or T.E. deficiency. Occasionally a tree will leave an allelopathic load in the soil that can thwart the growth of other plants for years to come. In bygone centuries the gardeners main tool against disease was crop rotation, companion planting, fallowing and quality compost methods. If certain plants are not doing well,there are many options, Try another cultivar, change planting site, amend soil etc, or just grow something that has no problems because it suits the site better. | About the Author denise1 auckland NZ 19th September 2013 7:20am #UserID: 6832 Posts: 688 View All denise1's Edible Fruit Trees |
Mike says... Australian soils are very TE deficient and this is alo reflected in mulch from plants grown in deficient soils.Unless soils are from young basalt derived material or rich alluvials TE will help.Mulch is still the best soil additive and in spite of many views to the contrary I reckon basalt rock flour actually works.Allepathy shouldn't last years in biologically active soils.Pathogen loads for specific groups can last a while after the plant has gone especially for solanums,acacias and a few others.Rotation of Families would help. | About the Author 19th September 2013 7:36am #UserID: 5418 Posts: 1438 View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author yry 19th September 2013 5:57pm #UserID: 8150 Posts: 44 View All yry's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Mike says... http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Gypsum.pdf You have to be careful with using gypsum and some claims for it seem exaggerated. | About the Author 19th September 2013 6:36pm #UserID: 5418 Posts: 1438 View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author 19th September 2013 8:08pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Boris Spasky 19th September 2013 9:44pm #UserID: 7085 Posts: 184 View All Boris Spasky's Edible Fruit Trees |
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amanda says... I am now using this stuff and I am very happy with it actually? It's a rock dust - as Boris mentioned above... Even my most fertiliser-sensitive sub tropicals are totally fine with it... http://www.nofrillsfertilisers.com.au/?page_id=115 | About the Author amanda19 Leschenault (150km south of Perth) 19th September 2013 10:45pm #UserID: 2309 Posts: 4607 View All amanda19's Edible Fruit Trees |
yry says... Boris, the reason that trace element deficiency occurs is often because the soil pH is too alkaline to make the elements ionize; adding the elements to the soil does not fix the problem . Thus it is better to use foliar sprays in this situation and,also, when the roots are too cold, foliar sprays may be a better choice. Stomata are for respiration, not for trace element absorption. | About the Author yry 20th September 2013 9:18am #UserID: 8150 Posts: 44 View All yry's Edible Fruit Trees |
| About the Author 20th September 2013 10:11am #UserID: 5418 Posts: 1438 View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Boris Spasky 20th September 2013 11:44am #UserID: 7085 Posts: 184 View All Boris Spasky's Edible Fruit Trees |
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yry says... Ahem , pores in the skin do not absorb anything much ;they are for sweat and sebaceous secretions. And foliar sprays are absorbed through the cells themselves otherwise one would need to wait for stomata to open before spraying. Yes, there is chelated iron but all the other elements such as Boron ,Mn, Mg etc are not sold in chelated form. | About the Author yry 20th September 2013 12:50pm #UserID: 8150 Posts: 44 View All yry's Edible Fruit Trees |
starling says... Mike, wait a minute--magnesium? Like magnesium sulphate? So basically I could just mix up some epsom salts in water and this would count as a foliar magnesium spray? Ash is pretty much potassium and calcium, I have that sorted. Everything seems to need nitrogen....apparently trees naturally process nitrogen with molybdenum? I don't think I can buy a pound of that anywhere, people would think I'm making a dirty bomb lol S | About the Author 20th September 2013 1:05pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 20th September 2013 1:16pm | |
| About the Author 20th September 2013 1:20pm #UserID: 5418 Posts: 1438 View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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starling says... Mike thanks for the info, I think I'm just going to try for an NPK fertiliser and keep composting with organic matter. Reading a few articles right now that say apaprently MO is more important than P in nitrogen fixing--interesting. This article is pretty good, have only read the abstract but I'm going to download the PDF, let me know of you want me to forward a copy or whatnot. http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n1/abs/ngeo366.html Just out of interest, I looked up how much MO costs powdered...Jesus Mary and Joseph. Lets just say I won't be trialling it any time soon. Thanks for the feedback S | About the Author 20th September 2013 1:38pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author 20th September 2013 3:26pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author yry 20th September 2013 3:39pm #UserID: 8150 Posts: 44 View All yry's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author 20th September 2013 3:53pm #UserID: 8102 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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| About the Author Chris Sydney 20th September 2013 4:58pm #UserID: 2281 Posts: 263 View All Chris 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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2485 says... Yes you are right.I would rather mix in potting mix sand/lawn topping sand to give soil more drainage.Another alternative is to buy potting mix in bulk.like a 6x4 trailer or even in plastic buckets,find a landscaping yard that sells in bulk.Remove some of the clay soil and blend in potting mix and sand into the rest of the clay soil.Be careful with compost because it gets very soggy when wet .This is why I have suggested potting mix it has sand added but more sand will needed to counteract the effects of the clay soil.Sand helps to draw down/dry out moisture levels in soils.Again not too much sand or soil will dry too quickly,a little experimenting is needed.Plants have difficulty in uptaking minerals in soggy,compacted soils. Gypsum contains salt,dont believe all the hype. | About the Author AC1 22nd September 2013 2:35pm #UserID: 8055 Posts: 103 View All AC1's Edible Fruit Trees |