On Thu, 06 Mar 2003 06:16:33 GMT, (Terry Horton) wrote:

"Sustane"... I walk past a stack of it in the garage every day and
never noticed they misspell it. ;-)

Yes, well, play on words counts!

High phosphorous levels is a widespread, largely undiagnosed (or
misdiagnosed) problem for soils here in west Austin.. Stillhouse
Hollow http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/stillhouse.htm seems in
most ways typical of west Austin neighborhoods built around the same
time, and virtually every yard tested in Stillhouse showed positive
for excessive phosphorous and potassium.

Yes, but it while it may be toxic levels, it is not toxically available unless
it is met with other elements.

Compost provides soluble nutrients, beneficial microorganisms, organic
matter, humates ...and applied judiciously should be a core part of
responsible organic soil amendment. Depending on its composition
compost's nutrients may come primarily indirectly through the action
of decomposers. Some composts such as those based on poultry manure
quite high in soluble nutrients.

Correct, and it slowly seeps in feeding the organisms which produce the waste in
the form of available nitrogen. This year I am planting white Dutch clover in
the fall with an inoculant. Nitrogen will always be available that way. Of
course the perfect lawn police in my area will frown, but I personally don't
care. I have the greenest garden around.

Compost should not be used on soils where phosphorous levels are known
or suspected to be high.

Why?

BTW, our Austin tax dollars have funded an extraordinarily useful
study, "Evaluating Potential Movement of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in
City of Austin Soils Following Varying Fertility Regimes: Greenhouse
Simulations". Open the Word doc at the bottom to see the tables:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/fertstudy.htm .

I'm fortunate in that I have very deep soil. When we dug the pool, it wasn't
till we got to about 4 feet before we reached caliche.

Here it would take a weapon of mass destruction to reach 4'. :-) We're
over Edwards karst (I once discovered a small cavern while digging to
plant a Mex. buckeye). We have little springs and seeps al over the
place.

Yes, that's why I said I was fortunate. The woman at the top of the hill on my
block needed dynamite to dig her pool in the solid rock not 10 inches down. I
should let you know I'm on the east side of 35 in far northeast Round Rock, not
directly in town or in the hills. I do live in hills, but not Austin hills!

LadyBug brand can be bought at Home Depot. Sustane at Lowes.
Both 8-2-4 and have sufficient levels of phosphorous NOT to be
hazardous to our saturated with phosphorous soils.

I agree a product like Ladybug shouldn't add too significantly to the
problem. But any P will delay remediation in soils where high
phosphorous is a problem. It may also end up as runoff into our
streams and aquifers. Since phosphorus is rarely a limiting factor for
growth and bloom here it makes sense for most homeowners to use low P
organic fertilizers anyway. This year we'll use Sustane 10-1-2.

Phosphorous is very stable and doesn't move in the soil nearly as well as other
leaching materials like N or K. There's far more atrazine in our water than any
other chemical on the market. That's the "weed" in weed-n-feed products. Me, I
garden. I weed with hands and gloves. To me, gardening is a verb!

Thanks for the info,

Victoria