View Single Post
  #12   Report Post  
Old 19-08-2008, 08:14 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
news-search news-search is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Aug 2008
Posts: 1
Default Have you used sulphur?

www.locoworks.com ha scritto:
I hae been told that it helps to remove harmful organisms from the
soil. I am dubious. Have you had real-word experience with it?


There is something right in it. I have read all the answers and I think
the most clear in explaining this issues are those of Billy.
Sulphur lowers the soil pH and then make the fungus more competive than
bacterias whose better pH is around 7 (neutrality).
This fact make the fungus more present in acidic soils like those of
pinewoods, whose organic matter decompose more slowly.
But as Billy said before a lower pH frees up nutrients (really frees up
some micro-nutrients and some of the soil phosphorous).
But if micronutrients are too much available they can be toxic for
humans and plants too (for the humans particularly: lead, aluminium and
others, that are more frequent in polluted soils).
Instead of sulphur I suggest you to use green manure with some species
of brassicaceae plant family like Sinapis alba and Rhaphanus sativus.
These species and also garlic are useful against soil organisms and they
contain and adsorb from the soil the same sulphur you were advised to use.
You can find more about this issue in the following sites I've just
found through a Google search (I think these links could be useful
according to your question, but as someone say ...there are also some
disadvantages in using them):

http://www2.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/pr/gar...hite_must.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/...l?Sinapis+alba
http://wsare.usu.edu/pro/fieldrep_00...al/sw95021.pdf
I hope this could help,
Bye

Luca Fianchini - Italy

You can find me also he
http://www.agrolinker.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl (discussion forum about
agriculture in USA, Europe, etc)
http://www.agrolinker.co.uk/ (articles and news about agriculture and
landscaping)