Billy wrote:
....
http://www.redding.com/news/2013/mar...y-other-steps-
before-adding-to/
[S]ymptoms of magnesium deficiency appear in older leaves, which show
yellowing leaf edges and eventually nearly white veins, the rest of the
leaf remaining green, a ³Christmas tree pattern,² as the University of
California-Davis calls it. This usually happens where soil is acidic,
and neutralizing it with dolomite lime will take care of the magnesium
deficiency.

Only if a large number of leaves is affected would one spray with a
dilution of Epsom salts (MgSO4) and then in a ratio of a pinch to a
gallon.

The good news is that if you enrich your soil with organic matter
(finished compost, well-rotted manure and the like) several times a
year, you can grow healthy plants without the addition of anything but
nitrogen.

Most of our soils contain all of the nutrients needed for a healthy
garden, but our hot summers bake these nutrients out, so you need to
replace them. Attn: songbird

or keep the ground covered with green stuff
and mulches.

growing a mixed legume cover crop should supply
plenty of nitrogen when turned under, wait a few
weeks and then plant.

if you need an extra boost of nitrogen and there
is no time to grow a cover crop then the nutrients
provided by worm poo (made from mixed scraps) is a
much better additive.


songbird