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Is organic gardening viable?
On 25 Feb 2004 14:56:03 +1100, Ivan McDonagh
wrote: Janice wrote in : The main thing wrong with using chemical fertilizers other than their limiting factors, is they seemingly burn the organic matter from the soil! Or maybe it's just that it doesn't add any, and it builds up salts in the soil, which will soon ruin your soil. If there is lots organic matter used, it buffers those salts, water etc. As I understand it, and I'm willing to be corrected on this, factory fertilisers cause faster degradation of humus by allowing a greater quantity of plants to grow. More plants, of course, leads directly to greater consumption of humus. The other factor, which is present regardless of preferred fertiliser regime, is that of oxygenation. When we till the soil we are introducing vastly increased amounts of oxygen and all the little bugs 'n' stuff just go consumption crazy. Regarding buildup of salts I understand this to be correct which is why responsible use of fertilisers includes using lime. Lime was always mentioned in the garden books.. which is totally inappropriate for my part of the world, as the soils are already alkaline. So, I figure each person should be aware of their soil PH and treat it accordingly. Like I read somewhere that one should not put Oak leaves in the compost bin, because they make it too acidic. That made Me think I should actively seek out oak leaves as my soil is alkaline, and in some areas, like where I'm trying to grow blueberries in areas where all the soil was dug out and a sandy mix of soil and peat moss was mixed and put back into the trenches. I could use some compost that leans to the acidic for that area. It's all relative ;-) Janice I'm not sure that humus does act as a buffer since it is pH neutral. It may allow a greater distribution of the salts so that the effect isn't as immediately noticable but an acid build up is unavoidable no matter what fertiliser is used. If you need to use the chemical fertilizers, use LOTS of organic matter too. Yes, that is what my personal thoughts are and also the recommendation of the book that started this whole thing. Janice Thanks, Ivan. |
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