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#1
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do all leaves and branches make the soil more acid??
I know that pine needles acidify the soil and that oak leaves also
acidify the soil. But what about all other kinds of leaves and branches? Is it only pine and oak leaves and branches? I would think that all green leaves and branches acidify the soil. I did some searching but found no research that addresses this question. Basically I want to know if all green leaves and branches act to acidify the soil when used as a mulch? I cannot think of any alkali or salts in plant tissue, so that plant leaves and branches are either acid or neutral. Question: how good is newspaper as a acidifer? Archimedes Plutonium www.iw.net/~a_plutonium whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies |
#2
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do all leaves and branches make the soil more acid??
a_plutonium wrote:
I know that pine needles acidify the soil and that oak leaves also acidify the soil. But what about all other kinds of leaves and branches? Is it only pine and oak leaves and branches? I would think that all green leaves and branches acidify the soil. I did some searching but found no research that addresses this question. Basically I want to know if all green leaves and branches act to acidify the soil when used as a mulch? I cannot think of any alkali or salts in plant tissue, so that plant leaves and branches are either acid or neutral. Almost all soil organic matter is acidic and comes from plants for the most part. So I think the answer is yes. --- www.analyticalchem.com |
#3
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do all leaves and branches make the soil more acid??
On Jun 8, 7:32 am, Sassman wrote:
a_plutonium wrote: I know that pine needles acidify the soil and that oak leaves also acidify the soil. But what about all other kinds of leaves and branches? Is it only pine and oak leaves and branches? I would think that all green leaves and branches acidify the soil. I did some searching but found no research that addresses this question. Basically I want to know if all green leaves and branches act to acidify the soil when used as a mulch? I cannot think of any alkali or salts in plant tissue, so that plant leaves and branches are either acid or neutral. Almost all soil organic matter is acidic and comes from plants for the most part. So I think the answer is yes. ---www.analyticalchem.com Look up tannic acid. I think this accounts for the acidic nature of leaves and leaf-based humus/mulch. |
#4
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do all leaves and branches make the soil more acid??
BAJJERFAN wrote:
Look up tannic acid. I think this accounts for the acidic nature of leaves and leaf-based humus/mulch. And the acidic organics in soil are humic acid and fulvic acid which the result of degradation of plant materials. --- www.analyticalchem.com |
#5
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how do plants interact with creosote wood? do all leaves and branches make the soil more acid??
Sassman wrote: Almost all soil organic matter is acidic and comes from plants for the most part. So I think the answer is yes. --- www.analyticalchem.com Thanks. Does someone know how plant roots interact with creosote treated wood. I suppose the creosote is coal tar based and contains benzene and other carcinogens. But to a plant, would creosote be a good additive to a alkali soil making it more acidic. And would the plant be free of any carcinogens. I have rows of old railroad ties and the trees along these two rows have performed the best in growth compared to other saplings, especially the pine trees and the grape vine. Archimedes Plutonium www.iw.net/~a_plutonium whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies |
#6
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how do plants interact with creosote wood? do all leavesand branches make the soil more acid??
Thanks. Does someone know how plant roots interact with creosote
treated wood. I suppose the creosote is coal tar based and contains benzene and other carcinogens. But to a plant, would creosote be a good additive to a alkali soil making it more acidic. And would the plant be free of any carcinogens. I have rows of old railroad ties and the trees along these two rows have performed the best in growth compared to other saplings, especially the pine trees and the grape vine. I suspect that the nice growth of plants near the railroad ties is due to factors not related to chemicals. Maybe drainage, shading, or a different soil type in this area? The amount of chemicals that will leach from the treated wood will decrease over time as more water soluble and/or biodegradable species go away. Those compounds left in the wood are insoluble and hence cannot get out of the wood. My only concern about carcinogens in the plants would be chromium. If you have chromium treated wood there, it may be a problem if you plant to eat the plants. --- www.analyticalchem.com |
#7
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how do plants interact with creosote wood? do all leavesand branches make the soil more acid??
Sassman wrote:
Thanks. Does someone know how plant roots interact with creosote treated wood. I suppose the creosote is coal tar based and contains benzene and other carcinogens. But to a plant, would creosote be a good additive to a alkali soil making it more acidic. And would the plant be free of any carcinogens. I have rows of old railroad ties and the trees along these two rows have performed the best in growth compared to other saplings, especially the pine trees and the grape vine. I suspect that the nice growth of plants near the railroad ties is due to factors not related to chemicals. Maybe drainage, shading, or a different soil type in this area? The amount of chemicals that will leach from the treated wood will decrease over time as more water soluble and/or biodegradable species go away. Those compounds left in the wood are insoluble and hence cannot get out of the wood. My only concern about carcinogens in the plants would be chromium. If you have chromium treated wood there, it may be a problem if you plant to eat the plants. --- www.analyticalchem.com I doubt that chromium is in that wood at all if it really was intended for railroad ties. Chromium compounds are too expensive for the large number of ties that railroads use. It is almost certainly some kind of creosote type preservative. As for the carcinogens thus contained they will have been exposed to a long amount of oxidation by air, UV radiation, and leaching by rain that would diminish such materials considerably. FK |
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