I know this is austin.gardening but:

1. I thought this would be interesting to know for members of this ng to
know for future reference of someone trapsin' through.

2. Has anyone ever heard of this? (Nitro-phos website is not up)

3. Does anyone know about Shale in general and how it might help the
soil?


EARTH-KIND PROJECT NETS SURPRISE SOLUTION FOR HOUSTON'S GUMBO SOILS! =


Caldwell Pink, an antique rose, was one of the winners in a new Texas =

program called EarthKind Roses, instituted by Texas A&M to identify the =

toughest landscape roses for Southern climates that would perform
without =

chemicals and with very little maintenance. Other winners were =98Livin'=
=

Easy, The Fairy,Sea Foam, Pearle Or, Marie Daly and Belinda's Dream. =

=

During these trials, a wide variety of roses were tortured beyond belief
and =

the winners were awarded the EarthKind title. Learn about their =

experimentation conditions (worse than even lazy gardeners inflict!) at =

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkindrose or by requesting a free =

EarthKind packet from: Dr. Steve George, Texas A&M Research and
Extension =

Center,17360 Coit Road, Dallas, TX 75252
=

The EarthKind Rose experiments also resulted in what looks like a great
new =

product for Houston gardeners and others who have to cope with gumbo
soil: =

expanded shale. Steve is extremely high on this naturally occurring
mineral =

rock dug up around Dallas and heated until it becomes porous inside. =


Remember how they used to tell us to work gypsum into the soil? Most
experts =

now agree that was not a very effective additive. But this one seems to =

really do the job. It is just starting to be marketed and is only
carried by =

a few large Houston nurseries (specifically Cornelius) at this time. =

But any =

nursery can order some from you as it distributed by Nitro-Phos, a local =

company. You will also get information on expanded shale in the
EarthKind =

Rose packet mentioned above. =


This is only for gumbo or clay soils; it is not a benefit to sandy soils =

which are already porous enough. -- BBS.
-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/reference.html

In article , wrote:

I know this is austin.gardening but:

1. I thought this would be interesting to know for members of this ng to
know for future reference of someone trapsin' through.

2. Has anyone ever heard of this? (Nitro-phos website is not up)

I had not heard of this but a search reveals that expanded shale is like
perlite. Perlite is made from a silicacious rock. Expanded shale is made
from shale (a rock formed from clay). In both cases the rock is heated to
a point where it is somewhat fluid and the water within it expands to
"pop" it (something akin to popcorn). So the volume increases
tremendously and internal air channels are formed. So both materials
essentially provide, a light, airy nutrient holding medium.


3. Does anyone know about Shale in general and how it might help the
soil?

Shale is a sedemetary rock that is formed from clay. In its expanded form
it is totally inert and acts passively - to provide air channels and
moisture/nutrient holding channels (this is based on the material I found
at designerdirt.com which may be a commercial arm of the Dallas TAMU
people - they seem to cite work from there). If you would add perlite to
your soil, you could add this for a similar reason. I do not know if
there is any unique advantage. Both of these materials are used by
hydroponic and or orchid growers etc. So if you search those sorts of
sources you could find out if there is any unique advantage of one over
the other.

Its main use appears to be make specialized kinds of concrete
(light/insulating etc) so that is probably where you could buy it in bulk
- from guys selling concrete aggregates.

See: http://www.norliteagg.com/maps/intro.htm

I thought that the picture of volume of various materials was exactly the
same as the picture at a TAMU page, but I cannot find the TAMU page.

Roland

Joe Doe wrote:
=

In article , wrote:
=

I know this is austin.gardening but:

1. I thought this would be interesting to know for members of this ng=
to
know for future reference of someone trapsin' through.

2. Has anyone ever heard of this? (Nitro-phos website is not up)
=

I had not heard of this but a search reveals that expanded shale is lik=
e
perlite. Perlite is made from a silicacious rock. Expanded shale is m=
ade
from shale (a rock formed from clay). In both cases the rock is heated=
to
a point where it is somewhat fluid and the water within it expands to
"pop" it (something akin to popcorn). So the volume increases
tremendously and internal air channels are formed. So both materials
essentially provide, a light, airy nutrient holding medium.
=

3. Does anyone know about Shale in general and how it might help the
soil?
=

Shale is a sedemetary rock that is formed from clay.

Thanks, Roland. I forget it was sedimentary.
In its expanded form

it is totally inert and acts passively - to provide air channels and
moisture/nutrient holding channels (this is based on the material I fou=
nd
at designerdirt.com which may be a commercial arm of the Dallas TAMU
people - they seem to cite work from there).

Now, I know why Steve Coyle referred to this in a reply to me. Da.

If you would add perlite to
your soil, you could add this for a similar reason. I do not know if
there is any unique advantage. Both of these materials are used by
hydroponic and or orchid growers etc. So if you search those sorts of
sources you could find out if there is any unique advantage of one over=

the other.
=

Its main use appears to be make specialized kinds of concrete
(light/insulating etc) so that is probably where you could buy it in bu=
lk
- from guys selling concrete aggregates.
=

See: http://www.norliteagg.com/maps/intro.htm
=

I thought that the picture of volume of various materials was exactly t=
he
same as the picture at a TAMU page, but I cannot find the TAMU page.

It seems like TAMU has relocated/renamed many pages during the last 2
months.
=

Roland

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/reference.html