soil remineralization: process and discussion

[EclipseFour20]

SeaMaiden...the plastic card trick is easy. To get the idea, try placing several fan leaves between two playing cards (about the size of my plastic taco when folded), place if flat on the table, then roll a pencil (like a rolling pen) along the top--moving from leaf tip to stem tip. Now, examine the sap that was squeezed out. All you need for the refractometer are a few good sized drops.

I use a 6 x 8 piece of clear plastic (old report cover) folded in half.

Sorry...this exercise will not do much to build your upper body...hehehehe.

 

[magiccannabus]

I have a diamond saw, can anyone recommend some rock types I can make dust out of?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Remineralize The Earth would be a good place to start.

Their missions statement: Remineralize the Earth is a nonprofit organization assisting the worldwide movement of remineralizing soils with finely ground rock dust, sea minerals and other natural and sustainable means to increase the growth, health, and nutrient value of all plant life. Adding minerals and trace elements is vital to the creation of fertile soils, healthy crops and forests, and is a key strategy to stabilize the climate.

 

[Coba]

Great thread JayKush, super informative.

I have a few question about minerilization and, I would be eternally grateful for an educated response. But, I'll take what I can get from whomever feels like helping me out...

I was contemplating incorporating this material into my soil...

RED LAKE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH

A unique, naturally occurring deposit which typically contains 67% Diatomaceous Earth (skeletal remains of algae) and 33% Montmorillonite (calcium bentonite).

this particular DE (AKA. Fuller's Earth) deposit is in B.C. Canada, and is mined exclusively by Absorbent Products LTD. (Canadian Minerals Yearbook (CMY) – 2008 – Clays) the parent company to Red Lake

I have some concerns... with my TLO soil, would this be a good addition to improve the CEC and mineral content?

I don't want to add this material to my compost piles, the arthopods of my soil food web wouldn't appreciate it I'm sure.

However, if I add it to my container soil, would the DE totally disrupt the harmony of my containers too?

Is the calcium bentonite in enough quantity to have an effect on the CEC of my container's soil?

Lastly, how much should I provide to my soil when used in conjuction with other rock dust materials? or by itself as my single source of silicon dixoide and calcium bentonite?

Thanks,
Coba

 

[Coba]

Microbeman,

Don't you use this stuff? ^^^

 

[ixnay007]

It is sold as table salt but it is unrefined and organic certified.Don't ask me why this salt is organic certified.

Keep on growing

It's because the harvesting of the salt is organic, and in theory, there should be no pesticide residues, etc..

For instance, Nature et Progrés mandates that only wooden hand-tools are used in the harvesting of the salt, a process which is completed entirely by hand. The taste remains pure because no metal instruments are used to gather or package the sea salt. The ponds, located in a nature reserve, are required to be a safe distance from roads and industry to help ensure that they remain free of pollution. Only exceptionally clean sea waters are used. No purification or processing of the harvested salt is tolerated, and the salt, when analyzed before distribution, must fulfill very high standards in chemical analytics.

 

[Microbeman]

Microbeman,

Don't you use this stuff? ^^^

I used what I believe is the same clay powder before there was a name change with the company. When I used it, it was just called bentonite clay but I cannot guarantee it is the same.

I used all clay/rock powders in fairly minimal amounts; approximately 10 ml. total per gallon.

 

[Coba]

...I hope this is not too off track but can anyone give me the skinny on using diatomaceous earth (DE) in a soil mix. I can get it very cheaply by the ton. It is 67% DE and 33% montmorillonite [basically bentonite]. I wonder about the potential harm to beneficial organisms. Anybody?...

I stole this quote from the living soil thread up top. I guess you never pulled the trigger. :shrug:

I was hoping someone had some real world experience with this product... I've incoprated it into my life... time will tell.

Thank you MM for your time sir,

 

[Gascanastan]

DE only has the unique action of cutting insects to shreads if it is dry......when mixed into the soil the pest control factor drops due to the moisture in the soil. I mixed DE in my soil as a silica/calcium source....if some DE ends up drying around the edges and kills some pest type insects at random.....great~

 

[Coba]

Gascanastan,

I mixed DE in my soil as a silica/calcium source...
with the added calcium bentonite in this stuff, seems like it would be an inexpesive, effective, multi-purpose addition.

thanks, bruvvah!
Respect

Coba

 

[Gardens Keeper]

Coba, I do the same. It is a lovely nutrient source addition and effective on fungus gnats if one does not want to use organic predators to do the job.

 

[Coba]

Coba, I do the same. It is a lovely nutrient source addition and effective on fungus gnats if one does not want to use organic predators to do the job.

Nice one!

I've read where the finer particles in the powder have the same shredding effect on nematode intestines ( or whatever they call it ) when ingested. It's sold as an equine de-wormer too.

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

bump

 

[slausongardens]

i didnt realize how im portant rock dusts were until recently.. i'd have to say there one of the most important parts of a healthy soil up there with EWC. i was push the use of kelp to people. i will now push people to use rock dusts and dont be scared.

i use to be timid, i would read some people say 2-3 cups a cf and i thought that was way too much, i was just doing ike half cup a cf azomite and half cup soft rock phosphate and like a quarter cup greensand sometimes.

but i wanted to try new things so i ordered that big bag of gaia green glacial rock dust and agrowynns mineral rock dust and decided to try 1 and a half cups a cf of glacial rock dust a half cup agrowynn mineral rock dust and a half cup mix of azomite, soft rock phosphate and greensand for diversity.. and wow!!!! the soil got that much better which i didnt think was possible.. now i really cant imagine a soil better then this one. the extra rock dust made it absolutely perfect.. it smells better lol feels better and cooks super hot.. the plants are loving it looking as healthy as can be. oh yeah... and i use a little gypsum.

i prolly wont get the agrowynn rock dust in the future just to sav money.. not that its bad.. its an amazing product but so is the gaia green glacial rock dust and way cheaper. pretty sure ill be good with that at 2 cups a cf and a 1 cup mix of azomite, srp, and greensand..

i have plans of moving to an old mining town in the middle of arizona to do some outdoor.. i wonder if they got some fire rock dust around there. ill definitely go collect some and see whats around the river beds as well..

so basically the sand like the stuff along rivers and mountains is rock dust??? and i can just go scoop a bunch of that up and throw it in the soil?? that sounds awesome i gotta try that someday.

 

[analogcricket]

Do any of these rock meals have similar minerals?

Glacial Rock Dust, Soft Rock Phosphate, Azomite, Gypsum, Greensand.


I am trying to go for diversity but if some are equal in minerals, I can drop. (I was planning to use in a tea)

thanks

 

[idiit]

i've got azomite soaked in an em solution with blackstrap molasses as food source ( 5 gallon bucket). i added seacrop to my em solution a long time ago to activate the dormant archaea in the seacrop. the azomite has soaked for almost one year now.

so, again i pose the question to the experts; how long does it take for the indigenous microherd to chelate hard to chelate trace minerals? i am thinking decades or longer. extremophile archaea are reputed by some literature to be excellent at chelating hard to chelate trace minerals.

organics is about balance. i intuitively believe that anything over a few teaspoons of chelated trace minerals per hole is overkill with unchelated trace minerals.

most organic farmers today do not publish the trace mineral content of their product. these same farmers add unchelated trace minerals in large amounts (imo) to their soil. i've discussed this subject with a few professional organic farmer types. the topic of how long does it take for different microherds to chelate hard to chelate trace minerals has been unanswered so far in my interactions with those far more knowledgeable than me.

my plants look a lot healthier since i add a teaspoon or less per pot to my rols. i'm also adding a teaspoon of the bone meal and calcium archaea chelated ahead of time as well ( 2 smaller tubs).

 

[idiit]

Reduction in average mineral content of fruit and vegetables between 1940 and 1991

Mineral Vegetables Fruit
Sodium -49% -29%
Potassium -16% -19%
Magnesium -24% -16%
Calcium -46% -16%
Iron -27% -24%
Copper -76% -20%
Zinc -59% -27%
What can you do to ensure you get the minerals you need?

One obvious place to look is the sea – after all, that is where many minerals lost from the soil eventually end up! Sea vegetables are particularly high in minerals. For instance, dulse seaweed contains 75 times as much iron as spring greens. Shellfish also contain good amounts of minerals, especially zinc.
Eat organic. Organic foods generally have higher levels of minerals than those grown with chemicals. But don’t rely on supermarket shelves – try to find a grower who has been using organic methods for at least 10 years. The longer soil has been farmed organically, the higher its mineral content is likely to be.

emphasis mine

^^ http://www.ion.ac.uk/information/onarchives/soilmineraldepletion

 

[idiit]

Are there organisms that eat rocks?

Organisms that eat rocks are known as lithotrophs ("rock eaters") and are mostly Bacteria and Archaea but also some fungi.

more at link below:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=40117.0

 

[idiit]

Archaea: The Third Domain of Life
Do They Live on Comets?

Friday, February 5, 2010
by TEISHA ROWLAND (CONTACT)
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The biodiversity of the Earth never ceases to astonish. One example that has radically changed the face of biology is the discovery of a group of organisms called archaea (pronounced “ar-kee-ah”). It was thought that all creatures on Earth were divided into two main evolutionary categories, but this changed in the 1990s with the discovery of archaea. Today, all known organisms belong to one of three groups, or domains: eukaryotes (which include animals like us, plants, fungi, and some single-celled organisms), bacteria, and archaea.

Despite its status as one of the three domains that make up all life on the planet, public awareness of archaea is low. This is probably because of their recent addition to the tree of life, but also because they are so alien compared to our idea of “life.” Archaea look like bacteria but are more closely related to eukaryotes. These small, single-celled organisms thrive in the most extreme environments on Earth, such as sulfuric hot springs near volcanoes or deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that reach 236 degrees Fahrenheit under colossal pressure. In these inhospitable conditions, archaea survive and eat some bizarre substances that barely qualify as food, from iron and sulfur to toxic compounds.

These astounding adaptations are undoubtedly related to their evolutionary age. Having been around nearly four billion years, they’ve had plenty of time to adapt and evolve. So how was the existence of archaea so long overlooked? A large part was because they live in places where no life was thought to exist, eating inedible chemicals, happily living as they have been for billions of years.

As usual in science, their discovery was due to researchers utilizing new technologies and open-mindedness. Until the 1960s, organisms were mostly grouped based on appearance, but this changed with the emergence of genetic studies, where researchers compared DNA sequences. In the 1970s, Carl Woese, a biophysicist and molecular biologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was analyzing DNA signatures used to tell which of the two domains (eukaryote or prokaryote, which includes bacteria) an organism belonged to. After Woese had established this characterization system, a collaborator brought him a new, unusual critter.

It produced methane (natural gas). Methanogens are single-celled organisms that create methane. Archaea are the only methanogens on Earth, although nobody knew this when Woese got his hands on the first sample.

Woese first reported the discovery of archaea in 1977. His findings were met with much general skepticism; many scientists thought that the broad groups of life had already been discovered, and there wasn’t room for a third group. But Woese persevered with his archaea research. Over time other archaea were discovered in other extreme environments. Norman Pace, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is the second leading pioneer in the archaea field. He perfected methods of going into the field and collecting specimens for genetic analysis. It was long thought archaea only survived in harsh conditions, but recent discoveries place them in more mild environments as well.

As gene sequencing technology improved throughout the 1990s, for the first time Woese’s group sequenced the entire genome of an archaea, Methanococcus jannaschii, in 1996. M. jannaschii, which lives in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor under extremely high pressures, was declared a representative of the third domain. Although this helped solidify archaea’s claim, by this time most researchers had accepted that archaea, indeed, made up a third domain of life. As the DNA unraveled, archaea’s key role in Earth’s history was becoming better understood.

Archaea are extremely ancient organisms (their name in Greek is literally “ancient things”). Archaea have inhabited Earth for nearly 4 billion of its 4.6 billion years in existence, making them possibly the oldest living life form. Early Earth is thought to have had little oxygen, but abundant carbon dioxide. The first bacteria and archaea probably did not require oxygen, but consumed carbon dioxide. They thrived for two billion years, covering the ocean floors and forming strong, collective mats. However, around 2.4 billion years ago global oxygen levels increased; the organisms may have released oxygen from the Earth’s crust, or created it as a by-product, but either way they poisoned themselves with the oxygen, forcing them to quickly adapt or die out.

The ancestor of eukaryotes most likely branched off from archaea around 2 billion years ago, although multi-cellular organisms did not appear until around 1 billion years ago. Archaea were thus key players for most of our planet’s history, altering the atmosphere, biology, and geology around them, all the while surviving in unique environmental niches.

Archaea today have a wide variety of unique metabolisms that allow them to live in the most inhospitable places on Earth. Archaea can eat iron, sulfur, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia, uranium, and all sorts of toxic compounds, and from this consumption they can produce methane, hydrogen sulfide gas, iron, or sulfur. They have the amazing ability to turn inorganic material into organic matter, like turning metal to meat

more at the link below:

http://www.independent.com/news/2010/feb/05/archaea-third-domain-life/

 

[Microbeman]

I'm glad you named the correct person for the discovery of archaea. They have been found to be ubiquitous in soil and compost and indiscernable via microscopy from bacteria. This is why I always say bacteria/archaea.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060817103131.htm