Looking for a source of glacial rock dust I stumbled across this soil additive/ conditioner/ nutrient called andesite? Which is a blend of volcanic rock dusts? I’m wondering if anyone has ever used it? If I could use this instead of glacial rock dust or if I should use it in correspondence with it? Not quite sure but what I read sounds promising?
Andesite is a type of volcanic rock, it is the intermediate type between basalt and rhyolite (according to wikipedia). Andesite - Wikipedia. Sounds like it can make for good rock dust.
I’m having a hard time sourcing basalt or glacial rock dust. This stuff sounds pretty good, can I use this as my main 4-8 cups per cubic foot rock dust?
Speaking of amendments, anyone heard of these or have any experience or further info on them? Langbeinite Soft Rock Phosphate
Langbenite is Potassium Magnesium Sulfate. 0-0-22 Commonly sold by the name 'Sul po Mag'. Its really strong stuff, and I encourage beginners not to experiment with it. A teaspoon per cu ft goes a long way. Don't try this willy nilly as a PK booster like the hydro/synthetic guys do, you will probably be disappointed. Soft Rock phosphate is a mined form of P. Actually a mining byproduct. I have used a form called 'Calphos' which is 0-3-0. I suspect their are lots of other minor nutrients in it as well. I have never experienced a bad response with it, but I prefer to use fish bone meal instead. 'Calphos' claims it can be applied via sprayer by mixing with water. I have never tried it that way. It is my feeling that its more useful for a straight up ag based application, like in fields. Judging by the subject of this question, I suspect you are curious about the organic PK booster style of growing. It really just doesn't work out like it does for hydro/synthetics. Dosing high P usually just makes your microbes quit looking for P, and backfires. Topdressing something cheap like alfalfa 2.5-0.5-2.5 before you think you may need more PK is probably a safer/better bet. Just my $.02 I have both of those items in my gardening tool box, but don't use them for canna unless something has gone very wrong. I have experimented with them on canna, but alfalfa and bonemeal just work better. hth cheers os
Thanks for that, i was just curious cause i noticed some of the top-dress mixes and nutrient-kits some no-till sites were selling had those in there and i always usually mixed with kelp/neem/MBG and sometimes gypsum to the EWC. I don't have alfalfa but i am getting alfalfa mulch mix soon so hopefully that should provide some alfalfa goodness in the mix
I have seen those listed in some ingredient lists in high end soils as well. I have always wondered what amounts they used. I am sure they take the time ro make the calculations to make a good balanced NPK. K without a bunch of other stuff is hard to come by in organics with the exception of Langebenite which is 0-0-22. This makes it a good ingredient for balancing NPK ratios. CalPhos at 0-3-0 makes it easy for balancing in the P department. However, I don’t feel that using those 2 ingredients is the best way to get to a good balance. The reason being that those 2 ingredients are completely available immediately. I think a balanced slow release over time, like with alfalfa or mixes of kelp, crab, and neem. The best bang for the buck is alfalfa at 2.5-0"5-2.5. It’s so close to a perfect all around ratio. It’s cheap too. It’s only single drawback is it requires ‘cook time’ in a soil mix. With all that being said, I wouldn’t worry about using those ingredients. Cheers Os
I highly doubt that. You know they only have to report minimum amounts of nutrients in the guarantee analasys. That means for instance they can say a product has 1% nitrogen for when in reality the product can contain much more but the label is legit as long as the minimum is met. Never trust guaranteed analasys of fertilizers/soils.
You are probably right, I always figured they would use just enough to meet a minimum number in order to save costs. cheers os
Solid answer. And just to be clear, rhyolite and granite have the same composition. Igneous rock - Wikipedia
What are your thoughts of Palagonite? Palagonite - Biodynamic Agriculture Australia Ltd Palagonite - Wikipedia Some say its even better than basalt
they are not close to being the same. palagonite is neither rock nor rock dust. it's devitrified glass. What is Palagonite? — ChalkMine Agriculture Australia it's an interesting product though.
Oh, interesting indeed thanks. My soil mixes last few years have always been based on palagonite since the guy told me its better than basalt so i've always used it as the main source of rockdust-minerals in my mix.. My plants generally look healthy though, rarely have troubles but its good to know. Seems like a great addition to a top dress every cycle.
From their website: "Palagonite is a volcanic mineral substance that was created by a rare and unique event, in which hot basalt lava flowed into a freshwater lake at the Chalkmine quarry site, south of Gatton in Queensland, around 20 million years ago. The process of palagonisation began as the molten lava was quenched, forming a rind or coating of volcanic glass, that over time has devitrified from glass into a sandy yellow-brown palagonite material occurring around our altered basalt gravels. This unique material is largely amorphous (non- crystalline) containing a rich and well-balanced suite of bio-available mineral nutrients – Palagonite is not crushed rock dust!" Mafic lava is mafic lava. Sounds exactly like basalt.