[Stoves] Basic soil--Basic info !

[ajheggie at gmail.com]

[Default] On Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:59:06 -0500,Alex English
<english at kingston.net> wrote:

>Andrew,
>Perhaps you have seen  solubility charts?
>
>http://www.avocadosource.com/tools/fertcalc_files/ph.htm
>It is slightly different for soiless media.
>Very much a chemist's take on soil fertility.
>
Thanks Alex, no I hadn't come across them before but then I'm not a
grower.

Hydroponics or soil less media are at the other end of the spectrum
from Dr Karve's ideas of feeding the micro organisms to have a healthy
soil.

Still the chart does illustrate Frans's point.

Getting back to the start of the thread: I had always supposed most
people would value their wood ash for its mineral content and spread
it on crop ground. If this is the case then wood ash must have a
higher buffering capability than a biochar made from the same wood??

Or is wood ash application a recognised problem on basic soils?

I remember, when I was following your lead and producing a high char
ash from a woodchip boiler, that the proprietors would not use the
wood ash as they grew mainly shrubs which required a slightly acidic
environment. The chap explained at the time that horticultural crops
were generally best on acid soils and that it was farmers that applied
lime to grow food crops. Your chart seems to demonstrate that the
trace elements we need in our food are all most available in a "very
slightly alkaline" soil.

AJH