Re: [nafex] fertilzing

A review of the scientific (peer-reviewed literature) on compost tea sprays has shown it to be generally ineffective. This makes sense when you think about how microorganisms that thrive in the dark, nutrient-rich, moist innards of a compost pile might fare when sprayed on the nutrient-poor, generally dry and sunny environment of leaves.

Lee Reich, PhD
Come visit my farmden at http://www.leereich.com/blog <http://www.leereich.com/blog>
http://leereich.com/ <http://leereich.com/>

Books by Lee Reich:
A Northeast Gardener's Year
The Pruning Book
Weedless Gardening
Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
Landscaping with Fruit
Grow Fruit Naturally

> On May 17, 2015, at 10:10 PM, Mary Yett <yettmw@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Add organic spot mulch generously around each tree at least to the drip
> line every year and gradually over several years your sandy soil will
> become a rich sandy loam which is both fertile and water retaining. The
> organic mulch feeds the soil food web, a complex ecosystem of bacteria,
> fungi, worms, protozoa, arthropods, etc. This ecosystem makes the mineral
> nutrients in your soil bioavailable, creates air passages deep in the soil
> ( which also let water penetrate deeply), deposits humus ( very water
> retaining), builds topsoil, sequesters carbon, and does many other useful
> things.
>
> Planting a diverse ground cover mix of herbaceous plants under your trees
> instead of grass can also help the health of the life in the soil, One
> trick is to plant perennial biomass producers such as comfrey, lovage,
> valerian, red clover, bird's foot trefoil,etc and cut them down once or
> twice a year, leaving their biomass on top of the soil as mulch. This is
> called " chop and drop" in permaculture circles.
>
> I have successfully gotten away with sprinkling a thin layer of heavy clay
> soil (1/2 inch) on top of a thick mulch of organic material overlying very
> sandy soil and then adding more mulch ( lasagna method of soil building).
> The clay and the sand were not touching and no concrete was produced. The
> gradual action of worms and the leaching effect of rain, etc will slowly
> add minerals to the deeper layers of soil.
>
> Trees last a long time, so a slow but steady method that produces reliable
> results is worth the effort and wait in my book. Spray the trees with
> compost tea twice a year if needed during the "waiting period". It works
> wonders.
>
> Mary Yett
>
> On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 9:06 PM, Jay Cutts <orders@cuttsreviews.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey, Jerry.
>>
>> I suggested that on the list last year - mixing sand into the clay soil at
>> my other location - and was told that the result would be cement :)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Jay
>>
>> Jay Cutts
>> Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews
>> Lead Author, Barron's MCAT Prep Book
>> Lead Author, Barron's LSAT Prep Book (2013)
>> (505) 281-0684
>> 10 am to 10 pm Mountain Time, 7 days
>>
>> On 5/17/2015 8:45 AM, Jerry Lehman via nafex wrote:
>>
>>> Greetings fellow NAFEX'ers,
>>>
>>> Lee is absolutely correct in everything he wrote. I might add a footnote,
>>> if your sand has little organic matter even the dissolved fertilizer
>>> nutrients will leach beyond the root area and continued fertilization will
>>> be more necessary than sandy high organic soil. The long-term effect of the
>>> manure is slower release of the nutrients for more continual feeding but
>>> still is relatively short-lived and continual annual reapplication is
>>> desirable.
>>>
>>> I wish I could take about 6 inches of my clay and give it in exchange for
>>> 6 inches of years sand that we could mix the 2 together for both of us. :-)
>>>
>>> Jerry
>>>
>>> On 5/16/2015 9:01 AM, Lee Reich wrote:
>>>
>>>> The ideal is to plan more long-term for fertilization. As you saw,
>>>> manure's benefit was not realized the first season. Bulky organic
>>>> fertilizers, such as some manures and compost (which is so low in nutrients
>>>> that it cannot legally be termed "fertilizer"), have long-term nutrient
>>>> benefits. I would suggest using those and applying them as mulches.
>>>>
>>>> As far as spring vs fall, fall fertilization is fine if it's applied
>>>> late enough, in mid fall or later, depending on the local climate. Plant
>>>> growth won't be stimulated, no matter what, once a plant has experienced
>>>> sufficient cold and short days. If a fall-applied fertilizer is organic,
>>>> with nutrients locked up in organic compounds, those nutrients anyway won't
>>>> become available until microbes take action the following spring.
>>>>
>>>> Poor growth is not only attributable to insufficient nutrition. Your
>>>> sandy soil dries out quickly. Nutrients cannot do anything if the soil is
>>>> too dry.
>>>>
>>>> Lee Reich, PhD
>>>>
>>>
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