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Greensand soil amendment

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mwaller

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Anyone use greensand for growing tobacco? It seems like a good, long-lasting source of potash. Thoughts?
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I'm trying to figure out how best to fertilize organically in a way that suits me. My ideal is mix stuff in in spring and forget it. What I'm learning is that slow release organics like compost, manure, etc only are average 25% available in the first year. However, those same fertilizers release 90% in the first year. To reach my nitrogen goal, I have to quadruple the amount I would normally add based on the numbers I would with chemical fertilizer of the same strength. With the alfalfa pellets I'm using this year, 3-1-2, that works out ok because if you calculate the ratios based on availability, it's 0.75-0.4-1.8 if I were to add potassium in any other form, it would be too much, you see. Manure would be even more risky. Consider the other additives and the rate they are available.
 

mwaller

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I'm still waiting on soil test results, so I don't yet know how much fertilizer will be required. However, I expect that the soil will be quite depleted, since the raised bed hasn't been amended or fertilized for several years.
 

deluxestogie

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Greensand (despite its being considered "organic") can contain toxic levels of a number of metals, including arsenic. After all, it's just a rock layer. I would suggest considering the specific geographic source of greensand, and doing a thorough search for its chemical analysis.

Bob
 

Jitterbugdude

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I use this place: https://aglabs.com/accuracy-of-a-soil-test.html

The reason I like this place is the extract they use gives a more accurate reading of what minerals/nutrients are "available" to the plants. Most soil tests use a very strong reagent which pulls all of the nutrients out of the soil. These kind of tests only tell you what the amount of nutrients are in your soil, not what is available to them.
 
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