This seems to make a lot of sense. The system has 3 main parts including a main dust collector , ambient air purifier and a ductwork which is used to connect with other parts. These are rare earth elements, which makes it sound as if you would want them in your soil – who does not want rare stuff? But I digress. This is great info. Rock dusts are a natural, easy to use soil amendment for this! ““If plants don’t have the nutrients they need, they will not complete their life cycle – instead they die.”” is true. At that rate the product is essentially useless. I use an inch or 2 of leaf grow on top, every other year with two 40 lb. Certainly I think there is much more need for citizen science. The original soil had a low pH of 5.1, the ideal pH for tomatoes is 6-6.8. Both the Manufacturer as well as Messages as well as Reviews in Internet are united: CBD rock dust does not cause any annoying Side effects.. Immensely important is in the case, that this Producersinstructions to Lot, Use & Co. Do they seem to stir up more dust than anything else? The claim is that this little machine can work to increase muscle strength and overall fitness without having to visit the gym. And what would you say makes soil around volcanoes so fertile? Is there another reason why clay is more fertile? The study showed that high-intensity negative ion treatments can reduce chronic depression and SAD. The science does not support the use of rock dust for most agricultural areas and even the suppliers of rock dust suggest it has no value in alkaline soil. People show more and more interest in this small robotic vacuum cleaner. Our family uses it on our hardwood floors and rugs. Would 24 not burn plants due to the high nutrient load? But still, plants that are heavy feeders (roses) grow better for me in pots than in the ground. ColorCoral Universal Cleaning Gel offers a way to clean your keyboard quickly and efficiently My thinking is that it could bring the sandy soil somewhat closer to clay by adding fine particals (better nutrient retention) that act as (very) slow release fertilizer. It … yd. He has written a thorough book on this topic called Paramagnetism. The first link is an unreliable source of information. Inorganic dusts can come from grinding metals or minerals such as rock or soil. Skin Care Does InstaNatural Stretch Mark and Scar Removal Cream Really Work? The claims go on to say, “These elements act as cofactors for the methanol dehydrogenase of the bacterium Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum.” So what is this important bacterium? Because of this, rock dust products make all kinds of claims for growing bigger plants, producing higher yields, increasing disease resistance, etc. There is some evidence that rock dust may provide an important source of potassium in regions like Africa that tend to have soils which leach nutrients quickly and where fertilizer costs are very high. There are two clear questions we must answer to validate these claims and I’ll do that in the rest of this post. “If plants don’t have the nutrients they need, they will not complete their life cycle – instead they die.” Compost made from plants which includes things like manure will contain all the minerals plants need. Perhaps you should do similar trials and see for yourself that you are mistaken in your opinion regarding rock dust. The refillable DampRid products should be disposed of by emptying any liquid into the toilet and then refilling with new crystals. The thing zigzags through my house and picks up some nasty dirt and … They are not nutrient deficient. The simple definition is that rock dust, also known as rock powder and rock flour, is pulverized rock. My next test 4 years later came back 350 ppm. I used azomite on some plants, it seemed to help but the plants weren’t doing too terribly before so it’s hard to tell if it had an effect. I also live in a high desert of Oregon. In the last link, it points out to a few studies where yield and disease resistance where increase by silicates applications, and includes a rate of removal: “Bazilevich et al., 1975; Reimers, 1990; Savant et al., 1997a). If you add some links – I could look at the information. For home gardeners, rock dust is a waste of money and natural resources. /they’re/their re: “in organic soils you can never have to much of something” – that is not true. It is actually an easy test – but manufacturers of rock dust don’t want to do it. First, only 100% ostrich-down feathers reliably attract dust. Does Rock Dust really work? This isn’t a panacea, but it counters your claims that there are “zero” benefits to rock dust: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130822091034.htm. It won’t add much short term value. My feeling is that if you’re amending with compost, you have have all the mineral you need from. The best information I have is a casual comment that it is about 100 years. Yes, it’s citizen science, but the results are interesting. 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This links to a study showing 20% yield increase for sorghum: “Here we report that amending a UK clay‐loam agricultural soil with a high loading (10 kg/m2) of relatively coarse‐grained crushed basalt significantly increased the yield (21 ± 9.4%, SE ) of the important C4 cereal Sorghum bicolor under controlled environmental conditions, without accumulation of potentially toxic trace elements in the seeds.”, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15089. It also contains some manganese, cobalt, silicon, and small amounts of other minerals as well. I think most of this is generally correct. Some of my early reading on the matter indicated time frames of a hundred years. To be true, this would mean that soil has some kind of “correct balance” to begin with and that this balance is important for plant growth. There is limited field work done – it is almost all lab work. The same sensationalism that worms in magazines and web sites is getting lots of views on YouTube. Made of a wide variety of rocks, it contains a complex blend of minerals. To apply your rock dust, simply sprinkle it onto the top few inches of your garden bed and gently till it in. The use of rock phosphate for gardens is a common practice for both flowers as well as vegetables. He agreed with you. Google Scholar produced no research paper that looked at the rate of decomposition of rock dust. So far there are no scientific studies on the ability of Himalayan salt lamps to produce negative ions. The lower layer was blue rock, basalt perhaps and quartz. What do you think? Also wear a good respirator, or use a dust collection system, to avoid inhaling rock dust, which accumulates in the lungs and can cause a variety of serious illnesses. Vacuuming helps in removing the dust from the surface so that dust mites and allergens do not thrive on them. Thank you for clearing things up. Does it change your stance at all? Is this not true? No. Thanks. So my great , great grandchildren will benefit from my azomite applications? From what I have read so far he doesn’t consider the benefit of getting as much carbon as possible into the top soil. Rock dust increased the pH to 6.8, but the conditions of the experimental setup reduced the pH of the control to 4.8, way below the ideal pH for tomatoes. I browsed a bit, but couldn’t find exact/compared rates depending on particle size (note that I’m a material chemist, not an agro chemist, so I’m not at all familiar with the field). still high but much better. It is a common recommendation by organic growers. I’ll send in more samples this winter and see. “To be true, this would mean that soil has some kind of “correct balance” to begin with and that this balance is important for plant growth. Rock dust is used extensively in Brazil and now Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, has come out and said, “there is not enough scientific information to recommend silicate agrominerals as a source of nutrients, especially potassium, or soil conditioners for agriculture.”. I suspect many gardeners don’t need to lime their gardens (especially if they use a lot of compost instead of inorganic fertilisers), but depend on their practice and their soil, it might be beneficial to lime with ground silicates as opposed to simple carbonates. We remove food from the land, and the food contains lots of minerals. Increases the Cation Exchange Capacity, or CEC, of your soil. The theory is that any airborne pollutants, such as dust, smoke and pollen, present in the water molecules will … It is a modeling exercise “Here we use an integrated performance modelling approach to make an initial techno-economic assessment for 2050”, and does not even mention an increase in nutrients in the soil. “Do you assume that it just do nothing for 100 years” – no. Now I know the answer. The Science News summary is : “A simple mixture of organic waste, such as chicken manure, and zeolite, a porous volcanic rock, has been developed into a powerful fertilizer which can also reclaim desert or contaminated land.” Chicken manure alone will do this. I don’t dispute the claims, but there is no evidence that plants need all of these minerals. I have seen claims ranging from 60 up to 90 different minerals. I did a little searching about green sand. Sugarcane removes He sent crop samples to a lab for analysis and found no difference in nutrient density in crops grown in soil amended with rock dust. https://www.gardenmyths.com/soil-fertility-decreasing/. Himalayan pink salt lamps are thought to purify the air because of their hygroscopic properties. 1) That tells us nothing about the product. Turns out I just need to cut back on water to help the Aloe, but in my search on the benefits of rock dust, I found your column and am fascinated by the Q&A that follows. I have heard of the first two, but not praseodymium – I must have been away the day we did experiments with it! Apply once per year in spring or fall, broadcast evenly and water it in. my soil ph has been between a steady at 6.2 to 6.7 the cheep (14.00 dollars) have been within .2 of the Waypoint tests every time .Oh yea I only top dress the gardens with compost because I noticed the tomatoes would have a growth spurt the last 2 weeks in August witch I attributed to the compost finishing out under the heavy woven ground cloth by late summer (reusable if you rotate with your plants) the results speak for themselves. You mean it is undergoing wheathering by dissolving in mildly acidic rainwater? I’ve been searching for solid information on rock dust. iRobot Roomba is a highly searched topic. So I’ll probably throw some on the garden and see what happens. So you the owner of a business selling rock dust, and find that it works! Glacial rock dust: This is said to have more pollutants than volcanic rock dust (such as basalt), but a lot of people seem to like it. It might not be for everyone but at least speak from an informed place instead of this sensationalism gardening crap. so, which rock dust do you reccommend? It grows in mud at temperatures between 50 °C – 60°C (about 130 °F) and an acidic pH of 2–5. Sorry, but paramagnetism is not an accepted phenomena by the scientific community. It amazes me how many times people tell you to add it to the garden on YouTube videos. You might be interested in the recent paper linked below, which says: “Benefits for crop protection against biotic threats from silicate To be effective the rock needs to be ground into a very fine powder. According to Phil Callahan all highly productive agriculture soils have a paramagnetic force in excess of 300 10 -6gauss. My recent visit to the Guelph Organic Conference allowed me to discuss rock dust with two suppliers. One thing (the only thing?) SO that partially states the obvious. The microorganisms feed off the rock dust, taking only the nutrients they need while leaving the remainder in the sub-soil. Organic matter is not part of clay – they are different particles in soil. These soils produce healthy plants with a strong immune system. Hi, What about some citizen science results? Please note, comments must be approved before they are published. Is the answer simply continue with adding organic matter and maybe feeding more? I was very low in sulfur and a little low in magnesium I have added some flowers of sulfur and a little Epsom Salts every year and its now in the low but normal range . 3) Effect of rock dusts on plant growth – I’ll be testing it out in my gardening efforts this year, but I have plans for some actual experiments. Thank you for sharing! Top dress it in your garden, potted plants, or raised beds. Earlier in this post, I posed the question, does rock dust add nutrients to soil. Especially with the depletion of nutrients in our soils with 50 years of using primarily chemical salts as fertilizer. Time to crush some myths about rock dust. If rock dust is good for gardens, how much should you use? We test Gwyneth's go-to smoothie enhancers — and the experts weigh in By Chavie Lieber Jun 15, 2016, 10:02am EDT The Roomba does work. So you know that evidence thing. I’ve used those sea minerals before but it killed everything I sprayed it on. Why not hire a university to test it on real field garden soil, and have them measure nutrients before and after. Heavy metal contamination in azomite and glacial rock dust would it be harmful to fruit trees? If the answer to either question is no, rock dust will not help plants grow. It turns out that there are many different kinds of soil, and they vary widely in their mineral composition. Our soils are not being depleted. Rock dust mainly contain silica, silica plays a huge role in cell growth and disease prevention in plants, in organic soils you can never have to much of something, the plants will use what it needs and not use what it doesn’t need. For new lawns, use 5 lb per 1000 square feet, and for established lawns use 3 lb. They actually vacuum the floor and clean dust and particles. A website you should check out is http://www.psicounsel.com/lowlev.htm on the low level of energies in agriculture. Is there any practical use for this? Natural Weed Killers – Do Organic Herbicides Work? We do not garden on coal waste. In this instance, the plants had an average dry weights of some 46% of those in substrates amended with the biofertilizer. Robert, I was recently advised at my local garden center to try Rock Dust to help an ailing Aloe plant, but I was skeptical. Try growing plants without calcium – they die. Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum is an autotrophic bacteria, first described in 2007 growing on volcanic pools near Naples, Italy. Gift Cards Are a Great Holiday Gift–Shop Now. Feeds the beneficial microbes that live in your soil. How Does Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum Work? He advocates that each soil situation must be tested and not only the mineral content of the soil is important but also the overall mineral balance is crucial. .Thanks again. And actual good science….one sample is small and I can see a few issues with only one study already. Most garden soil is not deficient of nutrients, so there is no point in adding more. You can add anywhere from 3 tons/acre to 24 tons/acre. However, the few ions, if any, emitted by the salt lamp are differe… Yes soils all have different mineral balance but the ratios they work with have been found to be the optimum and bring the soil to an ideal for optimum growth. To answer the question in short, yes! How effective is rock dust and which type of rock works the best? bags of pelletized agricultural lime. Get exclusive access to our email only offers as well as the latest updates. This is not really true. There is no such thing as a “correct mineral balance”.”. There are plants that are adapted to and grow on just about any soil. Reapply as needed, or up to once a month. My alpacas hurled themselves into it all with such joy, they love a dust bath. Hi! Larger removal rates are estimated from high–Si-accumulator BUT, in my opinion, it appears that the only negative impact of rock dust is on the wallet. I’ve been thinking about using rick dust as an ammendment for my acidic sandy soil (in a high-rainfall area where nutrients leach out quickly). For lawns, use 50 lbs per 1000 square feet, or if you’ve aerated your lawn first use half as much. Retinol, the main active ingredient of Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum, is a form of vitamin A which helps maintain the integrity of the skin [1]. Now that I have one, I’m not sure how I ever lived without it. The same results can be achieved with lime. For potted plants, use 1/2 teaspoon per inch of pot diameter mixed into the soil before planting, and 1 tsp every 3 months while the plant is growing. Weak plants in turn create weak animals and humans. Provide the link for this study in a scientific journal. This is in the vegetable garden about 1000 sq. Unfortunately he past about a year and a half ago. Flowers love an application of rock phosphate early in the season and will reward you with big, vibrant blooms. Rock dust is claimed to add all kinds of minerals back to soil. Find the truth behind questions that pique your curiosity in our “Short Answer” series. I’m disappointed! The other 40 to 70 are not needed by plants. Use 2 1/2 lbs per 100 square feet of garden, or 1 Tbsp per gallon of soil or potting mix. I guess if you are gardening in hot acidic mud, you might need these rare earth elements to keep your autotrophic bacteria alive. If this video does not play, try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmSvZLqYHo. Kinda surprised that someone so smart can miss the obvious. He is a top rated scientist with a background in biology, chemistry and physics. I have an Environmental Engineering background and I thought, as you also point out many times, how would rock dust work since the minerals in rocks are not bioavailable for a long long time and cannot immediately help plants. Rock dust does not directly help plants. There is so much of it. It is a slow process that start when it is added and continues for several hundred years. Basalt rock dust contains a more limited variety of minerals than the others. While you’re at it, do laundry that often, too, making sure to wash your bedding on the highest heat setting to kill off dust mites, Dr. Elliott says. choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. I am curious however about its physical properties. Sorry for “necro posting” to this thread. The second link is not a study either. That is correct. Although these products are correctly called rock dust, they are usually not included when gardeners talk about rock dust, and I will exclude them from this post. I couldn’t agree more, and thanks for posting a link to my video. As far as I can tell it decomposes very slowly, on the order of rock phosphate. Weight Loss & Fitness. Sprinkle around the plants and gently rake it into the surface. Contains the widest range of minerals of all the rock dusts. So the difference between clay and sandy soil is simply about nutrient holding ability, rather than one being inherently more fertile than the other? My understanding of why are clay soils so much more fertile than sandy soil (apart from the organic matter content which can be fixed easily) is that they are made of very tiny mineral particles which release nutrients more than big sand grains. Examples of inorganic dusts are silica, asbestos, and coal. As for speed, the whole point of crushing/grounding the silicates is to accelerate weathering (hence “enhanced weathering”. It only says the dust is deposited. Rock Dust does not have a clear definition. You should look up The Bay weekly and his articles in the archives of the garden section. If you had taken the time you may have noticed that my name appears on that website. He was the best and not a bull shitter. There are plants that are adapted to and grow on just about any soil. Leaving out things like limestone, I agree minerals may be present in rock dust but are not readily available for plants because of grain size, soil characteristics, the molecular formation, etc. At some point the P will become available, but when? I had a closer look at this question in a previous post called Is Soil Fertility Decreasing? You can say anecdotal evidence. What do you make of the research coming out of Sheffield University here in the UK in 2020? Sorry but this is ridiculous, you are writing a post on something you have done no trials on yourself with huge amounts of speculation. “bring the sandy soil somewhat closer to clay” – nothing will do this except millions of years. Rock dust does contain a lot of minerals. Would love to know how your experiment turns out! Bottom line, genuine rock dust works. Using volcanic rock dust in your garden is a simple process, but … It is particularly good for adding calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. 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