fruit and vegetables
How you can strengthen the soil and your plants with rock dust
Rock meal is a natural fertilizer for vegetable beds
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The minerals and trace elements found in lava rock, basalt or diabase are a real boon for the soil: They promote the growth of fruit and vegetables and make your plants more resistant to pests and diseases. How to use the bedrock powder correctly.
To stimulate plant growth, all you need is some rock dust. It is less a classic fertilizer than a natural additive that is usually rich in silica, aluminum oxide, magnesium, iron, manganese, potassium and calcium. Important nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are only found in small amounts in the finely ground rock. The use should primarily improve the soil quality and water retention capacity in the home garden – and thus automatically strengthen the plants. The primary rock flour is usually made from nutrient-rich lava rock, basalt or diabase, more rarely from rocks poor in nutrients such as quartz, zeolite and granite. These are used to improve soil storage capacity.
This is how bedrock dust affects the soil
Urgsteinsmehl can and should be used in different ways, depending on the type of soil and which (weathered) stones and minerals are already contained in it. For rough orientation:
Is it one sandy Soil is rather poor in nutrients and humus, since the rain washes the nutrients out of the upper layers of the earth. Here the nutrient content can be increased with alkaline primary rock flour. On the other hand, use a flour based on bentonitethe formation of clay-humic complexes be stimulated.
Is the (bog) soil rather sourthe PH value can be adjusted with calcium-containing primary rock flour based on diabase raised and thus neutralized. After that, garden plants feel much better.
Primary rock powder based on basalt(or Granite) on the other hand is designed to help keep strong alkaline Acidify soils that are particularly calcareous.
alkaline Soils, such as lawns, should be characterized by the addition of primary rock flour lava or basalt are supplied with nutrients.
Do you want activities in your compost improve, the use of primary rock powder based on diabase or lava rock should make sense.
And another tip: If you are not sure whether the soil is more acidic or basic, for example, you can Measure pH.
Using bedrock dust: tips for use
Since it is usually a fine to coarse-grained flour, the question arises as to how the bedrock flour should be used. Here you can choose between different methods, a few common ones are for example:
- They rake the rock flour into the ground.
- They dissolve the rock dust in water (or liquid manure).
- You sprinkle the rock flour directly onto the soil or over the compost.
A notice: The fine powder releases a lot of dust, so it is advisable to wear a face mask during use.
As far as the correct dosage is concerned, it is recommended as a rough guideline to add up to 150 grams of primary rock powder to one square meter of soil in calcareous soils and 200 to a maximum of 300 grams in acidic soils. As a rule, you will also find precise information on the respective packaging from the manufacturer. However, since it is not a classic fertilizer, you cannot over-fertilize the soil. It is also important to know that the roots can only absorb the trace elements and minerals when the bedrock meal was completely decomposed. Accordingly, you should not expect a short-term effect immediately after use.
Other possible uses of Urgstein flour
As mentioned at the beginning, the rock flour can not only help to promote the growth of the plants: it also makes them more resistant to pests. In addition, it should protect against fungal diseases. To drive away sucking insects such as aphids, it can be helpful to sprinkle the fine powder on the infested areas – for example using a powder bottle. Snails, on the other hand, should be able to be kept out of the beds by sprinkling the bedrock powder on the ground around the vegetables as a natural barrier (approx. five centimeters wide). In order to prevent plant diseases, it can be useful to pollinate the leaves in order to nip possible fungal spores in the bud – in the truest sense of the word.
And one last tip: If you are making stinging nettle manure, the primary rock flour can be added to neutralize the stench.
Sources: my beautiful garden, Utopia
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