Granite Dust/Rock Phosphate, etc.

[opabinia51]

A while back Scott and I had a discussion about Rock phosphate and postulated on what it does for the garden well, amongst all of my current research I have come across an answer to the question:

The answer is: Soil Aggregates.

...... Yep. No, there's more. I wouldn't leave everyone hanging like that. One of the measures of soil health is it's ability to form soil aggregates that (I have a list but, it's not currently with me so I may miss a few things) increase the permeability of water, help bind nutrients and a bunch of other things.

So, soil aggregate is basically dirt (in the form of carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, humic substances (also known as humus) and other such compunds like clay and so on) bonded to another inorganic particle (a particle that has no carbon in it). This other particle would be something like a granite dust particle, a particle of rock phospate a granul of sand and so on.

So, that's the skinny on Rock Phophate and Granite Dust, for now.

[lovetogarden]

https://www.remineralize.org/

Rock dusts is a subject that fasinates me. Here is a site I found that studies the uses. I ammend the soil in my raised beds every fall with compost. Last year, besides the compost, I added ground rock phosphate. All my fruits and veggies are doing great this year. My strawberries are the biggest I've seen them. This has made me a true believer in the benifits of rock dust. By the way, the only fertilizer I use during the growing season is
fish/seaweed.