Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Here are two types of oyster shell; ground on the left and crushed on the right
Much like phosphorus (and all other mineral elements particularly), calcium must be released more
slowlytomatchthespeedatwhichtherootscanactuallyabsorbit.ThegoalinTLOisnottocramnutrients
downtheplants'throats.Toomuchcalcium,orphosphorus,oranythingelse,basically,isabadthing.You
cannot “fix” problems by just pouring more of any particular additive into your plants' containers. It is
besttoprovidethecalciuminTLOfrommultiplesources,likeboneandbulbfood,feathermeal,lime,and
oyster shell. This is how I do it.
REV'S TIP
You have to look a bit for oyster shell products. I love the Down to Earth
brand of ground oyster shell (also known as oyster flour). Since I live on the coast I also have access
to crushed oyster shell, which is just a very coarse grade version of the ground shell. This stuff is
fantastic for several reasons; it's pH balancing, the bacteria just seem to go crazy with this stuff in
the mix, and the worms love it too! It gives a very slow and steady release of calcium, and it also
serves as “artificial reefs” for the microbeasties to attach to. I would go out of my way to find this
stuff, or get a local nursery to order some for you.
Soft Rock Phosphate and Rock Phosphate
Don't blow off the soft rock phosphate (SRP) and rock phosphate (RP) in your mix. The most important
thing you will want is the SRP, in powdered form, when mixing your own custom soil mixes involving
lime and high nitrogen. The SRP has a sort of magical (magical to me at any rate) effect on a soil mix
when a lot of powerful nitrogen like blood meal and/or bird/bat guanos, are blended with lime (calci-
um). Normally, you would lose some nitrogen in a gas (ammonia) form from the chemical reaction here.
