Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
processes for growth, as calcium, for example, is taken by legume bacteria (Rhizobia);
and
(c) taken up by plants fortheirregulargrowth processes in quantities
related to
the supply which is
determined eitherby the total clay orby the degree of saturation
of the clay with the respective nutrient ions
. [emphasis added]
The Colloidal Clay Fraction of Soil as a Cultural Medium by Wm. A. Albrecht and T. M.
McCalla, American Journal of Botany, Vol. 25, No. 6 (Jun., 1938), pp. 403-407
For the preceding century the conventional wisdom had been that nutrients must
be in the soil-water solution to be available. There had been countless attempts to
achieve solutions with a high enough concentration of Calcium, for instance, to
grow Rhizobia (the Nitrogen fixing bacteria that form nodules on the roots of
legumes) under laboratory conditions, but it had proven impossible. The
maximum that could be dissolved in water was 1.3 meq (milligram equivalents)
of Calcium per liter.. By the simple method of saturating a colloidal clay with
Calcium,Albrecht and McCalla could create a growing medium with 6 meq or
more of Ca.
Even though Ashby's medium as commonly used for Rhizobium growth in
the laboratory is saturated with calcium carbonate, it contains per liter
only 1.3 M.E. of soluble calcium.
The Ideal Soil Chart
Over the past eight years the Ideal Soil mineral ratios have been applied to every
imaginable soil type on many hundreds of farms and gardens around the world. It
has been proven safe, dependable, and highly effective for growing nutrient dense
