Reply To: Rock Dust : Any Good?

Community Community No dig gardening Preparing the ground Rock Dust : Any Good? Reply To: Rock Dust : Any Good?

#50481
Kevin Anderson
Participant

I use “rock dust” (which is fines from my local quarry, only about 5 kms away) as a mechanical aid to opening up my clay. It is very cheap, and the quarry is happy to get rid of it, because there is no commerical demand for this fraction of the crushing process.

I also use coarse sand (sometimes called “quartz sand” or river sand) as a mechanical aid.

Most years I throw on about a half cm (1/4 inch) layer of either or both. Each year these “disappear” and the soil becomes slightly more friable.

Most rock dust “advertisements” have the theme of “essential trace elements additive”. With properly-made compost with manure, kitchen scraps, wood chips etc. trace element deficiency is rarely a problem because the inputs themselves are rarely mineral deficient.

Here in Australia, with its notoriously deficient soils, making compost can be more problematic. I sometimes add handfuls of guano (bird manure, high in phosphorous and sulphur) to a large pile. (I have no hard science behind this, only my intuitive feeling that by adding phosphorous I am helping the long term chemistry of my soil.)

I hope that this helps.

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