volcanic rock dust
- Thread starter anzohaze
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PfefferGeist
Member
It depends on what it will be used for. Protein hydrolysates (for a fungi dominant tea) with fungi dominant compost, molasses (for a bacteria dominant tea) compost and EWC, sea minerals, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, and some aloe.
-PG
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
ahhh but 5% of granite is naturally radioactive my brother, no rock dust is safe.
My shop is next to a granite-table top grinder-shop....
lovely, you should see the stuff that comes out of my nose when they are grinding all day... and my smog machines filters get clogged like 1000% faster when he does that, fail calibrations and such... apparently as scary as uranium is, the really, REALLY bad stuff is the new synthetic granite that is colored (pink, blue, etc) that manmade stuff is evidently way worse for causing silicosis. Hah, who woulda thought that a man-made substitute is more dangerous then the natural version.... yeah that's sarcasm, man seems to find a way to make a more toxic version of everything
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greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
interesting, I have never used minerals in my teas, I tried, but it wasn't soluble enough, a bunch was at the bottom of my tea bucket when I tried, from then on I just use rock dusts as a topdress or in my base soil mix.
Do you have any info on which minerals dissolve better?
PfefferGeist
Member
The Azomite and Agrowinn seem to be the best at making the water cloudy but any finely ground rock dust that makes the water cloudy works. Please observe all safety precautions and wear proper PPE (personal protective equipment like a dust mask or respirator) when handling rock dust.
Unlike salt and what it does when it is incorporated into water, the word "dissolve" may be the wrong term for how the rock dust actually behaves. The rock dust will all eventually sink to the bottom unless agitated. The larger particles are less inclined to be held in suspension (due to weight) so they sink. It still provides surface area for the "bennies" to propagate. It is the finer particles that move about (with air-stones and a pump) that you want. It is all about the surface area.
And, from what I understand (since I can not see them doing it) the "bennies" (bacteria and fungi) munch on the minerals and each other, passing the dust's minerals up the food chain and eventually into the plant.
The sediment at the bottom of the bucket is awesome for compost piles, bins, worm farms, etc. I put it in my worm bins.
Give it a shot. you won't be disappointed.
-PG
Unlike salt and what it does when it is incorporated into water, the word "dissolve" may be the wrong term for how the rock dust actually behaves. The rock dust will all eventually sink to the bottom unless agitated. The larger particles are less inclined to be held in suspension (due to weight) so they sink. It still provides surface area for the "bennies" to propagate. It is the finer particles that move about (with air-stones and a pump) that you want. It is all about the surface area.
And, from what I understand (since I can not see them doing it) the "bennies" (bacteria and fungi) munch on the minerals and each other, passing the dust's minerals up the food chain and eventually into the plant.
The sediment at the bottom of the bucket is awesome for compost piles, bins, worm farms, etc. I put it in my worm bins.
Give it a shot. you won't be disappointed.
-PG