Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
Here's what I posted in the Azomite thread:
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Richard, thanks for your reply! There are still two things I'm not clear on.
First is the original question of why, if all the elements the plant wants are available, does the NPK ratio need to be so "exact"?
Next, in organics, most nutrients are in forms not available to the plants UNTIL they are broken down by microbes in the soil. This is why people use compost teas. The teas themselves don't add much for nutrients, but they greatly increase microbial activity making it easier for the plants to ingest the nutrients that are there.
It is true that hydroponic fertilizers, for example, will deliver the nutrients in a form that is immediately available to the plants, but that's because hydroponics can't rely on the microbial activity present in soil to break them down.
There are also some "advanced" ways of delivering the nutrients using chelates, for example, that I realize are not a characteristic of Rock Dust.
But, are you saying that the microbes in the soil are unable to make the elements in the "covalent compounds" in Azomite available to the plants?