Bongchitis Posted October 12, 2006 Hi All, I have a knowledgable friend at work who says he uses this stuff with fantastic results but he says hardly anyone knows about it. I had never heard of it. It sounds like it would be great for cacti but he uses it on everything. Reported to remain effective in soil for 5 years or something (its just crushed rock I believe) and various studies done in the 90's including feeding it to race horses yielding lower vet bills and increased performance. I have not seen these studies or any other evidence (did a quick google search) but he is gathering the info now and I have no reason to doubt him. Has anyone heard of it or used it? It seems like one of those too good to be true type things but this guy is otherwise legit! Anyway, I will gather some info myself and try some.........then post results of course. In the mean time I would love to hear anyones thoughts. Cheers...............Bongchitis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sobriquet Posted October 13, 2006 Reported to remain effective in soil for 5 years or something (its just crushed rock I believe).... Hi there. Mineral fertilisers derived from rock will obviously work however they have one significant disadvantage in that they contain radioactive trace elements. Apatite which is one of the minerals used in some soluble fertilisers has Radium and Polonium for example. In plants which are for human use then you can see that the radioactive elements in the minerals are going to get into the plant and then the consumer. The advantage of these minerals is that they are cheap compared to alternatives and that's why they're used in commercial crops. You might remember advertising from several years ago that indicated tobacco smoke contained Polonium and Radium. I remember thinking, where in the hell does the tobacco plant synthesis that element from (I was naive and much younger, this is the 80's I'm talking about). It obviously comes from the chemical fertilisers! Quite obviously these radioactive elements smoked into your lungs is not a great thing, and it's not surprising that it causes lung cancer. What I wonder is whether the tobacco plant alone, grown completely organically is as dangerous from the carcinogenic point of view. Nicotine is obviously detrimental in itselfm but the carcinogenicity I think is from the radioactive elements brought in by the mineral fertilisers. I'd personally avoid them, but it's something to think about at least. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
occidentalis Posted October 13, 2006 What I wonder is whether the tobacco plant alone, grown completely organically is as dangerous from the carcinogenic point of view. Nicotine is obviously detrimental in itselfm but the carcinogenicity I think is from the radioactive elements brought in by the mineral fertilisers. Many rock-dust type fertilisers are actually acceptable under organic certification - so that wouldn't help much. And many synthetic fertilisers are still derived from rock phosphate, so can still be radioactive. There was some discussion of this here a while ago. Apparently if you know where you're rock dust is coming from, you can find out whether that quarry yeilds radioactive material or not and choose wisely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sobriquet Posted October 13, 2006 Many rock-dust type fertilisers are actually acceptable under organic certification - so that wouldn't help much. Hi creach. I should have been clearer about that. I meant this as in home grown avoiding all the problematic stuff but understand the problem with stating it like I did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bongchitis Posted October 13, 2006 Radioactivity...Interesting, certainly something I didn't think of. One would think that this would be covered in any organic certification requirements for use with food crops. I dunno? I guess unstable nucleii doesn't really count as inorganic........Carbon14. The fact that it is used commercially must mean it yields some benefits...obviously cost but if it was shit I suppose you wouldn't buy it for any price. Anybody use it for cactus, consumable or not? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
occidentalis Posted October 13, 2006 Anybody use it for cactus, consumable or not? Never used it for cactus, but it was used on one of the best suburban backyard permaculture setups that I've seen. It's good stuff as far as plant nutrition goes. Just need to find out more about the radioactivity thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
