Thanks Mark very insightful 👍

Hi Susie,

Most seaweed powders on the market are extracted with potassium hydroxide. This changes the nature of its properties somewhat unlike seaweed products that are produced mechanically or through fermentation.

The products I prefer to use for seed coating are Seaperia powder or the the fermented seaweed liquid from Marine Supplies…

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Thanks

Hi Susie, try Muirs.co in Landsdale Perth.

I have had success with their branch in Manjimup.

Hi, just wondering where people get seaweed powder from to add to compost slurry’s and do you think grinding meal would be same as powdered form

Very interested to learn more

I would like to trial the benefits (or not) of carbon in the form of graphite mixed into compost, on my veggie garden. I would like to understand how pure carbon in the form of graphite vs organic carbon in the form of decaying plant matter would affect soil and plant health. Any thoughts or advice in advance?

(The graphite comes is a by…

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Hello Peter,

Yes I will be starting with a soil test. I was interested to know about chelation of macro and micro nutrients with amimos, fish, seaweed etc. for soil and foliar application as experts tell many soil applications are lost and not plant available. I wanted to know if anyone is doing this for horticulture annuals.

Thank you

Hello Joanna,

Currently there are plots of monoculture tomatoes, chillies, brinjal and ground nut in 2 acres. I wanted to implement a intercropping of around 30 vegetables and leafy greens in less than a quarter acre through regenerative methods . We use back mounted automatic sprayer.

I am particularly interested to know about chelation of…

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Hello Joanna,

Currently there are plots of monoculture tomatoes, chillies, brinjal and ground nut in 2 acres. I wanted to implement a intercropping of around 30 vegetables and leafy greens in less than a quarter acre through regenerative methods . We use back mounted automatic sprayer.

I am particularly interested to know about chelation of…

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Hi Rakshith,

What size area are you looking at doing and what kind of equipment do you have access to? Also what vegetables were you looking at growing?

Hi Rakshith,

Have you done a soil analysis as a start point?

Tests you can do like Ph, texture, structure, colour etc will start to give you direction for ammendments.

cheers

Hello,

Are there any vegetable farmers here who can guide me with preparing foliar applications for a mixed vegetable production? I would also like to know how and what minerals to add to the soil while starting the no-till vegetable beds?

Thank you

Hi Eric,

We have got the tissue and sap results back from the strips where we applied a combination of micronised high calcium products including gypsum, vibrocalcite, guano and soft rock phosphate.

As suspected, there’s no discernible difference in the Ca levels between the treated and untreated strips 😏

Thanks for your comprehensive reply Mark. Tissue tests I did on some yellowing oats showed I had the usual suspects of mg and mn deficiency, but also had low calcium. I have applied a foliar to address this now, so will see what happens. I like your comment about the importance of getting calcium addressed in the soil rather the plant. I…

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Hey Eric,

Good question.

There are a few good liquid calcium products on the market from companies like cropping solutions and sustainable farming solutions, but they are expensive. Nicole Masters recommends making whitewash with hydrated lime, other farmers are trying micronised products or using strong acids to solubilise the calcium in…

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I listened to a podcast from John Kempt the other day and he mentioned that for foliar application, Calcium needs to be in the chelate form. Are most of the products on the market in a micronized carbonate form?

When it comes to potassium inputs, potassium sulphate is probably your best option.

It’s an allowable input in certified organic enterprises and has a relatively low salt index so not hard on soil biology.

Hi Will, you’ll find some useful information in this article…https://lowerblackwood.com.au/targeting-plant-nutrition/.

My understanding is that the volume of potassium required generally can’t all be addressed through foliars, improving soil biology will assist making what you have in the soil more available, helpful to know your totals as Max…

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Did the test just look for available potassium or total potassium? Big difference. Have you looked into making total available using fungi?

My soil tests are showing a severe lack of potassium (no shocks there!) – saying I need to apply 80kg/Ha. Question is – how do I improve potassium levels in my paddocks without using NPK / chemical fertilisers?