sea-90 and other organic fertilizer

[Pink_Carnation]

Have any of you used Sea-90 water soluble sea solids and would you recomend it or something different in the rainy Pacific Northwest?

[james dilley]

I never heard of it Who puts it out???Any ideas on the crop ,it will be put on?? Any links to this item??

[Pink_Carnation]

Okay some links http://www.remineralize.org/story.ph...WnjnzmAE.shtml

http://www.seaagri.com/products.html

[veggrower]

Originally Posted by Pink_Carnation

Have any of you used Sea-90 water soluble sea solids and would you recomend it or something different in the rainy Pacific Northwest?

A farmer friend of mine bought a whole truckload of it last year. He contacted me and several other farmers to see if we wanted to buy some. I looked at the website info but it just sounds like expensive rock salt to me. The sodium content is out of sight. I decided to pass on it.

I contacted the farmer who bought some and asked how it worked out for him. He thought it worked well, but he didn't do any controlled trials so he could actually determine if it had any effect at all. He did say that the consistency of the product made it really hard to handle and they had to sift it to get it uniform enough to spread reliably. It wasn't a glowing endorsement of this product--especially from someone who bought a 24 ton truckload of it.

I have a lot of recommendations for the PNW. What is your situation? Are you farming? What crops? How much land? Have you had a soil test? What are your goals for adding ammendments to the soil? What are you trying to accomplish?

[veggrower]

Go to their website and click on "Research" then click on "Analysis of Sea-90"

It has no N no P, .1%K, .5%Mg, .3%Ca, negligible amounts of the micronutrients

What it does have is: 11% Sodium and 61% Chlorine! NaCl=rock salt! The pH=8!

The farmers in E Wa and E Or have a really hard time dealing with the excess sodium in the soils out there. I grew up in E Or and I know how challenging salty alkaline soil can be. I wouldn't buy it personally. It sounds like snake oil to me.

[Pink_Carnation]

Just trying to get a veggie garden growing. I haven't done any testing on the soil...mostly spending time pulling rocks out. We have alot of pine trees around us and alot of ground water moves through.

The ground in Hermiston was much easier to work with

[veggrower]

That nice sandy soil out in Hermiston is much easier to work--heats up faster, of course grows those great onions, melons. Don't expect watermelons to grow out here! I'm sure you've seen some alkali flats out there that aren't tillable because of the high sodium content and a pH of 9 or so. That's why I can't see putting the Sea-90 on my ground

If you are just doing a garden sized plot:

It probably needs a shot of lime. I would broadcast 1 50lb bag of Calpril for every 1000sq feet of garden. That is a rate of approx 1 ton/acre. Soils on this side of the Cascades tend to be low in Calcium and acidic because of all of the rain.

Prilled (pelletized) gypsum would also be good with the Calpril. It would add more Calcium and Sulfur and help to break up the clay in your soil.

I recommend the prilled products because they are easier to spread than the powders and they are a little quicker acting because the powders they are made from are finer and more uniform. They are more expensive, but still a bargain at about $8/bag, retail.

If there is an Ag Center (large fert dealer) or a farm store nearby you should be able to find some. Where I am at the Ag Centers are Wilco, Wilbur-Ellis, Marion Ag.

Doh! I just heard my helper start the Gator--Time for me to go to work!

I'll post a few more ideas later.

[veggrower]

Really, your best bet for getting a garden going West of the Cascades would be lime and compost+manure.

The soils tend to be heavier silt and clay. Our rainfall leaches out the Calcium, Nitrogen, Boron. Get a copy of the Capital Press, it is an AG weekly that covers the Pacific NW. In the classifieds under "Fertilizers" there are some ads for chicken manure with '360' area codes. An old Italian farmer in Portland always told me "With enough lime and enough chicken manure, you can grow anything." He's pretty close to right. The composted chix manure I use has an analysis of :

pellets=4.5%N, 4.5%P, 3.2%K, 6.7%Ca, .4%Mg, .3%S +tace amounts of the trace elements including Boron

composted & pulveriezed=3.4%N, 2.8%P, 2.7%K, 2.4%Ca, .5% Mg,.5%S and greater amounts of the trace elements.

The pellets are heated to 450 degrees in the process and lose moisture which concentrates some elements (highers NPK and Ca) and burns some others off. The bag label lists 4-3-3

The pulverized product is just composted chix manure that has been run through a hammermill and screened to give it a uniform consistency. Its analysis is going to be pretty consistent with most composted chix manure you can buy in your area. The bag label lists 3-2-2.Chix manure is going to give you a good dose of all of the macro and micro nutrients plus organic matter. They usually use sawdust or wood shavings for litter in the chix barns out here.

I request a copy of their latest full lab analysis every year so that I know what is in the bag. Companies rarely list anything other than the N-P-K required by law because of the cost involved in ongoing testing to prove what is on the lable is actually in the bag.

Good growing

Call your county extension office, they should have a Master Gardener group. Ask then what a typical soil test looks like in your area. That would give you a good idea of what you are lacking. Lime, compost and manure will cure a lot of problems for you.

[Pink_Carnation]

Thanks it sounds like I just need more of everything I have been doing...lots more I would guess.