Rockdust - has anyone used it?

[Duronal]

Does anyone here know anything about rockdust? I've read the promotional material online regarding how it works but i was wondering if anybody here has used it?

Latest
Rock dust grows extra-big vegetables (and might save us from global warming) - Environment - The Independent


all the articles that I’ve read state that Rockdust is ground up volcanic rock from Scotland, this dust is sprinkled on to soil beds to reintroduce minerals and trace elements. In turn the boosted mineral and trace element increase microbial and worm activity in the applied areas providing better growing conditions.

This all seems a bit too good to be true….. what do you guys think?

[zazen999]

PW tried it last year....but I can't remember what he said about it.

[selfraising]

I thought that that is what vermiculite is made from.

[Duronal]

I've just found out that harrod horticulture are now selling this
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I'm a great fan of most of their items - although they can be a bit pricey! - so i think i'm going to order bag and see how we go.

I'll try keep you updated.

D

[sauzee]

I bought two tubs a couple of years ago spread it on a small area in the garden but i never noticed any big veg in my garden only grew lettuce,beetroot,carrots and potatoes that year

[smallblueplanet]

I wonder if its pitched a bit like vitamin supplements? If you've a balanced diet/soil already you won't need rock dust?

Hey PW how did your experiment with quarry dust go?

[pigletwillie]

I put it on a few beds last year. It was granite dust from the quarry where I normally work with a texture like flour.

As a soil conditioner its great, I susspect however that it is a very slow release of minerals that will eventually over a season or two, kick start the soils own ecosystem and via that any minerals will be made available to plants.

I am a great believer in feeding the soil and not feeding plants as such. My tomatoes never get additional feeds but crop superbly well, any additions of food that are high in any one element, knock the rest right out of synch by damaging the soils complex ecosystem, the very system that naturally lets plants take up nutrients from the soil.

Time will tell if it really makes a difference but I shall be adding it anyway this year to my beds.

[snohare]

It's heavily marketed in our neck of the woods, but the only person I've spoken to who had any experience of it thought it was basically no different to any other fertiliser in the short term at least; they didn't try it long term, thought it too expensive. That I think is its achilles heel - it is not a quick fix. In theory it is the stuff that makes up soil, so long term should give good soil - but I'd guess that all depends on having the right soil bacteria, fungi etc there already, to break down the chemicals, and long term might mean geological terms....!
It certainly isn't like vermiculite, that is a very specific and nutrient poor form of volcanic rock only found in certain places abroad. This is pulverised rock dust, and I can tell you for free, as about 8% of the world's energy goes on pulverising mined or quarried rock, you are not going to save the planet from global warming with this stuff, not even if it is crumbly old metamorphic schist. Breaking rock is alway energy intensive ! (Ask Cool Hand Luke.)

[deezyb]

i'm sure it is from a quarry in perthshire/dundee area, or at least that's where it comes from I think. My mum's neighbour uses it and she swears by it - she always has a fab crop of stuff.

I think it has come down in price as when I looked at it before, it seemed expensive but seems less pricey now

[drumgerry]

First post here but I know a little about this so here goes.

We visited the SEER centre (who produce and market Rockdust) a few years back and the owners said the dust was from a local Perthshire/Angus quarry - a waste product from the workings there which they acquired in great quantities for next to nothing. The dust was volcanic basalt dust and that was one of the keys to how it works (don't ask me why).

Certainly their garden was thriving on it and was in stark contrast to the rough pasture and moorland which surrounds it.

I have seen the dust for sale in various places but it would gall me to buy it knowing it's being acquired for pennies and has a huge mark up applied to it. I have toyed with the idea of trying to source my own from a quarry but haven't done it yet.

Cheers

Gerry

[Dynamo]

Here's what someone found written somewhere online.



Rock dust grows extra-big vegetables (and might save us from global warming)
By Paul Kelbie, Scotland Correspondent
Monday, 21 March 2005
For years scientists have been warning of an apocalyptic future facing the world. With the prospect of an earth made infertile from over-production and mass reliance on chemicals, coupled with an atmosphere polluted by greenhouse gases there seems little to celebrate. But belief is growing that an answer to some of the earth's problems are not only at hand, but under our feet.

For years scientists have been warning of an apocalyptic future facing the world. With the prospect of an earth made infertile from over-production and mass reliance on chemicals, coupled with an atmosphere polluted by greenhouse gases there seems little to celebrate. But belief is growing that an answer to some of the earth's problems are not only at hand, but under our feet.

Specialists have just met in Perth to discuss the secrets of rock dust, a quarrying by-product that is at the heart of government-sponsored scientific trials and which, it is claimed, could revitalise barren soil and reverse climate change.

The recognition of the healing powers of rock dust comes after a 20-year campaign by two former schoolteachers, Cameron and Moira Thomson. They have been battling to prove that rock dust can replace the minerals that have been lost to the earth over the past 10,000 years and, as a result, rejuvenate the land and halt climate change.

To prove their point, the couple have converted six acres of open, infertile land in the Grampian foothills near Pitlochry into a modern Eden. Using little more than rock dust mixed with compost, they have created rich, deep soils capable of producing cabbages the size of footballs, onions bigger than coconuts and gooseberries as big as plums.

"This is a simple answer which doesn't involve drastic life changes by anyone," Ms Thomson said. "People don't have to stop driving cars to do this, just spread some rock dust on their gardens. We could cover the earth with rock dust and start to absorb carbon in a more natural fashion which, along with reducing emissions and using a combination of other initiatives, will have a better and faster response."

Before the Thomsons began their "good life" experiment, erosion and leaching were so severe in the glen where they set up home that nothing had been grown there for almost 50 years. The basis of their theory is simple. By spreading a thin layer of the dust over the land, they are able to mimic the earth's glacial cycles which naturally fertilise the land.

Since the last ice age three million years ago, the earth has gone through 25 similar glaciations, each lasting about 90,000 years. "We are 10,000 years into an interglacial - a hiatus between ice ages - meaning modern soils are relatively barren and artificial fertilisers are needed," Mr Thomson said.

"By spreading the dust we are doing in minutes what the earth takes thousands of years to do - putting essential minerals in the rocks back into the earth."

Over the years the couple, who established the Sustainable Ecological Earth Regeneration (Seer) Centre charitable trust in 1997 to test their ideas, have slowly convinced others of their theory. They recently won a grant of almost £100,000 from the Scottish Executive to conduct Britain's first official rock dust trials.

The couple claim the technique may also play a significant role in the fight against climate change as calcium and magnesium in the dust converts carbon in the air into carbonates. Such is the interest in the theory that Nasa in the US is examining it in preparation for growing plants on other planets.

The couple say that the rock dust means that crops don't need water to produce harvests of magnificent vegetables. "It would be perfect for Third World countries that are usually unable to grow crops because the land is so dry," Ms Thomson said. "This could hold the solution for them."

"There is no doubt that, when rock dust is mixed with compost, it has a dramatic effect on crop yields," said Alistair Lamont, president of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management, who is impressed by the Seer experiment. "Future waste strategy is going to rely heavily on the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill, and one of the treatments involved is composting so we need to find a home for that compost.

"Agricultural land is something we need to work on and the benefits of rock dust in combination with compost can be seen at the Seer Centre at harvest time. We need to get farming to take on board the value of remineralisation and re-fertilisation.

Mr Lamont added that evidence showed that, since 1940, the mineral content of vegetables had fallen dramatically in this country. "We might be encouraged to eat a lot of vegetables but many don't contain the quantities of minerals that we need," he said.


I found the 4kilos for £5.99 here:- Buy Rock Dust 4kg, and here http://www.cangrow.co.uk/rock-dust-.html its £4.99 for 4.5K, or your can buy a 20K bag for £14.99 here http://www.angus-horticulture.co.uk/...d.asp?pID=7361

[BFG]

I've been interested in this topic, but not used it yet.

It seems pretty logical to me. All the trace nutrients and minerals come from rock originally. We tend to exhaust these and just give the plants the basic main nutrients that are required for growth and forget about everything else.

As well as healthy robust plants, giving the plants minerals and vitamins, should mean they're a lot better for us. Combined with 100's of years of selective breeding for size and uniformity and not nutritional value, the lack of minerals in the soil means "empty" food and could explain why we're prone to various diseases .

I have read somewhere of somebody (probably one of the 2 dudes mentioned above) actually eating a tablespoon of rockdust a day.

Being tigh... frugal, I'm going to try and make my own and give it a go. Or try and get collect (legal) freebies from some of the quarries round here.

I've got a load of old Aquarium rocks I don't need (some of them volcanic types), so I'm going to get a selection of different kinds, put them in a sack and get the sledge hammer out.

I'll add it to everything and observe. It'll be interesting to see the results. I'm hoping I'll see noticeable increased pest and fungal resistance in my fruit trees.

[BFG]

Does anyone know if all rocks are alkaline by way? Obviously the limestone/chalky ones are, but I'm not sure about the rest.

I'll have to bear the potentially high pH in mind when using it on my plants. Or balance it out maybe? I normally feed my acid loving plants cold tea, so maybe that'd work mixing with rock dust. Pee's acidic too, but also salty and a tad offputting, so I'll save that for emergencies.

[Dynamo]

I read somewhere that it does have a high alkaline content so its best not to use it on the ground where you've already limed. The advice given is that it should be used instead of lime rather than as well as lime.

[BFG]

Thanks. I'll keep it away from my Strawberry tree, Blueberries and Roses.

Should be good for my Lavenders and Rosemary though!

I think I'll do some experimentation with the PH and try and get it balanced. I think most plants like slightly acidic.