Permatill (also called VoleBloc): a mined expanded slate from NC, in the bag or if you have a big job you can get it by the tractor trailer.
Mycorisal fungus inoculation:
Also a big WiltPruf Fan , and water holding polymers (SoilMoist) for containers
Erich[/QUOTE]
'Permatill' and 'Mycorisal fungus inoculation' are not available to home gardeners here.
Are there other ways to encourage Mycorrhizal fungus?
What is a "big WiltPruf Fan"?
I often worry that water holding crystals suck water out of plants as they dry out.(?) I've played with them but I usually end up with a mess in pots.
here is another web site on Terra preta . A good summary of what has been found:
http://www.discussanything.com/forum...p/t-68405.html
"Terra preta is scattered throughout Amazonia, but it is most frequently found on low hills overlooking rivers—the kind of terrain on which indigenous groups preferred to live. According to Eduardo Neves, an archaeologist at the University of São Paulo who is part of the Iranduba team, the oldest deposits date back more than 2000 years and occur in the lower and central Amazon; terra preta then appeared to spread to cultures upriver. By A.D. 500 to 1000, he says, “it appeared in almost every part of the Amazon Basin.”
Typically, black-soil regions cover 1 to 5 ha, but some encompass 300 ha or more. The black soils are generally 40 to 60 cm deep but can reach more than 2 m. Almost always they are full of broken ceramics. Although they were created centuries ago—probably for agriculture, researchers such as Woods believe—patches of terra preta are still among the most desirable land in the Amazon. Indeed, terra preta is valuable enough that locals sell it as potting soil. To the consternation of archaeologists, long planters full of terra preta, complete with pieces of pre-Columbian pottery, greet visitors to the airport in the lower Amazon town of Santarém.
As a rule, terra preta has more “plant-available” phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, and nitrogen than surrounding oxisols; it also has much more organic matter, retains moisture and nutrients better, and is not rapidly exhausted by agricultural use when managed well.
The key to terra preta's long-term fertility, Glaser says, is charcoal: Terra preta contains up to 70 times as much as adjacent oxisols. “The charcoal prevents organic matter from being rapidly mineralized,” Glaser says. “Over time, it partly oxidizes, which keeps providing sites for nutrients to bind to.” But simply mixing charcoal into the ground is not enough to create terra preta. Because charcoal contains few nutrients, Glaser says, “high nutrient inputs via excrement and waste such as turtle, fish, and animal bones were necessary.” Special soil microorganisms are also likely to play a role in its persistent fertility, in the view of Janice Thies, a soil ecologist who is part of a Cornell University team studying terra preta. “There are indications that microbial biomass is higher in terra preta,” she says, which raises the possibility that scientists might be able to create a “package” of charcoal, nutrients, and microfauna that could be used to transform oxisols into terra preta.
Michael
