Science Forums 2

[Michaelangelica]

gost-
Thanks for your long and detailed reply

alpaca poo??
You really are tying to keep it ethnically pure !

Temperature
The last website I posted had an interesting graph:-
275-400c best to maximise carbon storage for mankind and optimal zone for energy extraction
400-600C best for microbial life but complete devloatilization -requires addition of energy &/or oxygen
400C chars very gradually released its ammonia
I can't see how Amazonian Indians could control temperature anyway. Perhaps they had a mixture of all temps?? or Perhaps good coppicing results in ideal temperature just because of the way it is done.??

Thanks for sorting me out on coal and briquettes. I didn't think they would work. It goes against the whole tenant of Terra preta' environmetal ++ss anyhow.

Clay
Kitty Litter is Attapulgite or the clumping one is bentonite.
(a perfumer friend put me on to it can be used as a fixative to hold perumes. It can be used in sachets etc)
Both are supposed to be activated clays (whatever that means)
Attapulgite holds moisture and is a clay. It should work in potting mixes. I am experimenting to find out.
There used to be big terracotta potteries here with huge piles of broken "waste" sigh. .
But a Global Economy" and the Chinese & Italians have put them out of business. Strangely now it is hard to find a good selection of Terracotta plant pots in Nurseries. I have always preferred them for my herbs as most (thyme, sage rosemary etc) prefer a drish well drained environment.
Perhaps there was a reason Old Gardiners' invented Terracotta. The history of such pots must go back to Roman times?? I will google it one day and see.
I saw advertised on USA Garden Products web sites terracotta balls and orchid mixes with terracotta added. What country are you from?

Water
I agree about the water, 17% better soil water holding capacity is the figure from above web site. In pots it could be better.
Politically and economically water is becoming a major issue here.
With local dams down to 19% capacity, we water the garden by hand from now on.

I live in hope that my orchids(usually half dead-I'm not an orchid person, but having spent scandalous amounts of money on them I would like them to survive) will thrive in my new mix of wood (ie basic orchid potting mix), charcoal, and Attapulgite.


Find "Quirky Science Facts" by putting that in the search box at the top of the page. Go to the last 4-5 posts. You might enjoy browsing around the Hypography site I do. Try "forums' to go to areas that mainly interest you.
I recommend the first page of "Quality Jokes" apart from my posts, of course, it is all downhill from there.

Love the pics. will post some when I work out how.


We must have nearly sorted this Terra preta thing by now, apart from details.
I have some Google alerts going and will report on anything new they show up. (They do miss some/many things)
and will post results of my experiments.
My next job is to proselytise this to the Aussie farming community I don't know how I do that.
At the moment Australia is shipping thousands of ships full of old growth forest chips to Japan. The Japanese must be laughing up their sleeves at us for letting such a valuable resource (even if we burnt it!) go so cheaply.
sigh. . . again.

Thanks for your valuable posts. It is wonderful to have someone to bounce ideas off. This is not the sort of discussion you can have at the Pub:- "G'day, how's yea'r terry prety go'n Bruce"'
--
Michael