Hand Tools, Seeds, and Supplies
(Page 5 of 10)
April/May 1998
By John Vivian
FERTILIZERS
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We seaside gardeners have long known that ocean kelp provides negligible NPK, but does contain a readily available, balanced supply of readily-absorbed trace minerals that are absent from many soils, but, like the copper from REAL's hook-blade cultivator, are crucial in tiny quantities for healthy plant growth.
It is now known that cold-processed kelp extracts also contain many natural plant enzymes. Among them are cytokinin, auxin, and gibberellin. These powerful natural growth hormones offer us an organic substitute for the artificial gibberellic acid that is the foundation of most rooting hormone powders sold commercially. Try dipping your geranium cuttings in liquid kelp concentrate and trash the Root-It! Then spray the foliage with diluted kelp as a nutrient tonic. You must use the cold-processed kelp extract or concentrate, as heat-processing destroys the enzymes. Look for the term "cold processed" in the catalog listing. Algamin (soluble powder) and Maxicrop (powder or fluid) are trade names of two Norwegian brands of cold-processed kelp extract.
Cottonseed meal, a by-product of cotton gins, is a prime source of slow-release nitrogen that organic gardeners like Ruth Stout once used to feed the soil and compost, but since it takes such a potent brew of chemicals to control pesticide-resistant boll weevils and other pests of cotton these days, most commercial cottonseed meal has been rendered almost toxic to the touch with accumulated pesticide residue. Peaceful Valley has a supply from California organic cotton growers that is warranted to be poison-free. At a dollar a pound shipping, it's not cheap to get it from California to New England. Maybe we could swap some rockweed kelp.
PEST AND WEED CONTROLS
Thanks in part to our readers, friends and allies in government, long-lived bug and weed-killers like DDT, which can damage every life form they contact, are history. But the environmental abuse they caused, plus not a little inflammatory rhetoric from segments of the organic and environmentalist movements, have branded as suspect any chemical sounding compound or any gardening formulation made or trade-named by one of the big petrochemical corporations.
Cases in point are a pair of relatively new chemicals derived from natural sources that act more effectively and selectively than some long-accepted organic compounds such as pyrethrin and rotenone — pesticides derived from tropical plants that can kill fish or hogs and irritate humans.
First is azadirachtin, an insect growth hormone extracted from the seeds of the neem tree of Southeast Asia and India's tropics, where it has been used by local farmers for eons. It repels some insects, causes others to quit feeding, and kills still others by interrupting normal metamorphosis — the stage-by-stage development of many bugs as they grow from egg to caterpillar, and others as they develop from pupa to adult. It is harmless to most beneficial insects and other life forms. Most notably, Neem is the first environmentally-benign spray that's reputed to keep Japanese beetles off pole beans and grape leaves, and off your prize roses, as well. It is sold under several names in different. formulations. All products either have "Neem" as part of the brand name or "azadirachtin" somewhere on the label.
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