> Hi Jose, > > Charcoal will change the pH of soils. If you can find it, zeolite added to > the soil as an amendment, is much better for the VAM fungi. Zeolite is also > longer lasting and will do a cation exchange. It will also absorb things > that are detrimental to the VAM fungi. For example, if one happens to have > a lot of organic material in the soils that is not very well decomposed, > there can be an excessive amount of etheline gas emited. Zeolite will > absorb that gas. Excessive etheline will stop the VAM fungi from growing > and it can stop any further colonization of plant roots. > > Zeolite also makes a great cation exchanger and can be mixed in with manure > and will help hold down leaching. It will also stop the smell rather > quickly. Zeolite is my preference over charcoal. I have two German Shepard > dogs that pee and poop in my crushed granite gravel drive way. We use it as > a dog run. It used to reek like crazy! I put down three 30 lb bags of > zeolite just once in the spring and there is no odor at all from it. The > zeolite will recharge in the sun light. If you have pigs or chickens or > horses, put zeolite down... the odor stops and you now have a significant > value added to your manure. > > Zeolite is also a product mixed into the carrier material of our BioVam > Mycorrhiza inoculum. It absorbs gasses given off by the bacteria in our > inoculum and helps keep our bags from puffing up. It is also a great > amendment to have around plant roots and has anti-pathogenic properties > while helping the VAM fungi. The zeolite gets along with VAM fungi quite > well. Odly, zeolite is used as a soil amendment in China and Japan, but not > much in the USA, although it is available in the US and Canada. I also > have about 3 pallets of it sitting in my garage. LOL. > > Best Regards, > Thomas Giannou - zone 5 - Spokane, WA > http://www.tandjenterprises.com - home of BioVam Mycorrhiza. > > Hi Thomas,
As far as I know charcoal is inert and therefore cannot affect soil pH. I will investigate Zeolite but I am affraid that we do not have it down here. The idea is to use some clay ( is Zeolite a clay type of material ?) to adsorb ( not absorb) odours and other organic material right ? The information that Zeolite is the carrier of VAM is a good one. Thanks for the lead. Jose
