Rock dust

[told2b]

Hi -- We had a speaker at our last garden club meeting who was promoting the use of rock dust to accomplish soil remineralization. I was wondering if anyone in the newsgroup has/had any personal knowledge in using in their gardens or compost piles. I know that there are products in the marketplace like Azomite, Stonemeal and Agro-Winn, etc., but he was talking about going to gravel pits and getting 'rock fines' and/or 'pond fines' for a nominal fee or no cost and using this in your garden. TIA

[Tom J]

I use dolomite lime from ground up marble tailings every couple of years. Since I'm near the source, it's the cheapest. Below is a description.

Marble Marble consists of metamorphosed limestone or dolomite or both. Although marble may be slightly soluble in water, karst will form in marble areas as the minerals react chemically with dissolved carbon dioxide and organic acids. Marble may be associated with contact or regional metamorphism where phyllites, slates, schists, and metaquartzites may be found. Marble is considered a carbonate rock.

Tom J

[told2b]

Thanks for your reply. Did you encounter any problems from using the lime? Any contamination from tall oil? Thank again

[Tom J]

I'm in north Georgia, so my soil is mostly red clay and acid, so I need the lime for most plants anyway. The people that do my soil sample test tell me I'm fine for the plants I'm using.

Tom J