Recent content by EmeraldCropSci

  1. EmeraldCropSci

    Albrecht versus conventional soil testing - my experiments

    I wouldn't hold your breath! There is unlikely to be any trials data that supports this ratio for this timing. Nevertheless, a N:S ratio of about 28:1 is sufficiently far out of line to be a bit suspect. Note that your Nitrogen % is high - I'd be expecting a N% of between 4.5% - 5.75% and a...
  2. EmeraldCropSci

    Albrecht versus conventional soil testing - my experiments

    An N:S ratio of 10:1 is a significant oversimplification. Firstly, different crops require different amounts of a whole variety of nutrients to achieve what we are looking for i.e. a given maximum yield and quality of specific parts of the plant (i.e. grain, tubers, oil, fibre). As an example...
  3. EmeraldCropSci

    Albrecht versus conventional soil testing - my experiments

    The lab extraction method is usually straightforward. For tissue samples the material is dry ashed and then digested in a strong acid to completely dissolve all remaining minerals. The resulting solution is diluted and then passed through analysis machines, such as gas plasma, to determine total...
  4. EmeraldCropSci

    Albrecht versus conventional soil testing - my experiments

    Generally tissue analysis is calibrated to specific parts of the plant and differs by growth stage (as @Elmsted showed in his graphs). It may well be that the lab basic interpretation is geared for the usual "3rd most fully expanded leaf" and not whole plant as you have provided them. While the...
  5. EmeraldCropSci

    Drilling progress autumn 2013

    Very clear photos of the operations here JNG!
  6. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    And here you've hit the nail on the head. The fact that plants can absorb any nutrient (and other substances through foliage) is a piece of luck for us - they most certainly didn't evolve to take in nutrients this way! Because of the complex structure of leaves - the inter- and intra- cellular...
  7. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    Thanks very much. In response to Andy Howard, I do understand the need for scepticism and, as I've said before, there is not only an awful lot of nonsense talked about with respect to soils & crop nutrition, there are also an awful lot of poor products sold too as either nutrients or purporting...
  8. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    I take your point and the aim is to entirely practical. But you've got to really understand the problem before you spend money tackling it. Just to illustrate: the genetic potential of wheat is around 23 t/ha. The World average is under 3 t/ha. The UK average is just a shade under 8 t/ha (about...
  9. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    @CORK, as we discussed, part of the issue currently is trying to understand what's going on from limited information and with more than a few important parameters missing. If you'd like to investigate this further through more detailed soil analysis and a consideration of the generic soil type...
  10. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    As far as I'm aware Teagasc prescribe the Morgan's Method for soil P for all soils in the Rep. of Ireland (Olsen method is used in the North!) and all recommendations are based on this. I think that it would be very useful if Teagasc did advise use of Olsen for pH's above 6.5, but unfortunately...
  11. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    Piffle. As far as I am aware there are absolutely no independent, replicated scientific studies published in any credible scientific journal that support this idea. Almost all elements and many compounds from Hydrogen to Tungsten are paramagnetic - that is they are attracted temporarily to some...
  12. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    You're right. Gravity is the driver and roots can detect the pull of gravity and react accordingly. There are vesicles within each plant cell that detect gravity. Experiments by NASA and others in free fall orbital experiments (which is not gravity free, but where everything is falling at the...
  13. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    You cannot "correct" the soil Ca/Mg ratio and there is no point in trying to do so, as you've rightly identified. I am very familiar with Morgan's method, which is also used in Scotland, and is suited only to acidic & neutral soils. As an acid-based extractant, it severely over-estimates...
  14. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    I think Fibrophos/P is a perfectly good material and source of P, however, I wouldn't expect it to perform significantly differently from TSP and maybe not as well as MAP in your case (assuming you can also add some N). In any case I wouldn't want the seed directly against any fertiliser...
  15. EmeraldCropSci

    Rape phosphate dressings

    No problem with rant - and scepticism is desirable in the area of crop nutrition where much snake oil abounds… Apologies for the rather long response, but I felt your comments needed some consideration. However, before responding directly I’d like to start by stating, for the record, that I...
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