Rock Dust

farmers grow crops using as little expense as possible to maximise profits ... they don't try grow giant vegetables .... they try growing lots of vegetables

John Evans' record speaks for itself ... he does not use Rock dust, but uses something similar called alaskan humus and adds some extras to that

there are loads of people using his product with similar results to his .... they report their experiences on gardening forums (google)

 

totally intrigued looking forward to your next post Jim.
Need every bit of help i can get growing veg in glasgow

 

this is John Evans:

John Evans and His Record Breaking Giant Vegetables

he holds several world records for growing monster size vegetables ....

Lots of people make compost tea, but no-one makes it better than John Evans .... so I will stand up and listen carefully to what John Evans has to say as to what ingredients he uses for his brew

does your comfrey compost tea brew grow cabbages that weigh 76 lb, or 20 lb carrots, or 59 lb kale? .... I very much doubt it

and, farmers don't grow vegetables as large as John Evans' ... otherwise we would see them at tesco's and farmers markets

 

I am only guessing but don,t they have volcanic soil which probably hasn't been cropped for 400 years like ours, 20 hours of sunlight, possibly hot water under the ground.

I reckon that if I am anywhere near right how could he fail.

By the way I am not knocking compost tea, I am experimenting myself, even have the rock dust and air pump

 

good points, but as far as I know, some of his world record sized vegetables were grown in Ireland (he is Irish and as far as I know, he now lives in Ireland again).... I may be wrong?

and if the volcanic soil/sunlight/hot water are the main culprits of growing monster sized veg, why do other growers in the same area not get the same results?

 

Maybe their results aren't THAT far behind?

I seem to remember seeing pictures years ago, of monster cabbages grown in this area. Just a thought.

 

Thanks Dim for your post with all those recipes. I watched the video with interest.

But I have to say that I am getting more confused. One reaction is where do you get all those things from? as well as how and why do they work? Though, in fairness, you have to take John Evans seriously - he does have an amazing track record.

You also have to be careful about what you are trying to do. Blacksmith is quite right about the taste of veg, but I think John Evans has a different objective - the Guiness Book Of Records. The same with farmers, their objective is to make a profit. And it may be more profitable to grow a moderate crop cheaply, rather than a monster crop expensively. For most amateurs the cost and time involved are not so important.

This debate has raised another question for me. How do plants grow in compost? I can believe that good soil includes numerous bacteria and fungii which aid the growing process. But bags of compost from peat or substitutes such as coir have none of that. It is my understanding that they are totally barren except for some plant nutrients that have been added. However, my own recent experience of growing things like Echiums and Geranium maderense in both the border and in a pot have resulted in bigger plants growing in the pots. There are various possible explanations such as warmer roots as pots warm up faster than soil in the border. Also regular watering is more reliable than rain, and of course I feed the pots.

But I would like to hear more of Jim's experience, as there is an understandable basis for the benefits of rock dust, so I can well believe that it has benefits. Does it work in pots as well?

 

I'm still learning, and fertilizers is a subject that interests me (especially with lawns)

I will be experimenting next year with these brews and will try some on tomatoes to see what the results are ... I'm not really into fruit/veg growing, but if I can add fertilizer to shrubs and trees/flowers that benefits them, I will give it a go

one of my clients is into hydroponics aswell as growing fruit and veg in pots .... he has amazing crops and has told me the key to his success is to always remember that the compost/soil in the pots is merely a growing medium (a substance to spread roots), and the plants have to be regulary fed (either foliar or watered into the growing medium)

Bonsai is another subject that interests me ... I have been reading up about this subject and will give it a go soon

 

Dim - there is no question about feeding being key, especially for plants in pots. I have always fed my pots but recently my interest has been renewed by growing Brugmansias. The general consensus amongst Brug growers is that you should feed excessively - like every day. And I have seen it in print that if you feed daily you can expect something like 10 times as many flowers as not/slight feeding. Whilst I have not done any comparative trials. I have grown Brugmansias from seed this year, feeding heavily. Some are now nearly 9 feet tall with stems over an inch in diameter.

I have recently been feeding some other plants on a daily basis - Cannas and Echiums etc, and they do seem to have responded. This is why I can well believe that the appropriate compost tea or rock dust application could make a big difference. But it would be nice to have independant confirmation and an explanation of how it works, over and above the vendors say-so.

 

Nice one Freddy

 

well, google is your friend .... people from all over the world have been using this compost tea with the alaskan volcanic rock soil with great success .... so obviously there is something to it?

search on google ... even the cannabis growers are going crazy trying to get hold of this stuff .... and they don't live in Alaska

lots of interest from people living in the Phillipines aswell

so, it's not all to do with the extra sunlight and hot water? .... thats why I say there must be something good about this

I will definately be trying some of this on several palms (fortunei) in spring/summer next year that I have recently planted ... I have one client where I have planted 6 of these palms .... they are all the same size ... and all planted in the same area ... I will see what happens to 3 of them with this brew

and I will try with a few tomato plants next year

so, my theory is that if many have success with this product, don't knock it until you try it yourself ... it has been praised and endoresed by many people all over the world ...

don't ever discredit something you have not bothered to try yourself

 

Thats a good Idea for a trial dim.Regarding the trachys.

If you do feed three with the special brew, I think you should at the same time feed the other three with ordinary commercial feed.

Otherwise it would not be a fair comparison.

In fact, maybe one plant should not be fed at all, as a kind control plant.
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"don't ever discredit something you have not bothered to try yourself".

I've never been run over by a bus, but I know it hurts":D