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Grittyville, WA

The ones that arent on a typical soil test? Im just wondering why the tomatoes grow so well in one spot and kind of lackluster/average elsewhere, by comparison. I try to pay attention to all the standard nutrients and micronutrients, but there are even more micronutrients that no one ever talks about.

Anyhow, this is kinda wacko but I have a weird hunch that spot that grows best might have cobalt where I may have burned a lithium battery. Why would I do a redneck thing like burn a lithium battery, idk. But what if this were true? ...If things were growing better in this spot because of some freak chemical "accident".

Speaking for anyone who uses chemical fertilizers with micronutrients, we add lots of the standard micros, but we dont add any of the other micros like nickel, selenium, cobalt, etc. So at some point, those will get out of balance with the rest and become limiting factors?

If we dont care about these other micros we can still get good results but... we'll fall short of the best possible results???

[Last edit: 09/16/24 2:07:06 PM]

9/16/2024 2:02:42 PM

Grittyville, WA

And ps I am not saying we should all be throwing our cell phones under our pumpkin plants (it might help in more ways than one though, ha ha) all I'm saying is that no amount of locally sourced compost is going to supply these oddball nutrients, even though I wish it would.

Certain of these oddball nutrients might have to be obtained from equally odd organic or mineral sources... or from a chemical supply company.

In addition, research would have to be done on the correct amounts to use.

Probably, not many growers are in a good position to add a half dozen new worries to their list. I know I'm not.

But it might be what I need to do.

9/16/2024 2:25:30 PM

Norwich, NY

With tomatoes I think it has a lot more to do with luck, then good soil, fertilizing, watering etc. Just my opinion.

10/14/2024 10:02:14 PM

Mead, WA

This post reminds me of kids watching the periodic table song

10/31/2024 4:23:11 AM

Gourd Zone, WA

I started out with the idea that it was luck but I dont believe Dan Sutherland has powerball winning luck I could be wrong but I think he must give his plants a bit more attention a better environment than the average grower does. It might be that we aren't breeding them as carefully as he has been, which could take luck, but if we are simply not doing what we need to do then this is an issue of neglect-of-duty, not luck.

[Last edit: 10/31/24 5:20:23 AM]

10/31/2024 5:17:57 AM

Gourd Zone, WA

Anyhow, Sutherlands youtube videos wont tell you to put toxic waste in your garden (and I wouldnt advise it either, it isnt sane nor even remotely smart). The threat of cancer, etc. is real.

[Last edit: 10/31/24 5:31:16 AM]

10/31/2024 5:30:50 AM

Western PA

Little ketchup, I was thinking the same thing a few months back.
For anyone that likes to drink red wines, ( merlots, Cabernets , etc), you will not get a well made one on the east coast. They are terrible around the Great Lakes region!! ( They can only make decent sweet wines around here.)
I was told the west coast soil , where they grow these grapes has traces of volcanic ash and that is the key to the much better flavor than the east coast wines. What's in that ash ??
I have not done enough research to confirm this myself.
So, I do believe you are on to something here !

[Last edit: 10/31/24 12:07:44 PM]

10/31/2024 8:27:44 AM

Springfield, VT

The problem with the trace micronutrients is heavy metals can become toxic really easy to people and plants. So it is a bad idea to add additional to the soil, a biologically active soil can release most of the needed elements.

10/31/2024 11:16:26 AM

Grittyville, WA

@ZAPPA the best wines probably do come from the most volcanic areas. Red mountain and surrounding wine dustricts in Washington are in the most volcanic areas... no doubt about it. Both the ash and the groundwater (the aquifer is in a mile deep flow of basalt) may give trace nutrients like sulfer.

This video mentions cobalt at minute 43:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hUYwX9FlcPY&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D

The claim in the video is that it delays fruir senescence, aka ripening/death. Its hard to say what the exact effect would be on pumpkins but it seems obvious that a delay-of-aging nutrient could have potential benefits, and maybe drawbacks as well. I think this video is a must-watch for competitive growers.

12/16/2024 11:37:56 PM

valtierra/spain

Last week curiously, looking for fertilisers that help mitigate the effect of ethylene on pumpkins at the end of the crop, to lengthen the fattening more, I found a fertiliser in Spain that has cobalt, it is very interesting. https://www.tienda.sercopag.com/producto/qualis-mezcla-liquida-de-micro-nutrientes-bmocobalto/

Maybe for one or two applications on the leaves it could work, but be careful with adding to the soil, if you overdose it can be very harmful. The best thing would be that when you ask for soil analysis, you ask them to look at the cobalt too,

[Last edit: 12/17/24 3:53:29 AM]

12/17/2024 3:46:06 AM