Blog Posts
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Compost buffers soil pH
In all of our field trials, compost significantly buffered soil pH . When soil pH was low-mid 6, compost amended plots raised the pH to low-mid 7, and when the soil pH was closer to 8, it lowered it to mid-7. Below are two examples from different fields.
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Resources
Strawberry production Production Guidelines; Verticillium wilt of Strawberry T R Gordon, Krishna V. Subbarao. California Strawberry Commission. 2007. 1-4 Disease suppression Berg G, Fritze A, Roskot N, Smalla K. (2001) Evaluation of potential biocontrol rhizobacteria from different host plants of Verticillium dahliae Kleb. J Appl Microbiol 91:963–971. Bonanomi, G., V. Antignani, M. Capodilupo and F.…
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Root development of two strawberry cultivars when grown in different compost amendments
To evaluate root health, soil cores are taken 4.5″ deep, two inches from the crown, between the crown and the drip tape. Root cores are soaked and sieved, then scanned and analyzed using WinRhizo software to measure total root length. Both cultivars Albion and Chandler are grown in a replicated field trial in a commercial organic…
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Margaret G. Lloyd
My research explores non-chemical management strategies under the overarching effort to develop alternatives to methyl bromide. Since the 1950′s, methyl bromide has very successfully minimized common soil pests including nematodes, weeds and soil borne diseases like Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt and black root rot. International efforts to reduce pollutants causing ozone depletion, methyl bromide was…
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Compost can affect soil salinity
Two types of finished compost, manure compost and spent mushroom compost, both significantly increased soil salinity. However, with sufficient irrigation, the spike in electrical conductivity was reduced to within optimal levels by January (1.5 months after compost incorporation) and possibly earlier. In a field with deficit irrigation, high EC levels were still measured in soil…
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Composting for Disease Control in Strawberries at UC Davis, National Strawberry Sustainability Institute Press Release
Last spring, the National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative administered by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability released a call for proposals as part of a $3 million donation by the Walmart Foundation. We were awarded $101,821 for research on “Sustainable Strawberry Production in the Absence of Soil Fumigation.”…
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California Compost Symposium, Center for Sustainability, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
On March 28th, I attended the California Compost Symposium at Cal Poly’s Center for Sustainability, San Luis Obispo. http://www.cfs.calpoly.edu/compost_symposium.html PROGRAM INTRODUCTION- ‘Compost: The Sustainable Solution’ Cary Oshins, Director of Education and Annual Conference, U.S. Composting Council Dan Noble, Executive Director, Association of Compost Producers NOBLE PRESENTATION KEYNOTE: Dr. Deborah A. Neher & Tom Weicht, Plant and Soil Science Dept.…