To stimulate plant growth, all you need is some rock dust. This is less a classic fertilizer and more a natural additive that is usually rich in silica, aluminum oxide, magnesium, iron, manganese, potassium and calcium. Important nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are only found in small amounts in the finely ground rock. Thus, the primary aim of the use is to improve the soil quality and water retention capacity in the home garden – and thus automatically strengthen the plants. The primary rock flour is usually made from nutrient-rich lava rock, basalt or diabase, more rarely from rocks poor in nutrients such as quartz, zeolite and granite. These are more likely to be used to improve soil storage capacity.
Urgsteinsmehl can and should be used in different ways, depending on the type of soil and which (weathered) stones and minerals are already contained in it. For rough orientation:
If the soil is sandy, it tends to be poor in nutrients and humus, since the rain washes the nutrients out of the upper layers of the earth. Here the nutrient content can be increased with alkaline primary rock flour. If, on the other hand, you use a flour based on bentonite, the formation of clay-humus complexes should be stimulated.
If the (moor) soil is rather acidic, the PH value can be raised with calcium-containing primary rock powder based on diabase and thereby neutralized. After that, garden plants feel much better.
Primary rock powder based on basalt (or granite), on the other hand, is said to help acidify strongly alkaline soils that are particularly rich in lime.
Alkaline soils, such as lawns, should be supplied with nutrients by adding primary rock flour from lava or basalt.
If you want to improve the activities in your compost, it should make sense to use primary rock powder based on diabase or lava rock.
And another tip: If you are not sure whether the soil is more acidic or basic, for example, you can measure the pH value.
Sources: My Beautiful Garden, Utopia
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