Rock Dust – DON'T fall for the SCAM

After 34 years of gardening, Rock dust never sat right with me, But I had an open mind and trialled rock dust gardening for years to be sure what I thought was true.

Rock dust is made from volcanic basalt rock and is a waste product of the quarry industry. It is supposed to provide trace mineral benefits and many folks ask is it worth using rock dust? In this episode, I break the myths behind rock dust

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[shubh]

Hey Tony, I am a quarry owner here in India, and I have been planting thousands of trees for past 5 years. We began producing manufactured sand from Basalt 3 years back, and we got a by-product which we later called manufactured soil. We used manufactured soil for our plants, we have given it to local garderners and everyone including us are enjoying it. I guess the size of product is crucial as our's is in micron size. We are not using any chemicals/fertilizers to grow our trees, only using home based compost and manufactured soil/rock dust.

[matthewfarrell]

I used a rock dust-like product the first time a few months ago, for clay loam soil, the company said it would help break it up a bit. After two months, 100% support their claims, soil is better, I can use my hands to dig down about 30-40mms into the soil, more of the mulch then ever before is down deeper, and I have seen an increase in the overall worm and insect populations in the soil. Now we have been building the soil over the last year, but you can easily tell the change.

I should also say the one I was using had about 6-7 different rock types in it. Oh and rocks, just like plastic can break down pretty quick under the right conditions.

[huxley]

I agree that overall you’re better to add compost to your garden however flood plains and volcanic areas are some of the most fertile areas on earth because they’re continuously supplied with fine rock and sediment.

[michaelreeve.idonotconsent]

Stupid of me I forgot to mention one of the most important things about rock dust, that is its para magnetism effect on the soil
Phil Callaghan in his books explains about this very important subject, would not want people to miss out on this .

[Gandalf-The-Green]

Micro nutrients and minerals are mined from the substratum by deep rooted plants, especially deep rooted deciduous trees, incorporated into their leaves and thus made available to surface dwelling plants and animals. So if you want a mineral source for your garden that is actually available to plants, leaf mould would be a great idea.

[barbarasaunders]

I've been growing veg and plants for over 50 yrs best results come from feeding your soil with organic/natural manures etc, not spending a fortune on false claims and lining the pockets of companies just out to rip folk off. Glad to see someone agrees with me, nice one mate.

[simplifygardening]

Folks don't forget to give us a thumbs up and subscribe for further content just like this. Thanks :)

[anthonybrown]

Hi tony was think about using rock dust believing that it was the thing to improve my soil .but after listen to your advise I will be putting my money into something more beneficial for my garden .like your channel keep up the good work .

[SteveRichards]

These grumbles about rock dust have been around for a while. I still use it and here's why. I grow on very sandy soil, the wood-chip/leaves come from trees grown on the same sandy soil, the horse manure from local horses that feed on grass that grows on the same sandy soil, the compost is made from waste veg grown in the same sandy soil. When almost all the veg I eat comes from 250 sq metres of ground and all the inputs are local I have a big risk of mineral deficiencies, they often won't show up in the plant health either. So I like to add some non-local amendments, poultry manure, concentrated cow manure, composted seaweed and - yes - rock dust. Ideally I will add it to the compost heap and let the bacteria and worms work on it before it goes into the soil. I'm investing in this soil for the future so I don't mind if it takes a few decades for the bacteria to do their work. The cost is insignificant as rock dust is used sparingly and every few years, certainly less than 0.1% of harvest value. Good to raise awareness of it's limitations though! : All the best - Steve

[pauldavies]

LOL, i may be a FIRST YEAR gardener -- but i m a 30 year builder . when i heard about rock dust last summer when i started, i thought to myself
" why are people putting CEMENT in their garden soil ? "

[justinthebaker]

What if it's completely diluting in the water? Still can't be utilized?

[infoseeker]

So what do I add when my plants are showing multiple deficiency problems like boron copper and iron?

[novafiddler]

Do soil microbes break down rock dust slowly over time?

[justinfilipovic]

do you think it might perhaps be beneficial to put pieces of whole volcano rock in your water drum?

[johnaspray]

Some years ago whilst on holiday in Scotland, I paid a visit to the SEER center, where they had been using rock dust from a local quarry. They did grow great veg, but the dust has to be mixed with compost, stuck in the ground and left for the worms to work on it. You wouldn't start getting results for 10 years. patience is the name of the game in the rock dust world. Lovely people there.

[looksodamngoodphattygurl]

I’m late here, all I want to say is thank you for keeping it real ..

[charlieabel]

I always thought in the back of my mind rock dust was a scam, and it make sense to me that roots would have to work really hard to get nutrient form rock dust, and a much easier time getting nutrients from compost and plant material where a plant has already extracted nutrients from the soil

[NashvilleMonkey]

Do a mineral test on your leaf gutter dirt and you'll find a lot of what's in rockdust is the same as windswept particles, so you're getting buckets of it every year just by keeping enough groundcover to catch the incoming particles~

[keithomelvena]

It's true that rock dust doesn't have any magical properties, but it would be inaccurate to say they have no beneficial properties, after all soils are made up of a combination of an organic fraction and a mineral fraction. The mineral fraction is essentially built from the weathering of rocks. The type of rock determining the mineral status and thus fertility of soil. Soils based on rocks such as basalt are generally more fertile than those based on, say, greywacke. Dry fertilisers all started life as rock at some point. They have just been adulterated to improve solubility. The key to unlocking those insoluble nutrients, is to have a highly microbially active soil and not expecting instant results.

[jamesdivall]

Hi Tony! Thanks for the heads up on Rock Dust, I am for the well rotted manure myself, used it last year and had my best potatoes and parsnips and a large 7.6kg pumpkin :-)