Chance1945

For Christmas my neighbor gave me a five gallon bucket of ground up crab shells. The stuff is made here in the bayou. It's the consistancy of corn meal. Is this crab meal? I've never used or even seen crab meal and I'm not quiet sure how to use it. Anybody have experience with this? Can it burn the plants and would it be good to use on my bananas?

I'd like your input because I've got 5 gallons.

Terry

sunfish

Richard

Oh my, what some people will pay ...

Anyway, common crab shells are about 2% Nitrogen, 3.5% Phosphate, plus Calcium and trace amounts of Potash and other minerals. If I were going to use it, I'd put it in a flower bed. It breaks down slowly and is not going to burn your plants -- provided you spread it out thinly.

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Chance1945

Tony, thanks. Before I posted my question I did a little investigation but I missed the link you sent. I appreciate it.

Terry

Chance1945

Richard, thanks for the info. You confirmed what I suspected. Since the stuff is processed here in the bayou and I can get it for free I might as well use it in the compost pile. It was given to me as a gift along with much hype about it being a miracle fertilizer. Yeah, well............

Terry

Richard

If it's not too late, pulverize it first. Tamping with a sledge hammer in a bucket works great. Otherwise, no big deal.

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HoaNui

I add crab shell as well as egg shells to my soil for the the above reasons and everything is thriving.

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Richard

It can help with the soil acidity in the eastern U.S. Here in southern CA, most of our soils have excess Calcium and adding more -- whether through crab shells, egg shells, or gypsum is a poor idea. Well-meaning people in southern CA nurseries will often recommend a calcium supplement for the blossom end-rot syndrome in tomatoes -- but in our soils the problem is typically due to potassium deficiency.

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HoaNui

Ah!, I was not aware of the high calcium level there. Adding more would be problematic.

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Chance1945

If I've learned anything in my long life it's that growing plants is not an exact science. I had a friend in Long Beach, California that for years added egg shells to her iris beds. Never saw more healthy plants and colorful blooms.

Richard, I heard from Kat, over in Florida, that you have a dynamite fertilizer for bananas. Wish I was closer to you and could pick up a load.

Be good you'll,
Terry

gaberoo

I missed the part where price of crab meal was posted on that link. Could someone please include that?

I was told by someone in a small Hawaii nursery that they used crab/shrimp shell meal to control nematodes? Anyone have any experience with this?

Richard

The symptom of "root knot damage" can be caused by either nematodes or insect larvae (e.g., beetle larvae) in the media. It is commonly seen among organic gardeners who have too high a compost component in their soil -- sometimes pure compost. Increasing the inorganic mineral content will help. Adding calcium is a step in the right direction.

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Chance1945

I never saw the post about the price of crab meal. They make crab meal right here in the bayou but I don't know the price because they give it to me in small quantities.

Chance1945

Richard, I don't understand. You're saying that nemotodes can be increased in organic gardening, but can be controled by adding calcium. Is crab meal not calcium so that by adding more organic matter to a problem caused by too much organic matter, I don't understand.

Richard

Actually what I said was that if the proportion of compost in a soil mix is too high, then the presence of root-eating organisms can also increase.

Keep in mind that there are many species of nematodes that are not harmful to plant roots.

When gardeners notice root damage in soils that are over-rich in composted plant material, they often believe the problem is root nematodes. This might or might not be true. The symptoms of root damage by beetle larvae (for example, June bug larvae) is about identical. This is why I enjoy having larvae-eating animals such as opossums and skunks in my orchard.

Calcium is an inorganic mineral. You can obtain it from animal shells which in an over-generalized way are "organic" -- perhaps that's where the confusion came in?

Calcium is also available from mineral deposits in the ground. Regardless of whether from animal or mineral sources, either way it is "natural". A common third source is from food-processing by-products. Most calcium supplements qualify for USDA "certified organic" farming. The exception comes with products that have been chelated in a way that cause extremely fast uptake by plants so that the USDA requirement of "not significantly stimulate the local environment" is violated. For example, Calcium chelated in Aloe or wood sugars is ok, but in EDTA is not.

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Chance1945

Thank you. Sometimes I feel like a rather slow student. Glad you take the time to explain things. 'preciate it.

Richard

Let's see ... digests loads of information on a daily basis ... asks clarifying questions ...

I'd say you're an excellent learner!

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gaberoo

Thanks. I didn't know about those other causes (heck, I didn't even know what the nematodes did in the way of harm...just am aware that it can be a problem in some soils in South Florida and that some plants are susceptible to damage by these).

venturabananas

Sorry, being a biologist I couldn't let this one go: earthworms (Phylum Annelida) are only very, very distantly related to nematodes (Phylum Nematoda). They are more distantly related than are humans and fish.

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Richard

Thanks for the correction! Somewhere along the way I misconnected roundworms with earthworms.

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