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Laterite vs. clay
>Interesting. In land crops, a certain amount of clay is valued for its
>ability to hold cation nutrients into the soil. The ability is often tested
>and quantified in terms of cation exchange capacity (CEC). In your
>experiment I would actually expect any cation nutrients (calcium,
>magnesium, potassium, etc.) to stay put without leaching _because_
>of the clay balls. Plain laterite substrates lack this ability though they
>have the ability to sequester the negatively charged phosphate anion.
Huh? It has always been my impression that laterite _is_ clay. Just a
very specific type of clay.
Do you have any documentation to support the supposition that it is not
clay? It certainly _acts_ like clay... You can dry it, wet it, mold it...
Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Association