Cracked walnut shells to improve soil aeration?

green_vibes (z. 7/8)

4 years ago

Are there any downsides to using cracked walnut shells in the soil mix, to improve aeration?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years ago
All parts of walnut have a chemical called juglone that inhibits growth of many plants called allelopathy. Have a look at this article for example: https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/430/430-021/430-021_pdf.pdf

Coffee also can have the same effect except is much less than walnut. Last year I had a close encounter with this effect when I planted some peppers close to a japanese sweet potato plant. The pepper plants went through a severe decline as soon as the roots of the sweet potato plant reached closer. Later, after reading, I found out that japanese sweet potato also releases some allelopathic chemicals.
green_vibes (z. 7/8) thanked tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
petrushka (7b)
4 years ago
you can use crushed peanut shells instead. But you need to sterilize them to kill any fungal spores. For a small batch just soak them, lift out of water and nuke covered loosely on high for 3 min. that will generate a lot of steam. let cool still under cover.

when I had to improvise (had no soil mix) I mixed crushed peanut hulls with a little perlite and chopped Styrofoam from takeout containers and a few strings of long fiber sphag I had leftover from orchid repot.

philos rooted in it very well. orchids or any other semi-epiphytic plants can grow in this too.

and it is sterile, which is a plus. Styrofoam can be used as a soil lightener, if you don't mind it floating/blowing everywhere: so basically only indoors.
green_vibes (z. 7/8) thanked petrushka (7b)
Related Discussions
Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention XVI
Q
Comments (164)
Hi Al and others, I would appreciate advice on saving sick/dying Picea glauca, in pic.1, please. I bought it on post Xmas sale and it was ~50cm tall, looking healthy, with very bushy top. I repotted it without much root cleaning to keep most original soil with fungus, which I read Picea, like other pines, needs. I planted the rootball with old soil into gritty mix, mostly pine bark fines with seramice, with a bit of gravel, see in pic.2 very "gritty" indeed :); trunk is ~1/2" at the bottom). I used a biggish pot to let it grow freely for a year or two. I also cut the top to encourage lower branches growth but it never happened. Water it when the pot feels light, ~ weekly (it is early autumn here in Sydney) by bottom watering in a bucket, then drain well by keeping the pot at ~45 degrees for a while. Use diluted Nitrosol liquid plant food every two weeks. Keep it on sun for 2-3 hrs, then half shade. Despite all my care (or coz of it ? :), the picea never showed any new growth but started developing warning signs for last 2-3 weeks. Those few thin branches started dying. Their stem turns from brown to greyish-green and gets soggy before dying. See in pic 3&4, that branch in front which is dying now, with grey stem. Other branch died a few days ago. Only three normally looking branches are left. But I am afraid they are facing same fate. Anything I can do to rescue my future picea bonsai at all? Thanks and cheers, Sergey
...See More
Least expensive way to improve my soil (sandy 'fill' from 1956)?
Q
Comments (13)
If people are still looking for a cheap solution I had the same challenges on a similar size garden plot. I added compost and manure but not enough. Before I planted for a couple weeks I sprayed Compost Tea on the ground to add moisture and then I added gypsum rock dust to help break up the clay a little bit. The compost tea was by far the cheapest way that I could help the plants. Because my soil needed so much help I ended up spraying with compost tea almost every watering, but they loved it and it was very affordable. I found DIY compost tea brewer instruction posting that really helped, and another one on the best compost tea recipes. After reading for awhile I decided I love Compost tea. Try this recipe, it's been proven under a Microscope. Compost tea: 5 gallon bucket 4 gallons of water 1.5 cups of Earth Worm Castings 1/3 Cup Molasses Aerate with 18-20watt airpump for 30 hours. Use immediately! You can pour the tea through a filter and into your sprayer or just water each plant with an equal amount. You Cannot hurt your plants with compost tea when done right. Just make sure that it doesn't smell awful, or sweet. You want it to smell earth and pleasant when you use. To sweet and the molasses hasn't been used up yet and you don't want too much of this in your soil. Also, if it smells foul, then it hasn't enough air and should be tossed!
...See More
Tips to improve my soil
Q
Comments (11)
Blossom End Rot is the result of a Calcium deficiency at fruit set. That might be caused by a problem with water supply to the plant, or it might be a problem with too little or too much Magnesium (plants need Magnesium to utilize Calcium and vice versa), or it may be the plants grew too fast and could not move the Ca up quick enough, or it might be something else. The only way to know what the level of Ca and Mg and any other nutrient in the soil is would be with a soil test. Perhaps this article from the National Gardening Association may be of some help. http://garden.org/learn/articles/view/93/ Add organic material to the soil so you have about 6 to 8 percent organic matter in that soil. All of what you list will help, but have a good reliable soil test done. Gypsum will do little to help clay soils in New York and whether to use Calcitic or Dolomitic lime depends on whether the soil is balanced with Calcium and Magnesium and again the only way to know that is with a good reliable soil test. kimmq is kimmsr
...See More
Soil improvement findings
Q
Comments (39)
>>Maybe the weight of a broad fork really does help though. The difference (mechanical advantage) is created by leverage, not the weight of the tool. The broadfork tool creates a long lever, taking the force you are applying at the point where your hand grips the long handles and multiplying it in the slicing action of the tines through the soil. (I was going to say that the bar that you stand on is the fulcrum of the lever but in trying to dust off my ancient knowledge of mechanics with the help of Mr. Google I think that this must be a second-class lever, in which the fulcrum is actually at the point of the tine in the soil, the load - i.e. the soil - being positioned between the fulcrum and the effort.) Standing on a digging fork in the soil and rocking it back and forth applies a similar leverage, but the force multiplication is not as great and the tool itself is less strong and stable. When you stand on a broadfork and grip the handles, you have two levers rather than one and they are both longer, so you are applying force at a greater distance from the fulcrum of the lever. The force you can apply by pushing forward with your arms is also greater because your arms are in a position where you can apply more of the muscles in your back and where you can transfer more of your body weight into force against the lever. If you watch someone working a broadfork into very hard soil you can see that they are combining the force of their shifting body weight with the force of their arms pushing and pulling, repositioning constantly, stepping on and off the bar, etc. The stability created by standing on the bar and gripping the two handles enables you to pause, vary the movement, and also add a waggle from side to side when that's needed.
...See More
green_vibes (z. 7/8)
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you both. I only have walnut (no peanut) trees, and I've been throwing dried branches, leaves, and shells into the compost pile, with no noted ill effects so far on the plants that received some of that compost.

I've also added some shells to the soil mix of a few indoor plants, prior to posting the question; I'm now going to risk it with those, but in the light of what tropicofcancer has shared, I probably won't use them in soil mixes anymore.
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
4 years ago
It is possible that the chemicals in walnut decompose too when added to compost piles - but I am not sure of that. I know composted coffee grounds is lot safer than fresh coffee grounds but coffee is not nearly as strongly allelopathic as walnut.

There could also be a lot of difference in strength of the chemical juglone in various parts of walnut. May be the shells do not have nearly as much.
green_vibes (z. 7/8) thanked tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years ago
Juglone toxicity or allelopathy is present in all members of the walnut family (Juglandaceae) but is strongest in black walnuts. And the roots, fruits and hulls contain the strongest concentrations in the plant.

It does become neutralized with composting and it does not affect all plants....only those that may be sensitive to it (you can find lists online). But using uncomposted walnut shells in a container soil mix is not something I would recommend.
green_vibes (z. 7/8) thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Cracked walnut shells to improve soil aeration?

Comments (5)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

petrushka (7b)

Related Discussions

green_vibes (z. 7/8)
Original Author

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Cracked walnut shells to improve soil aeration?

Comments (5)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

petrushka (7b)

Related Discussions

green_vibes (z. 7/8)Original Author

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

green_vibes (z. 7/8)
Original Author