Michigan Growers Tell Your Plans for This Year

So your adding metal to your soil waiting for it to rust? It doesn't put off any toxic chemicals? I know copper will kill your roots. Makes me leary of other metals that are a man made item.

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I've done some research on this, I just didnt start dumping metals into my soil... Zinc & Iron are two trace elements your plants need to survive... Zinc plays a big role in how well your plants yeild... Farmers often treat their feilds with zinc chloride to improve their yeilds.. Zinc chloride is also used to slow down the oxidation of steel. Zinc in high level can be toxic to plants, but so can any other element.. I mixed my first batch two months ago now, My ph is still stable between 6.0-7.0.. The BB's took about 3 weeks to start rusting, and they are oxidizing at a slow rate.. Each BB weighs under a 10th of a gram. They are made of mostly steel, Im guessing that under a 1/4 of the BB's total weight is zinc. Taking that into concideration, Im adding aprox 1500 bb's (150 grams of BB'S)per 15 gallons of soil... That means Im adding no more then 37 grams of zinc, and 113 grams of iron per 15 gallons of soil.. You also have to factor in the slow release rate, Im not adding 37 grams at once.. Thats 37 grams that will be break down over the course of the next 6 months.. So im releasing about 6 grams of zinc per month into the mix, and about 18 grams of iron per month.. Also the reason why coper is toxic to plants is because it prevents the uptake of zinc.. The same tissue in the plant stores zinc & coper. Coper is easier for the plant to absorb, so it will take it in over the zinc. Leaving no place for the plant to store the zinc it needs..

• Most soil zinc is in a form unavailable to plants. The amount of zinc that plants need, however, is fairly modest. According to the University of Wisconsin extension, crop plants take up a mere 0.5 pounds per acre of zinc. Nonetheless, if the amount of exchangeable zinc is insufficient to meet the plants' needs, crop growth may suffer accordingly.

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Function

• Plants use zinc as part of the process that forms chlorophyll, the pigment they use for photosynthesis. Zinc is also important in activating various enzymes important in plant growth

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Read more: Zinc in Soils & Plants | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7691378_zinc-soils-plants.html#ixzz1JzubRj1t

**EDIT** After thinking about this a little more, I have forgotten to factor the weight of the carbon contained in the steel.. My estimates for the zinc contents are accurate, but my estimates for the iron are wrong.. Steel is manufactured by blending carbon and iron in a specified ratio, the normal percentage of carbon ranges from 1.0%-2.15% of the total weight... That means the total weight of iron im adding is roughly 85 grams over the 6 months.. Thats also if the BB's decompse fully, which they will not..​