How to Use Azomite in the Garden
Modern soils are depleted of trace minerals, which can reduce the vigor of our plants and the nutrient-density of our food. In this article, soil expert and former organic farmer Logan Hailey explains how to use Azomite to remineralize your soil.
Contents
Trace minerals like potassium, iron, magnesium, and calcium are essential for plant growth. To remineralize our gardens, we can use organic fertilizers like Azomite to resupply essential minerals and boost plant growth. This fertilizer product is scientifically proven to increase yields, improve soil quality, reduce drought stress, and more!
The past 150 years have seen a major decline in soil nutrients, which leads to reduced plant vigor and more fertilizer use. On a large scale, soil degradation is linked to industrial agriculture, tillage (disturbance), chemical use, leaching, and erosion.
For home growers, poor dirt is often caused by urban development, compaction, and weathering. Remineralization is a key component of organic and regenerative agriculture. Whether you’re growing in raised beds or in your native ground, Azomite is a natural mineral fertilizer that can enhance crop quality and yields. Here’s how!
What is Azomite?
Azomite is an organic amendment that provides trace minerals to garden beds. The powder comes from a mineral deposit in Central Utah, where an ancient volcano erupted over a prehistoric seabed.
The complex blend of trace minerals includes potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium to enrich your beds and enhance plant growth. You can use Azomite in raised beds, containers, trees, shrubs, flower beds, and vegetable gardens.
Benefits
Much like humans, plants don’t always have all the nutrients they need. Even if the NPK macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) are available in sufficient quantities, the soil may be lacking in micronutrients and trace minerals, which can cause your garden to stop thriving. Although these minerals are only needed in small amounts, plants still struggle without them.
Adding micronutrients to your garden can dramatically improve plant growth. This unique amendment is derived from ancient volcanic ash, offering over 70 trace minerals with a range of benefits. Azomite can:
- Improve Crop Yield and Quality: Azomite is proven to increase overall yields. Enjoy larger harvests of more flavorful, colorful, and higher-quality fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
- Enhances Structure: Increasing the mineral content can enhance water retention, aeration, and airflow, which is especially useful in compacted, degraded soils.
- Rich in Trace Minerals: Over 70 different minerals occur naturally in this product, including calcium, magnesium, boron, sulfur, zinc, and rare earth elements.
- Reduce Drought Stress: One study found that Azomite reduced drought stress in tomatoes, likely because the minerals improve water retention.
- Fuels Beneficial Microbes: Research shows that this ancient volcanic ash can alter and enhance the microbial diversity (e.g. beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other microbes) around the root zone of crops.
- May Enhance Nutrient Density of Food: Like plants, humans are often deficient in minerals because our foods lack the micronutrients they had centuries ago. Some research shows that mineral amendments could improve the nutrient density of foods by growing them in more mineral-rich soil.
- Long-Lasting: Azomite fertilizer can last for 3-5 years in “hungry” (mineral-devoid) soil and 10 years or longer in balanced ground. At first, you may need to apply annually to ensure proper remineralization.
Where Does Azomite Come From?
Azomite fertilizer is harvested from ancient volcanic ash. The volcano erupted in Central Utah approximately 30 million years ago. This mineral is scientifically classified as rhyolitic tuff breccia, which is a type of igneous rock made from volcanic ash that cooled quickly and solidified near the surface.
The presumably giant clouds of ash settled over an ancient seabed and formed a thick layer of mineralized deposits. These deposits are mined and powdered to create the Azomite fertilizer product.
Is Azomite Organic-Approved?
Azomite is approved for organic production by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). It is a naturally occurring mineral-based product mined from rock deposits. This fertilizer is 100% non-toxic and safe for organic gardeners. The only precaution needed is a dust mask, as inhaling the powder can be harmful to your lungs due to the fine particulates of the volcanic ash.
How to Use Azomite in Your Garden
Using this fertilizer is very simple and straightforward. If you have applied any granular organic fertilizer, then this process will sound familiar. While exact measurements aren’t always necessary, the recommended amounts are helpful guides to prevent wasting.
Fortunately, the product can last for 3-5+ years, so you don’t need to reapply every season. However, many soils are very deficient, so it helps to apply every few months during the first few seasons of amending.
Remember, this fertilizer provides trace micronutrients. Therefore, there is no need to apply large amounts. In many cases, smaller but more frequent (every other month) applications are better than large diseases at once.
It’s also important to realize that this is not a replacement for your standard fertilizer blend. Most fertilizers provide a certain guaranteed analysis of NPK, meaning that they have a guaranteed amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Azomite supplies the trace micronutrients that your plants usually won’t get from other fertilizers.
Here is how to get the most of Azomite in different areas of your landscape:
Take a Soil Test
The best way to know if your soil needs minerals is to take a soil test. While nitrogen is very mobile (changing availability), many minerals are immobile, which makes it easier to test their numbers without expecting vast fluctuations. Luckily, you don’t need to understand the complex nuances of mineralogy if you use the Epic Soil Testing Kit.
This simple kit has everything you need to scoop up your samples and send them to a lab. Even the mailer box and prepaid postage are included! Within five business days, you will receive an easy-to-read report with nutrient deficiencies and recommendations. Any soil test can do the analysis, but we designed this one to be extra user-friendly.
No matter what testing method you choose, pay attention to the micronutrient levels in your results. If your beds are deficient in magnesium, calcium, boron, iron, zinc, copper, or other minerals, then Azomite fertilizer is a good choice for your garden.
Vegetable Gardens
In brand-new vegetable beds, apply 1-2 pounds of powder per 10 square feet. This equates to about 1.5 to 3 cups. You can also scatter a few handfuls throughout the bed, then thoroughly mix it in the upper 3” of soil using a cultivator tool or a rake. The best time to apply is in spring or fall, as you amend beds with compost and other fertilizers.
Alternatively, you can use the mineral fertilizer for each planting hole. Add a pinch (1-2 teaspoons) per planting hole when transplanting new vegetables. Mix into the bed with your hand or trowel, then plant the seedling.
Flower Beds
Ornamental beds with annual or perennial flowers benefit from the same methodology described above. Add a pinch or two of the powder into planting holes as you transplant your favorite bulbs or flowers. You can also scatter a couple of handfuls over the entire bed and mix it in before planting.
It’s important to mix the powder into the upper inches of dirt; otherwise, the fine dust can blow away in the wind. Irrigating after application helps to bind the minerals to the soil profile so they can be used by microbes and plants.
Trees, Shrubs, and Perennial Vines
To apply to trees, estimate the size of the trunk diameter (the width across the middle of the trunk). For every 2” in diameter size, apply about 1 pound (1.5 cups) of Azomite around the base. For example, a young apple sapling may need just ½ cup of the powder, while a more mature tree may benefit from 4 full cups of powder.
Thoroughly mix into the upper layers and water well. This prevents the powder from washing away.
For grapes and berry vines, apply ½ (¾ cup) to 1 pound (1.5 cups) around each individual plant. New perennials and saplings appreciate a few tablespoons at the time of planting before you backfill the soil. Always water generously after applying the minerals.
Container Plants
Whether you grow in window boxes, planters, or hanging baskets, container plants are often the most mineral-deficient. They don’t have access to the native ground, therefore, they are limited to the minerals available in the soil blend.
If your containers haven’t been amended in a while, or you planted in a low-quality potting mix, adding Azomite can significantly boost plant vigor, flower color, and overall health.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of the fertilizer per gallon of potting mix. For larger planters, add ¾ cup to 1.5 cups of powder per cubic yard of soil before planting. During the growing season, you can also side-dress 1-2 teaspoons of Azomite fertilizer per gallon of soil every other month.
Key Takeaways
If your soil is lacking in micronutrients, Azomite could be a simple all-in-one organic fertilizer solution. This product is sourced from ancient volcanic ash that is sustainably mined in Utah. You can sprinkle it in planting holes or apply by the cupful to new beds. Don’t forget to mix it into the soil and water thoroughly to prevent it from blowing away.
