User:David Johnston Monje/Notebook/Maize Endophyte Biofertilizers/2011/06/22

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The Daily Grind

 * Got 2000 ml of red mud from Eduardo, and Pericles helped me measure the pH (10.6). To do this, we mixed 50 g of material with 50 ml of distilled water, and waited 1 hour before putting an electronic pH meter into the supernatant. We will have to adjust the pH while lowering the sodium content, so this is likely to involved two washings with 2:1 distilled water (remove soluble salt) and an application of 10% w/w sand and 3% w/w gypsum to reduce the pH and improve Ca status (this is formula from following paper). 150 mg/kg of P in the form of phosphoric acid may also be added to further reduce pH to the neighborhood of 8.


 * Heres a relevant publication on the matter (Nutrient status of vegetation grown in alkaline bauxite processing residue amended with gypsum and thermally dried sewage sludge – A two year field study) - http://www.springerlink.com/content/j32n7j022p300n58/fulltext.pdf


 * Finally, this ones good too - (Soil-like conditions can be achieved inorganically in alkaline bauxite residue) http://www.ldd.go.th/swcst/Report/soil/symposium/pdf/1686.pdf


 * Of the two plates of 15 seeds that I set to germinate, only 5 in total have significantly germinated yet, showing poor uniformity. Most look like theyre germinating however, so hopefully I can test them on the different substrates next week.


 * Tommorow~s a holiday, so Im all but forced to take a 4 day weekend like pretty much everyone else. Going to Rio das Ostras for a Blues festival on the beach with friends from the Rural University of Rio that I met on the bus!


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