Low magnesium in soil

[lexis]

I read somewhere that inefficient use of fertilizer has depleted magnesium in the soil.That means I may not be getting much mg from orange juice.

Any thoughts?

 

[Mittir]

Epsom Salt ( Magnesium Sulphate) is used as fertilizer. I remember reading
that Epsom salt is recommended for good potato cultivation.
Leaves get green color from Chlorophyl and there is magnesium
in the structure of chlorophyl. Green leaves ( possibly other green fruits
and vegetable) should have a lot of magnesium.
You can look for studies that measures nutritional content
(including magnesium) of orange.

 

[fyo]

 

[himsahimsa]

Without magnesium, orange trees get sickly within a year, actually within a season. The growers supply it, they have too. Mg is cheep and it makes all the difference in getting the crop and keeping the orchard healthy, it's not something they're likely to scrimp on. More in the soil does not necessarily mean more in the plant though. The plant will take what it needs to the extent it can get it. There might be a relation between the soil concentration and the fruit concentration. Or not.

It's is true for all green plants of course, no Mg, no chlorophyll.

I add Mg Citrate to my diet. Why not? I probably eat 3/4 tsp Mg Citrate daily. I don't want to sweat the amount in my food. I also carbonate distilled water with a SoadaStream gizmo. Before I charge the water, I put about 1/8 Teaspoon MgCO[sub]3[/sub] in it. That way I get magnesium bicarbonate by reaction with the CO[sub]2[/sub] and the bicarbonate is much more soluble than the carbonate.

The growers also use organophosphate. More now that the have to contend with citrus greening disease. CGD is spread by an insect. They are loosing decisively. The only thing that effectively slows the bug down is systemic poison. They're not supposed to use systemics on producing trees but they are desperate. It would not surprise me if they're using it anyway. The choice is going out of business. I don't think the people who own the industry care about our health and the growers are mostly not highly educated, to say the least. The splash that siht all over themselves from when they're kids and they have the idea that the harmfulness of those chemicals is way overblown. So the idea that you might eat it doesn't really bother them. There are a few organic growers. I would trust them more. Organic is kind of a new phenomenon down here in The South.

I will see if I can find some organic growers and interview them and report back.

 

[charlie]

Looking forward to that report. :)

 

[himsahimsa]

Looking at those charts:
Everything has changed in the way meat is produced since 1941. The changes in mineral content of the meat could have nothing to do with the soil. I would guess that the mineral content of meat represents exactly what the producers have found to be needed to get the maximum deliverable output per dollar spent. Actually that's probably true for all crops grown industrially.