Ramial Chipped Wood

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Roy, Nov 21, 2012.

  1. Roy

    Roy Junior Member

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    Canadian researchers at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, began studying the effects of wood chips as a soil amendment in 1978. Their research revealed that there is a big difference between wood chips from branches under 7 cm in diameter (ramial) versus larger branches. They found that ramial wood chips from hardwood trees produces a very fertile soil with a long-lived humus. According to M. Gilles Lemieux, former professor from the Faculty of Forestry at Laval University, ramial chipped wood contains "soluble or little-polymerized lignin, the base for soil aggregates and highly reactive humus." Coniferous trees are not suitable for this due to the composition of their lignin.

    Over the years they have experimented using ramial chipped wood in several countries with different climates, and in each case it worked extremely well.

    These are my favorite articles on the subject.

    Regenerating Soils with Ramial Chipped Wood
    https://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_org_research.php?id=69

    Redefining Soil Fertility
    https://www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=700

    Ramial Chipped Wood: the Clue to a Sustainable Fertile Soil
    https://www.docstoc.com/docs/83576769/The-Clue

    The Living Soil – Modeling the Climacic Deciduous Forest
    https://www.ipcp.org.br/References/Solos/MadeiraRamial/doc59b.pdf

    The Hidden World that Feeds Us: the Living Soil

    https://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Winter20102011/LivingSoil/tabid/1793/Default.aspx#Gilles_Lemieux
     
  2. chook-in-eire

    chook-in-eire Junior Member

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    Thanks for posting this! Very interesting. It tallies with Paul Gautschi's experience ("Back to Eden") of using chipped wood to great effect in his garden and orchard.
     
  3. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    FYI. Read the article before, never noticed the green leaves part. I'd assume that allowing the pile to sit would brown them off?

    Note the nitrogen drawdown, only one season with soil bettering over time.

    Note the inoculation of the forest floor.

    Not much needed either, particularly for temperate. It disappears up here (subtropical) at a rate of knots.
     
  4. Roy

    Roy Junior Member

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    While reading about ramial chipped wood some time ago I came across another experiment that was done even before the Canadian research began. It spanned a 15 year period of time, from 1951-1966. The results were published in 1971 in an article titled, Soil Management for Vegetable Production on Honeoye Soil with Special Reference to the Use of Hardwood Chips. The research was conducted at Cornell University in New York.

    On page 15 it says, "Another reason for the generally favorable effect of wood chips in this study may be that they were hardwood rather than soft-wood chips." "Allison (1965) reported that hardwoods decomposed much more readily that most of the softwoods tested." "Allison also found that garden peas grown in soil-sawdust mixtures with adequate nutrients showed no significant toxic effects from woods and barks of 22 of the 28 species tested. Five of the six species showing some toxicity were softwoods - specific varieties of pines and cedars." They compared pine and oak shavings and found that oak was considerably more effective than pine for carrots grown in a loam soil. Oak is the species that the Canadians concluded is the best, and they also observed toxic effects with softwood trees, which is why they state that no more than 20% of the wood used for ramial chipped wood should come from softwoods. I would think that ideally you wouldn't use any wood from softwood trees.

    If you look at the bottom of the conclusion on page 17, it says "Albrecht, W. A." It would appear that Dr. William A. Albrecht, professor of soils at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, was in some way involved in this experiment.

    Here is the article.
    https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/4025/1/FLS-002.pdf
     
  5. Dzionik

    Dzionik Junior Member

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  6. Robert Knops

    Robert Knops Junior Member

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    Very interesting, however oak (quercus petraea / robur) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) have got a lot of tannin, when used a lot it will stop the growing of other plants. That is what they also do in the forest and why regrowing of new trees after removing the old wants takes so much time. So it wil also be depanding of the species of hardwood. The same should cound for softwoods, because Populus and Salix are very nutricius and by my knowing not very toxic for the ground. Pine is very acid, maybe that that's infloing the carrots. I like to use chipped wood, but also larger pieces because they take a longer time to rot and there for also give not al the nutrision in a very short time away. Because of the climate in the Netherlands (weth) chipped wood is away in just three to four months if not thikker than 2 cm.
     

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