Lava solidifies to rock which contains all kinds of minerals. when the rock is blasted, the dust left behind can be collected. After a volcanic eruption, ever heard that plants grow bigger and better in the soils around? putting rock dust in your soil is common sense. I would totally do it. Thumbs up dude!

Trace minerals are very important to both plants and animals i.e. us humans. As a retired scientist, having studied botany and chemistry, I have to agree with John and I do use rock dust in my vegetable garden. The empirical evidence is that it makes a noticeable difference and I fully intend to keep using this material. I would recommend the use of masks when using the powder as one does not want to breath this fine particulate matter. Follow the labeled directions, sit back and see the difference for yourself.

If people are concerned about 5 ppm arsenic in the rock dust, they should see how much is in the white rice they eat.

I have read one experiment done in Roskilde University in Denmark, where they tested rock dust as a fertilizer. They found a difference between "decomposed rocks" and newly ground rocks, with the new ones working better. It could improve the structure of sandy soil and was useful in keeping the soil from acidifying through natural processes. They also found the benefits depended on the crops, due to different needs of the plants. The best effect was found when nitrogen was added with the dust.

John is very honest and experienced man, also very knowledgable and I love his videos, always follow his advices as they are also based on his experiences

When I started watching this video I got a little upset about all the woo-woo noises he was making because I am one of those people who is concerned about heavy metals and I feel like he was making fun of us. I am glad I watched it anyway. My garden needs minerals! However, I a mom of an autistic child and some people believe (myself included) that symptoms of autism can be linked to damage done by heavy metals and that they are harmful for everyone, but especially for children with this condition. I don't want to add anything to my soil that could contaminate my food and hurt my children. I am so glad that John explained about this. That the level of heavy metals present in these soil amendments is actually lower in many cases than levels in plain old dirt is information that is important to me! I am so glad that he shared that with us. Now I can relax and grow better food.

Can never get over all your valuable valuable information. I’m glad I can watch your organic beliefs and save myself a lot of blood sweat and tears. Thank you very much!

John, I'm using rock dust for the first time because of you. I actually am growing my own greens because of you. I can't wait until my patio garden tomatoes, cukes, ground cherries and red bell peppers start to bear fruit...can't wait to taste the difference you've been talking about. Thanks for inspiring me to "keep on growin". I'll keep ya posted. And thanks again, John for all that you do to help us all. Your videos are the best. *thumb up. :)

I was happy to see you brought some research to back up your view. Well done!

I am so excited about improving my soil. I went to amazon and ordered everything you suggested on this video and the video about Mike's garden mistakes. It all only cost me $120.00, well worth every dime. Thank you for all the wonderful information.

Great video. One clarification. If your rock dust contains 10 PPM of lead and toxic levels begin at 300 PPM adding rock dust could never bring your soil lead levels up to such levels. In fact, since the rock dust lead level is 10 PPM if you replaced ALL of your soil with rock dust you would have a very safe 10 PPM level in your soil. In fact if your soil had a fairly high natural lead level to begin with, adding rock dust with a lower level of lead would actually reduce the toxicity of your soil.

Its so nice to listen to you. You are so honest and kind to all...Thanks

Hi John, I am an organic farmer in Georgia and what you say about rook dust is true.We have been using it for 10 years.I believe like you that it better to eat our minerals from our food and not in a capsule. We even bring AZOMITE to our farmers markets to sell to our customers who want to grow some of their own greens.

Fantastic episode John! I have to say that I don't normally watch full episodes but this one was excellent! Great document find my friend!

Great video John, I enjoy these classic John Kohler videos. Great information!

By the way I am a chemist and I do a lot of trace element testing in my job. The amounts of Pb, As and Hg you pointed out are right. We are exposed to higher levels in our everyday lives than is in the rock dust. And I believe they are beneficial to the organisms in the soil. Feed the soil and it will feed you.

John - your passion for what you do is really inspiring.. Your podcasts are excellent!

I also am growing my greens because of your teaching. I have spent my life as a teacher and have made myself your student since My retirement. Thanks for another great video John. You are an awesome and motivating teacher.

Your passion is the best brother! Keep on growing!!

Thanks for the video John! I think people are too easily scared of stuff that sounds dangerous like heavy metals and radiation, even though there are trace amounts of both even in natural landscapes. Many soils naturally have a lot higher concentration of heavy metals than your rock dust products. So even if they have some heavy metals, mixing them to your soil actually decreases the amount of heavy metals (lowers the percentage of them to be precise) in your soils. The few hundred years that we have been industrially farming our lands have also really taken their toll on the mineral content of our soils _which needs to be fixed_ if we don't want our children to live in a global, deserted wasteland. By fixing even just a small amount of soil in your own backyard you fix a small part of the planet as a whole. This is information that every gardener should be aware of, so they don't drain their soils from essential nutrients and trace minerals, but instead make their soils _richer and thus better_ each and every year they farm on it. :) Thank you for your awesome channel and all the good work you're doing, and greetings from Finland. Even though you live in a much warmer climate, I've learned a lot about gardening (and especially vegetables and fruits that are considered very exotic here in the north) by watching your videos. Keep up the good work!

Excellent video. After reading some of the comments below, I had to wonder if those people even listened to the info or just wanted to complain about "heavy metals". Amazing. Love your videos and your passion for growing your greens! Kudos!

Thanks to Garden Frugal for introducing us to your videos (and for being a rock dust proponent)!

Thanks for clearing that up John. And like you stated..... people should do the research. I live in the Netherlands and actually bought me a big bag of Vulkamin i am going to feed my soil with. Love your video's!

John, you're awesome. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING!

The Rock Dust Works! All of my crops were sweeter and lasted longer through the year. Cherry tomatoes were as sweet as sour grapes. My young children would go out to the garden and sit in the garden and go from plant to plant and pretty much eat an entire bowl of salad. Cherry tomatoes in Baltimore Maryland kept fruiting and blooming until November. NO JOKE!

One thing that needs to be discussed, is that plants take up metals differently. I've been using rock minerals for a long time. I admit that my plants don't grow any faster, but they ARE healthier AND tastier. I also suggest because of their health, my bug and disease problems are much less than normal.

Great overview and explanation of rock dust in general, and Cascade Minerals in particular. Thanks for the clear (and enthusiastic) explanation!!

Thanks for posting John.

Thanks for your commitment in helping others. You're awesome!

I agree, it's the soil and it's bacteria as well as how much natural fertilizer we apply to what we take out. We are using the Ruth Stout method the last 3 years and just this year we see an improvement in the soil and plants. Nothing startling but any improvement is a start so we will continue with spreading hay every fall, with wood ash and chicken/cow manure. Basically, carbon out, carbon in, and now rock dust. Thanks John!

I am so thankful for you John. Just keep up the great work and don't let anyone steal your thunder. You are wired to do what you do and you do it well. There will always be people who disagree or "know better". You have helped me tremendously! The vegetables produced speak loudly. Let's see what the naysayers produce? Besides fear and over-compensation.

Very interesting to know that soil nutrient and mineral depletion was being talked about in the 1930's! Great info.

JOHN IS THE MAN.....Great Video,Great info. AND REMEMBER KEEP ON GROWING

Great shirt, John!

Awesome job explaining that John. You are the best! I'm glad you got that bag I sent you. How are you liking that Cascade Minerals product??? I LOVE IT!!!!!

Leave it to John to do the research. So much of the content of the internet is opinion and not fact. It is refreshing to find that someone does enough research to speak fact and not opinion. Love it, John. You are my #1 garden guy.

God bless you, John!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel THIS VIDEO is the #1 CRUCIAL video re health ON THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi there John and the 473 people whom have commented at the time I viewed, 19/02/2019. Firstly thanking John for his video and the in put of time given to this subject I appreciate your efforts and also those of your followers whom also contribute to help others too, that have also been assisted by John for covering this subject. I am in South/East England/UK, where we get a good amount of rain but not so bad as other parts of the UK and I no doubt loose soil nutrients by rainfull. I wonder if we are losing the nutrients we use to have, by increased rain levels and is it not possible because of the increased house & commercial building the chemicals seeping from the building works enter the locality, there is a danger to local growers/home gardeners/allotment holders as the increased building is not the only problem but also those responsible companies for sewage that escapes their systems whom keep this quite play their part too, as an experienced house owner I have been a witness to such matters and would appreciate you and your contributors here their views. Many thanks and best wishes to you. Maureen

For those who need some education, Minerals ARE a solid inorganic substance of natural occurrence, i.e., elements! Don't let terminology blind you to the lesson John is trying to reach you. And yes, I'm a chemist, so I know what I'm talking about.

Such passion...It's a beautiful thing!

It's great that John can grow his own fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately the vast majority of people either live in cities or in suburban communities that limit what you can do with your yard (I used to live in one that specifically stated that your yard will be either grass or landscaped according to the list of approved plants... so no growing outdoors in dirt possible). What is possible for us all are Vertical Farms and hydroponic/aeroponic farms inside greenhouses or inside warehouses (with well designed and appropriate lighting). Do a search for vertical farm, sky greens, the plant, Valcent, etc. City dwellers could even set up a hydroponic growing area on their balcony or in a window to get at least some of their food. Since hydroponics uses up to 95% less water than conventional or "organic" farming it is going to be a major player in agriculture worldwide in the coming decades. Fresh water resources are being depleted all over the world and hydroponics is the only growing method that actually reduces the amount of water needed for growing crops.

these materials are just everywhere. what matters is if its naturally bound in a harmless molecule, or if its free. like it happens when you burn coal in a coalpowerplant. then you set all the heavy metals and the radiating elements like stronzium and uranium etc... free

We grow with rock dust and our plants are so much juicier, tastier, larger, the color is amazing.....you can totally tell the difference. We started with a thin layer of compost then topped with loads and loads of wood chips, sprinkle rock dust on top. Every now and then I gibe my garden a liquid seaweed bath. That is all I use.

I just read that adding plenty of good compost, worm castings and other high quality organic materials are especially beneficial in that they bind up heavy metals away from plants.

There are lots of people who believe anything published online, I've been attacked with undoccumented claims of toxic ingredients. I used to work with a nurse who also confirmed the food we eat is all bulk and little nutrition. I am looking into rock dust and other needed amendments to better my health. My current regimin is focussed around sea minerals from kelp, fish and oysters.

So many replies... many of them negative... I have watched almost every video John has produced. IMHO, he is giving everyone his honest opinion. We have farmlands that has been used for crops for hundreds of years. When the crops were less than nominal, they went to GMO sourced seeds. Like John said, maybe all the farmlands need is some rock dust to bring back the taste and longevity of the foods.

U r so passionate! Luv watching u!

In the olden days . Wood ash , manure was used for the garden . No chemical were involved . These days , vegetables and fruits sold in large supermarkets have no nutritional value . I am using Volcanic ash , comfrey , nettle and seaweed for my garden . Gosh vegs taste so good ! Neem powder and oil is a valuable anti pesticide eradicating disease , fungal infections and pest . This year my soil is 90% pest free .

I learn't about that years ago..it works...good vid bro..

John--you are the first person that I have met(so to speak) that makes any sense

Thank YOU! Appreciate your research and sharing!

The best vegetable garden - size, quantity, and flavor (all the neighbors raved about the tomatoes), and the best flower garden - flower size, color, and even scent - was when I added horse feed to the soil. A decent, but not super expensive brand is made with alfalfa, and all the trace minerals your plants need. I used one 40lb bag for an area 20 x 40ft. The next year I switched to hydroponics and used a layer of Azomite at the bottom of the sump (stirring occasionally so the dust would circulate through the system. I had a great crop of tomatoes and eggplant, but the flavor wasn't quite as good as those grown the year before in the dirt. Was the size and quantity due mainly to the extra nitrogen in the hydro system or did the Azomite help? Couldn't say. This year I am going to find a way to use the horse feed in the hydro system, or maybe try it in my aquaponics system as fish food. The experiment goes on.

excellent work keep it up

Blessings John.

Another good one.

You are exactly right. Plants have been pulling nutrients from rocks for a heck of a lot of years.

I bought 10 (50 lb) bags of azomite and added it to my garden this year my organic corn was literally 91/2ft tall I have pictures to prove it :) best sweetest corn ever a bumper crop 4-3 ears a plant all huge :) thanks John !! :)

I think all of your videos I've seen are really helpful Very easy to understand all your methods Work Very well an make gardening So fun keep up the good Work. I have a? 4u

Woo... 70 to 90 minerals. Brawndo... it's what plants crave.

Another key factor on toxicity is the FORM of the heavy metal. As you say, John, people should look into these things for themselves. Not all 'arsenic' for example, is as toxic as other forms. And as always, balance is key. The natural world is one of dynamic balance. Thanks for another great post!

Any thoughts on the potential for aluminum toxicity with the addition of aluminosilicate minerals such as azomite in low pH soils or those amended with things like peat moss?

Same goes with well water tests required before buying a home with a well. These heavy metal minerals are all typically present but they need to be below a certain level. So it's interesting well water has all these things and its normal and safe.

Question though - you mentioned that there are background level amounts of these metals, but how are they spaced apart within the soil? If we are applying rock dust it is only in the top few inches of soil and if background levels are measured to depths of many feet or meters and meters deep there may be a larger concetration of these metals in the O horizon. Is it still safe?

Great information thank you!

For some additional perspective on the mercury: an example of a "high level" of mercury in fish is swordfish, for which the median level is .870 PPM.

You can get trace minerals if you go to mines that have those trace mineral then dissolve or break up the minerals and use them fertilizer

Back in the 70's back in Kansas on the ranch where I grew up we discovered our cows were sick bcuz there was no zink in the soil where we grew our corn for the cows. We learned that we needed trace minerals for the health of our ranch. The most important plants for making the minerals we need for our health are alfalfa, wheat grass (before joining). The milk cows showed the most benefit from the green mineralization. The are around 70 important minerals your body needs that to come from plants.

I used Azomite in my Aquaponics systems. Works great.

I haven't used Rock Dust, however I grow in somewhat rocky soil and it my plants seem to flourish!

Haha this topic seems to be stirring a debate. Great vid as always, and I agree with its use. Those concentration levels are so low, people should be more worried about trace gas build up in the atmosphere which directly effect us. Apple seeds contain quite a bit of arsenic, Google the study on arsenic levels in commercial apple juice.

I live in Belgium and I get Lava/basalt rock dust and bentonite clay easily at the local garden centre. I'm sure you can buy lavarockdust or basaltdust easily , even in bulk.

hey john, great to hear you spread the truth .. going to get some of the canadian rock dust as i live in Canada.. on a unrelated topic.. I am curious if you have traveled at all ` in central and south america rain forests gaining knowledge and tasting some rare fruits ?

Sea minerals are available specifically for agricultural /horticultural use, at a more economic price than sold for people to season their meals with. Low sodium versions are also available.

I'm Gonna Use This For My 50 Year Old Pecan Tree ..Pecan Production Really Dropped Of The Last 3-4 Years.

Great video. There is a mine deposit in southern Utah. This mine is humic shale: "Humic shale" is a unique source of plant derived colloidal minerals. Humic shale originated from plants some 75 million years ago, those lush tropical plants took up the 60 plus metallic minerals available to them from a fertile soil that had as many as 84 minerals. Less is needed, because the minerals are tiny and organically bound. Bloomin Minerals is the product name. Message me for more info.

Very informative! The rock dust probably has fewer heavy metals than what is already in most people's garden - not to mention the mercury fillings in their teeth. People should be more concerned about the radio active waste that is leaking out of the nuclear power plants in there own back yards. Plus all the nuclear contamination caused by hundreds of bombs being tested. These guys are worried about ground up rocks? LoL

Saying that rock dust is bad is like saying that compost is bad. It is natural from earth. Great video. Thanks

I am with you on the light bulbs. We have had several of the CFL fail in the past as they get to their end. Pretty sure when they do this, they release the mercury into the atmosphere (our homes), just by the smell given off. That is why we have changed over to LED lighting. I think you got my point exactly. There are far more instances of the elements that John mentioned in everyday foods and items. The trace amounts that are in the rock dusts are just that.

As an advocate of Spanish River Carbonatite from Boreal Agrominerals, I can only agree with your comments! The results from users are fantastic and the only way to go. We need commercial agriculture to embrace the geochemistry, and today is not too soon. SRC only gives to the soil - it takes nothing from it. All organic farmers should be using carbonatite to further enrich the soils and add nutritional value to their produce.

Would the rock dust from my local quarry that gravel the country roads do the same thing? I am sure I can get the dust free from them.

The topic to research is called (hyper)-accumulation, and it's because plants and animal metabolism functions as a filter. Plants will absorb a substance, move it to a new location, and the water that originally came with that substance will be evaporated or used in some other way. Substance comes in, water leaves, over and over... eventually the plant accumulates the toxin in higher concentrations. Our own cells do this all the time with other types of concentration gradients, it's very common

Your right there are trace elements everywhere. People should have there own garden tested might be in for a shock.

correction to what you said though ....he said you have to add a lot of rockdust to get to 500 ppm but no matter how much you add it will never get to that much because it’s a percentage- it will always be the same percent no matter how much or how little you have... And one last point of my own, you’re not eating the rock dust. So once the plant processes the minerals it makes a fruit or whatever and you eat that..... I don’t know how much of the minerals make it to the fruit but I’m sure it is reduced from an already very small amount

I would like to see you do a test crop no rock dust vs rock dust.

Glyphosate also demineralizes or blocks minerals from being created or formed within the plants it is sprayed or used on.

"There has been considerable funding for remineralization research in Brazil for many years. CNPq, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development has funded remineralization research since the mid-1990s, when EMBRAPA joined the research consortium. Funding has come from the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Research centers have access to this funding, including the Center of Mineral Technology of Rio de Janeiro (CETEM), the universities, and EMBRAPA."By Joanna Campe(1), Dan Kittredge(2), and Lee Klinger(3)

depends on how fast the dust releases the minerals and if lead or other ingredients or toxic ingredients are present

Diana Reiss: "If we want to be worried about something, we should worry more about the things that are around us on a daily basis." YES! Especially those things around us that are totally synthetic. How can we expect our bodies to cope with substances that no human body had ever been exposed to before? Or at least before the Industrial Age... Best wishes to you!

Ok well i like your vids LDS so im just gonna ask, what are you recommending to replace the minerals in rock dust?

Yes, where the rocks are sourced is important due to some areas having very high levels of contaminants. However, horticultural grade rock dust has been tested for contaminants (I assume). :)

Very informative. Thank you! :-)

I purchased the dust you suggested, last year. I've been watching your video's and Rob Bob's, and a few others to kinda figure out whats going to be best for me as a totally disabled person. I'm still not really clear on how I'm going to incorporate the dust in an aquaponic system. Rick

Has John made a video on how to apply the rockdust to the soil (does it just go on top of the soil, on top of the mulch? or do we want to deep till the rockdust into the soil?)

Would you use rock dust in a green house atmosphere? In other words would you put rock dust in your soil if you were growing plants in pots for a season? If it’s not recommended because it releases to slowly. What can I do to get these minerals in a short season?

I see your point and I’ll agree with you that He can learn from others. So can you! Azomite is used in animal feeds every day. Without problems for 15 years that I’m aware of. I’ve used it myself..

liquid seaweed also contains amounts of these heavy metals described, from what i see as long as the plant does better with it than with w/o then theres no problem consuming the vegetable. every element on the periodic table has beneficial value inside the human body as long as its (plant derived) all the plant does it does is make the heavy metals molecule smaller so that its non toxic for the body

Concentration is the probability of encountering a substance in another substance which differs from total amount of solute. If you have 5ppm of X in 1M parts, the plant will have access to 5 molecules total if it processes it all. If you dilute it so the total is 4ppm but you now have 10M parts, the plant will have access to 40 molecules total. Once it passes up 5 molecules, it's surpassed the accumulation potential of the 5ppm @ 1M parts threshold. More parts * lower ppm = higher accumulation

Biggest problem is that nobody using rock dust is actually measuring the amount they put in nor what's already there, which can be a problem when it includes certain substances. It's unlikely that plants use most of these minerals, but it's likely they do use some of them, in very very tiny amounts. When plants don't need the minerals, they concentrate them in storage, which can be dangerous.. some plants are notorious for accumulating toxic compounds. A plant can turn 5ppm into 50,000ppm

If you use these products every year in your garden, wouldn't these heavy metals concentrate/build up in your soil/garden?

Great point, Hatchi! However, not every arsenic compound is the same. They have varying levels of toxicity. Check it out. Best to you.