The Grass Doctor

Does reducing the granule size of fertilizer or organic matter increase its Cation Exchange Capacity?

If I ball mill fertilizer granules and/or organic matter to a particle size that is sub micron thus increasing its surface area, will this improve the CEC? I have the ballmill gathering dust in the corner and it would be good to get some use out of it.

Public Comments

1. I don't know how fertilizer granule size affects CEC or if it affects it at all but organic matter DOES. The size of the organic matter (or humus) is less relevant than the amount. The more humus a soil has the more CEC it has and therefore the more nutrient holding capacity and nutrient availability to the plants. All I remember is that scientists really don't know why but the more humus a soil has the more CEC and the more nutrient/minerals the soil can hold AND release to plants. You may have to do more research or someone may have a more specific or scientific answer. Sorry.
2. Not really. If particles are too large it will take longer for bacterial action to break them down but apart from that it will make little difference as too many other factors affect CEC...available water, soil content as far as humus goes (as the previous poster mentioned) sunlight, warmth etc.