[DigIt]

Is it just Cornwall or do other allotmenteers find difficulty in finding Nitrochalk on the shelves of their garden centres etc?

At the moment it looks like I will have to resort to ordering off the Tinternet.  I don't want to as you seem to always get stung well for p&p and actually i would prefer to support the local economy and reduce fuel miles.

Your thoughts would be most welcome.

D

[arugula]

Your thoughts would be most welcome.

D

I've never heard the term Nitrochalk before....  Can you not buy it locally under its chemical name sulphate of ammonia? (I googled). Then this site says that sulphate of ammonia and nitrochalk are not the same..... 

[Sprouts]

Haven't seen Nitrochalk for sale for some time now. Not the same as Sulphate of Ammonia.

You probably won't be able to buy it for domestic use like you can't buy Nitram any more because people make bombs from it

Kevin

[Yorkie]

My memory might well be at fault here, but if it is right then I suspect it's an ingredient in making items to blow people / things up ...

[DigIt]

My memory might well be at fault here, but if it is right then I suspect it's an ingredient in making items to blow people / things up ...

That would be ammonium nitrate. Ie Nitram as Sprouts mentions

Nitrochalk is calcium ammonium nitrate. It is best used on acid soils to maintain/increase pH instead of sulphate of ammonium.

I have found a website that sells it, but from the replies so far it does look like it has disappeared from shelves then.

Any further observations still appreciated.

[JayG]

It's a mixture of chalk (calcium carbonate) and ammonium nitrate so it's really a nitrogen-enriched form of lime.

You can't readily buy ammonium nitrate because it can certainly used as an ingredient in "fireworks" (to name but one possibility!) but you would have to go a lot of trouble to isolate it from the chalk in nitrochalk.

Whether you want to or need to add lime and a (highly soluble and therefore easily leached) nitrogen boost to your soil at the same time is another question altogether.

[solway cropper]

When I saw the post I thought the same as JayG, why would you need to use it?

We used it commercially forty odd years ago but I haven't seen it for a while. A lot of stuff we used then is no longer available for a variety of reasons and there are certainly more enviromentally friendly ways of giving a nitrogen boost than nitrochalk.

[Salmo]

Farmers all use "Nitram" which is ammonium nitrate, 34% nitrogen, and this has replaced nitro chalk, 21% nitrgoen, as the standard nitrogen top dressing on farms. For this reason I doubt if the manufacturers would bother to produce it just for the gardening market.

Sulphate of ammonia is still available but most gardeners seem to use pelleted chicken manure for a nitrogen top dressing. This is the green way as it is recycled chicken food. I would think it needs hoeing in to be most effective as if left on the surface some of the ammonia will be released into the air and not be available for the roots.

All the ammonium nitrate sold as fertilizer has an additive which prevents it from being used to make explosives. It also has other industrial uses which do not have the additive.

[seedman]

hi have a look at this link http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/garden-care/fertilisers/general-fertilizers-chemicals/nitrochalk..Chemical name Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, It is expensive ,have you looked at calcified seaweed mole valley farms £15-00  25kgs delivered may be not the stuff your looking for but its good any way  

[rowlandwells]

I've used nitrochalk or nitram for years now i left off using it for one season but you could see the difference it made

i use it  mainly my brassicas very sparingly and i always get a small quantity from my farmer friends you used to be able to buy it in cwt bags but as its sold commercially to farmers in tonne bags these days its a bit to much for me to handle    

off-cause the misuse of this product has caused it much bad publicity over the years
i assume by what your saying is that you have used this product before on the Lottie or garden 

[DigIt]

I've used nitrochalk or nitram for years now i left off using it for one season but you could see the difference it made

i use it  mainly my brassicas very sparingly and i always get a small quantity from my farmer friends you used to be able to buy it in cwt bags but as its sold commercially to farmers in tonne bags these days its a bit to much for me to handle    

off-cause the misuse of this product has caused it much bad publicity over the years
i assume by what your saying is that you have used this product before on the Lottie or garden 

Yes Rowland, I used to use it in the past as opposed to Nitram to increase pH and now I have more room than previously, having an allotment, I'm going more towards brassicas again and am considering using it like you mainly for the brassicas as a top dressing.

[rowlandwells]

 hi Digit

yep i don't think you'll go wrong using nitram as said sparingly do you know any friendly farmers who mite sell you a small quantity

provided you keep it dry it will keep i still use fertilizers potash base for potatoes and a general for most other crops 

i trend to mix the general fert with wood ash on my onion bed on other crops i usually broadcast it on and rake it in I've found  problems using it on my manured ground and i use general fert only on my carrot bed  :happy:

good luck with your nitram

[Comfortably Numb]

We sell it in our allotment shop. We buy it in 25kg bags from either East Horticulture, or Taylors Choice.
Taylors Choice recommend it for brassicas and root crops.