The effects of carpenter's shop on the soil

[LiLLiTH]

Hi everybody,
I am searching for a project and I need help.
Last year I realized that the trees which are around carpenters shops' have bigger fruits than the others.
I am searching about it. Can the Iron which comes from waste neils and screws affect the soil's mineral ratios?
How can they combine with the soil and how that will affect the trees?

these are my first questions. thanx for your interest... :)

[Ouabache]

Welcome to or PF community!!
Is this for a school project or something you have been pondering on your own?
If for a school project, what level is this for? (grade?)

It sounds like you are developing an hypothesis that you wish to test.
I cannot think of anything unique about a carpenter's shop that would increase soil fertility. So, to test your hypothesis, how many carpenter shops have you observed? Can you quantify your suspected increase in yield from the plants around the shops and compare to the same plants 'not near' such a location? This is an attempt to establish any correlation between carpentry shops and plant response.

You questioned iron. Have you researched the effects of iron and other soil minerals, on plant nutrition? There are references on the web that can help with this question.

[DaveC426913]

What are your observations? Are you seeing this around many shops, or around just a particular one? Are you sure it is just carpenter's shops, and not similar structures?

If fruit is larger next to buildings, the first thing I'd look at is an increase in watering due to rainfall runoff from the structure's roof.

[WithOneT]

Could it be that saw dust is an excellent fertilizer?

[LiLLiTH]

First of all I orserved two plum trees and I realized that difference. That is project for my own. I observed the other plum trees around many buildings in a certain area. the climate or the other effects are equal but the only difference is soil. Around the carpenter's shops there is "dust" iron. All of the trees were in our garden and we were giving equal water to them at the same time everyday. also I want to add one thing, I am a 9th grade high school student at turkey so I don't know many things and I am trying to learn and search.

[DaveC426913]

First of all I orserved two plum trees and I realized that difference. That is project for my own. I observed the other plum trees around many buildings in a certain area. the climate or the other effects are equal but the only difference is soil. You should not take for granted what the only difference is. If you start with the assumption that the only difference is soil, then your conclusion will inevitably be that the soil is the cause.


Around the carpenter's shops there is "dust" iron. All of the trees were in our garden and we were giving equal water to them at the same time everyday. also I want to add one thing, I am a 9th grade high school student at turkey so I don't know many things and I am trying to learn and search.
Iron is definitely a growth factor in my experience with growing plants in aquaria. It is a common additive in the form of substrate pellets.

[LiLLiTH]

Thank you for your answers. I will continue searching about some scientific information.

[Ouabache]

Could it be that saw dust is an excellent fertilizer?
The major nutrients for plants are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. There are also micronutrients (http://www.agr.state.nc.us/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.htm#Micronutrients) (of which iron is a member), however they are utilized in small concentrations. Too high an iron availability causes plant toxicity (http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/ff/Fe_Basics.htm). Soil pH affects iron availability to plants.

Sawdust is not high in plant nutrients, but is very high in carbon and will eventually break down to humus (good for building up soil organic content), but available soil nitrogen will be tied up by the organisms that break down the sawdust. So at least in the soil layer close to the sawdust, there will be a nitrogen deficiency while the sawdust is being decomposed.