[compost_tea] two Ct RECIPES FOR 5 GALLON TES BREWS.

From: Jeff Lowenfels <jeff_at_gardener.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:25:12 -0800

Little Moon et al.

First, Compost tea is never described as killing. It provides good guy/gal =
micro-organisms that can compete for food resources and limited space and o=
ut number the bad guys/gals. It PREVENTS pathogens from getting in or takin=
g over or surviving.Yes there are organisms that eat bad guys in some compo=
sts, but CT is not considered, nor should it be, an "icide."

As for a recipe, five gallons of good tea can be diluted at least 5 times a=
nd will surely take care of 25 rose plants.

One (of many) recipes for a 5 gallon brewer and which I have specificallyte=
sted in the KIS:

1. One cup compost
2. One ounce Soluable Kelp (Maxicrop? or?)
3. One teaspoon of powder Humic Acid (Humisolve which makes about a pint o=
f suggested root soak) or liquid equivilant

This should make a killer tea with fantastic fungal numbers. Want bacterial=
 tea, then substitute 2 ounce Black strap molasses for the humic acid

I don't use a bag when I use the KIS and I use Alaska Humus, obviously. Ho=
wever, your compost will do for sure! If you want, you can re-use the KIS b=
ag (after carefully cleaning it) using duct tape to close it up or make you=
r own. Add a few wood chips(better agitation) and perhaps a ping-pong ball=
 (for a bit of floation to keep it off the bottom.

It is important to test the first tea or two you make after you have the sy=
stem down. If you have a KIS machine, I tested this recipe and it is a kill=
er fungal and the results have been posted. If you are trying it out on you=
r own machine, you really should have SFI test it.(www.soilfoodweb.com)

Cheers,

Jeff L
www.ALASKAHUMUS.COM

p.s.
As for the slugs, use coffee as a spray or coffee grinds. The USDA announc=
ed last summer that this will kill slugs in two days...





Received on Fri Apr 25 2003 - 01:09:36 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:29:10 EST