RE: [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Potatoes

From: Ryan, Matthew <matthew.ryan_at_rodaleinst.org>
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 17:38:23 -0400

Hello Elaine,
 
Funny, I tried calling and e-mailing Jason Kimm toady. Makes sense that th=
ese people don't want a bunch of people calling all the time, I know I woul=
dn't.
 
I thought you were working directly with Oscar and Solamen when they did th=
e trial? They did say that they think it would work, just that it didn't i=
n the trial they were involved with.
 
We are working with an EPM ETB-22, a REAL brewer (I think). Unfortunately,=
 we could not do a fall application of compost tea due to the timing of the=
 funding from SARE. Definitely will consider for next years trial.
 
No, we have not tested the tea yet. But we are definitely planning on it. =
 I have been talking to Paul Wagner and we should have our first tea tested=
 next week. Of course we can not afford to have every tea tested, but we a=
re planning to test multiple times over the summer.
 
Can you recommend a good foliar compost tea recipe for potatoes???
 
Thanks
 
Matthew Ryan
Research Technician
The Rodale Institute
611 Siegfriedale Road
Kutztown, PA 19530
(610) 683-1405
      

-----Original Message-----
From: soilfoodweb_at_aol.com [mailto:soilfoodweb_at_aol.com]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 4:42 PM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Compost Tea for Potatoes


The person willing to talk to people about their results is Jason Kimm, but=
 he is a grower and doesn't have time to answer herds of e-mail and phone c=
alls. So, it would be best if I could screen questions, and pass on to peo=
ple his contact information when appropriate.

We work with a number of other growers in Idaho, WA and OR who do not want =
people calling them directly. The last I heard back from one of the tea ce=
nter folks we work with was that someone called him up and ranted and raved=
 about how CT doesn't work.

Of course, the reason they use compost tea is because it works. They do ap=
propriate testing to make sure their compost and compost tea has the proper=
 set of organisms. Ask Oscar Gutbrod and Solamen Yilma if they tested the =
tea they brewed. Both of these people have seen what compost tea, done cor=
rectly, in a good program. I know that Oscar visited Jason's farm.

People have to pay attention to the proper way to make and use CT. The fac=
ts are that tea has to have the biology required to do the job.

You must use a REAL compost tea machine, not a "wanna-be". You need to sta=
rt in the fall with a soil compost or tea application. If the residues do =
not decompose by about half their weight in a month of decent weather, you =
need to apply the compost or tea again. Again in the spring, if residues a=
ren't properly decomposed and gone. Then a seed treat, if you don't have g=
ood sets of biology in the soil. And then start the foliar program.

You can't put on one application of a CT and expect it to solve 50 years of=
 abuse!

So, Matt, have you tested the tea you are putting on the Rodale trial? Do =
you know you are making compost tea, and not just some anaerobic bacterial =
brew?

If people don't test, and don't know that the tea has the biology required =
(which is most of the reason why anyone uses tea, right?), then how can the=
y go around saying that CT doesn't work?

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
SFI Oregon, USA
SFI Australia
SFI New York
SFI Europe
SFI New Zealand

"Hope is not a feeling. It is not the belief that things will turn out well=
, but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how thin=
gs turn out." -- Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic

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Received on Fri May 02 2003 - 18:07:07 EDT

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