[compost_tea] CT quantities

From: Jason Austin <jason.austin_at_shaw.ca>
Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 13:34:56 -0700

There has not been a good flaming on the list for a while so I let me
provoke one, by revisiting the question of how much CT to apply.

Some time ago I asked this question, and also should CT be diluted. I
received a number of answers, which going from memory were: - not
necessary to dilute, apply around 5 gallons per acre, and about 25
gallons per tree as a soil drench. There was a dissenter who said
these numbers were not fixed, and also there was the comment that it did
not hurt to apply more.

I have 5 acres, with a lot of holly and fruit trees.

I thought about buying a commercial brewer versus building one. I
thought about the size of the brewer and quantities to apply. I
thought about how to apply the CT - some listers use backpack sprayers,
others have motorized sprayers on wheels. I thought about the brewing
time, and that it takes the same time to make a large brew as it does to
make 5 gallons.

So, being an expatriate Kiwi living in Canada (Kiwis can do anything
anyhow), I decided "to heck with this, I'm going for broke". So I built
a 400 gallon brewer and a 100 gallon sprayer that mounts on the 3 point
hitch of my small tractor. With this setup I can brew in 24 hours
(don't know what I have brewed yet because I'm still fine tuning -
that'll come soon - PS Elaine the CT Manual would be nice to have
<grin>) and I can apply all 400 gallons in about 1 1/2 hours - probably
less time than if I sprayed 25 gallons with a backpack sprayer.

The result is I figure at the rate I'm going, I am spraying
(irrigating?) about 100-200 gallons per acre per week and unless I
hear from someone that this is harmful, I see no reason not to continue
this throughout the spring and summer. I also figure, that if my tea
making abilities are not up to snuff at first, that so long as the CT
does not go anearobic, that a smaller concentration of bacteria and
fungi in a higher quantity of liquid should still give good results.

I also figure that by having this capacity and ease of spraying, that I
can experiment with supplementry brews to give diversity and other
nutrients - like the alfalfa tea I reported on a while back. (I won't
comment on my fresh seaweed tea - whew!!)

I am making the final switch this year to being completely organic so I
will be mulching a lot around the holly and fruit trees. I am hoping
that between this and the (ample) CT that by next year the farm and I
will be in great shape.

What do you think - am I safe in large quantities?

Jason




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Received on Wed May 07 2003 - 13:17:04 EDT

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