Re: [compost_tea] Weeds

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 23:53:00 EDT

We see shifts in the weed species with use of tea. Don't get rid of all of
weeds (because to some extent, a weed is in the eye of the beholder. If the
habitat for the "weed" is the same as the crop plant, tea is going to be hard
pressed to exit the weed). Typically tea gets rid of weeds that indicate high
nitrate, nitrite or mineral N presence. If you don't get rid of these weed
species (thistle, many composites, chickweed, horsetail) then your tea isn't
right, or something is causing nitrate to be present. Imbalance of predator -
prey relationships? Proximity to a highway and fuel/air pollution? fertilizer
drift?

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 things
turn out." -- Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic





Received on Mon Aug 04 2003 - 01:14:38 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:29:24 EST