[compost_tea] Re: Weeds: Rhizosphere of Spotted Knapweed

From: Steve Diver <steved_at_ncatark.uark.edu>
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 15:59:38 -0000

Hi Merla -

It sounds like your educational exhibit will
get people educated. That's a whopper of information
right there... a display copy of The Soil Biology
Primer, a Bitti CT maker, some pictures of soil
microbes, some soil microbial lab results, some
information on different weeds and the rhizosphere.

Boom, crash, bells ringing.... that ought to
wake up a few people right there, it will get
them thinking... about ecological relationships
between weeds and their root environment, root
exudates, allelopathy, weed ecology and biology...

I don't think you have answers for all the weeds
and how they will be controlled through soil
biology. Nobody does yet. So tell people who
ask for all the direct relationship data that
"shows" or "proves" you can control these
rangeland weeds with CTs and BDs etc... that
you are exploring, and so far you've found all
this amazing soil biology information in the
exhibit.... each year you expect to conduct
new field trials.... feel free to donate
some $$ to the project, or if you'd like to
try some weed control at your own place, or
try some CT at your own place, give me your
phone number and let's explore this together.

You can mention Hendrikus Organics and Bruce
Tanio as companies working with microbial
inoculants and mineral balancing to shift
weed populations.

You want to know what is in the rhizosphere
of knapweed. I guess that would take quite
a few hours of library research... probably
days and days of research. Even then, data on
the rhizosphere of individual plants... as well
as root exudates.... is extremely limited.
It is hardly feasible to even answer this question.

"Weeds and Why They Grow" and/or "Weeds!!Why?" by
Jay McCaman is the book that will blow people
away on weeds. It shows the radionic General Vitality
numbers that encourage or discourage weed growth.
You can see the direct relationship between
GV of commercial fertilizers and weeds. Darn,
it turns out that 18-46-0 raises the GV of
of certain agricultural weeds, what do you know....

ATTRA's publication on radionics is no longer
available on the ATTRA web page, though you
can get print information from ATTRA on this
topic.

On the other hand, my co-author George Kuepper
has a copy on his Mid-South Radionics home page.

Radionics in Agriculture
http://home.earthlink.net/~gkuepper/index/Radionics.htm

The relationship between CT and fertilization is
strong. It provides soluble nutrients, bioactive
substances (for growth promotion and plant protection),
and beneficial microbes. That is one of the most
direct and tangible things you can talk about.

Yet, since CT's are used to make plants grow, why
don't they just promote weed growth, too? This
is where you also need information on nitrates
from soluble fertilizers as encouragers of weeds,
and humic substances from Composts and CT's as
modifiers of soil feedback conditions that tell
weed seeds to lay dormant... humic materials sending
messages that the soil is stable and mature, nitrate
materials sending messages that soil is tilled
and disturbed.

Paramagnetism is a direct relationship to PM
rock dusts and certain mineral elements with
PM properties, such as magnetite. If you add
some of these PM rock dusts to the CT recipe
you may be able to get a PM effect onto broad
acreages through a homeopathic-style dilution
effect. Though, you may have to grind these
materials to a fine powder as a CT amendment
since some of the PM material is aggregate size
rather than dust size. Biological transmutation
of elements is the other possible outcome of
PM-tweaked CT's and PM readings in the field.
Direct application of PM rock dusts is the tangible
way to get out the PM effect. The PCSM meter that
Pike Agri-Lab Supplies makes provides consistent,
accurate digital readings for PM samples. It
costs $400, and you will have to get this to
do any PM research.

Best regards,
Steve Diver


--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, Merla Barberie <herbnmerla_at_s...>
wrote:
> I am still trying to do a fairbooth on "Microscopic Soil
Jubilee."
> I am hoping to do three panels: one a broccoli or cabbage with a
> bacterial rhizosphere. One a pine tree seedling with
ectomycorrhizal
> fungi. One a knapweed on the right-of-way.
>
> Does anyone know what critters, if any, like the rhizosphere of
> knapweed? I hear that it exudes a substance that excludes other
> plants. Does it have microorganisms around it? Are they different
from
> those around native grass and broadleaf plants? Always looking for
some
> new approach besides herbicide to discourage the weeds and save the
> bugs. What difference does Bio-Dynamic weed pepper for knapweed
make in
> the soil? What difference if you balance the soil nutrients? Does
that
> just encourage the grass and do nothing to or for knapweed?
>
> Thanks for anything you can say on this. I bought a new copy of the
> Soil Biology Primer and have the Acres USA issue with Elaine on the
> cover. I have a good article off the web on the soil food web in a
> prairie by the BLM. I've been on lots of sites on the Net. I'll be
> demonstrating the Bitti and am hoping to make an earthworm out of
some
> old pantyhose and paint it with polyurethane to make it look slimy
and
> drape him/her over the top of the booth. I'll have some enlarged
> pictures of the critters. Gosh, I'm busy.
>
> I read an interview with Dr. Arden Anderson and Graeme Sait in
> Australia on the net. So many insights into how to raise nutritious
> food. I need to somehow relate CT to fertilization and
paramagnetism...
>
> I like the idea of having a weed registry. Are you putting it on a
> spreadsheet or the word processor? I don't have a spreadsheet.
Are you
> just interested in weeds in crop situations or do you also want
data on
> common roadside weeds?
>
> Best,
>
> Merla Barberie
> Sandpoint Farmers Market
> Rapid Lightning IPM Weed Control Project
> Bonner County Noxious Weed Advisory Committee


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Received on Thu Aug 14 2003 - 18:02:08 EDT

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