Re: [compost_tea] Biological Control of Soilborne Fungi - Crop Rotation Idea

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 16:15:48 EDT

In a message dated 8/18/2003 3:54:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
reidchris_at_earthlink.net writes:


> It has been at least 15 years since this work was done. It did not work on
> other peanut diseases because they unlike Sclerotinia would also grow on
> Cornmeal. Sclerotinia does not grow much on cornmeal and thus allows the
> Trichoderma to get ahead.
>

Chris -

The thing you have to pay attention to is the limited species that were used
in the testing on peanut diseases. There was little to no organic matter in
the peanut soil. They added one kind of food resource - cornmeal. What did
the Trichodrema have to grow on? A little corn meal, which is not Trichoderma's
favorite food.

What else did it have to grow on?

What about the herd of other fungi that should be there to suppress the
disease? They don't count?

When you limit your vision to just one species interacting with one other
species, you are going to miss the boat. Think whole system here.

Crop rotation - there are lots of reasons for crop rotation. Disease is a
major one. Take away the host for the disease, and the disease will lessen.
The real trick is, however, to out-compete, inhibit and consume the disease as
well. That's what the proper microbial foodweb will do. It lessens the need
for crop rotation, but does not remove it, unless you are putting compost back
into the system.

You need to have a diversity of food resources to feed the diversity of
organisms in the soil that are needed. Crop rotation can help. Compost helps.
Tea helps. Tillage helps at certain times. Weeds can be a benefit, if you pay
attention to what they are trying to tell you. All these things together, in
a whole system, help you build a healthy soil.

Come to Soil Foodweb seminar. We go over how these things interact. Just
too many details to cover here.

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 Tue Aug 19 2003 - 17:01:33 EDT

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