Re: [compost_tea] PEAT BOG - well....

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 17:46:23 -0500

Peat bogs -

I'm not putting anyone down, not critisizing unfairly, just going to bring up some facts. If I can't discuss facts, then it is time to quit answering e-mails.

First, some history. Peat doesn't develop overnight. I don't mean that statement to be a put-down, but many people just plain don't understand the time element when it comes to making peat. So, some history on bogs and peat. Skip to the bottom of the e-mail if you already understand the process of making peat.

Peat bogs are a phenomenon of the far northern parts of the globe (We don't have significant land mass in the southern hemisphere at the right lattides for this to happen, except maybe in New Zealand, and that's too young an island to have developed real peat bogs yet). Harsh winters are required to stop decomposition and allow the accumulation of reduced oxygen layers that inhibition complete decomposition.

In semi-tropical and tropical areas, black water systems, swamps, marshes and bogs are very different from areas where the soil freezes, and can remina frozen year-round. Peat does not develop in warmer climates because decomposition does not stop during the winter. Instead we get acid sulfur soils, for example, as the land rises along a shoreline. Lakes as they fill in - in tropical areas - might undergo the terra piedre (hum, spelling isn't quite right there, but hopefully close enough) process, which was mimicked by the Mayans apparently with great success. But, different process there, back to peat.

During formation of peat bogs, organic matter from leaf drop from trees, needle drop from conifers, grass resides, annual plant residues, etc. begins to be decomposed by soil organisms in the late autumn, but then the process is stopped by freezing conditions. If the snow layer is deep enough, decomposition picks up and can be quite rapid under the snow. But before the last year's layer is fully decomposed, the next summer's plant material falls on top of the previous layer. Same process is repeated. Some decomposition with each year, but not complete. Humus develops.

With several years of this happening, in places where summer is very short, a thick layer of leaf material, plant residue and humus builds up. The lower layers of the organic layer, where humus is developing, may not thaw in the summer or thaw only in some years. Decomposition is very slow. Water typically gets "hung-up" at the surface of this semi-permafrost layer, and reduced oxygen concentrations develop. Decomposition slows down even more, and some serious tannins and phenols build up. Anaerobic gasses develop, and the bog is underway.

Unique plant species begin to develop - those that can tolerate the wet-feet, anaerobic conditions in the lower organic matter layers. In certain places, sphagnum moss was best able to grow, because water didn't drain out of the bog all year. The reduced oxygen conditions in the water, and the particular mix of gases in the water selected for the growth of sphagnum. So, a certain kind of peat contains a high amount of not-fully decomposed sphagnum moss.

With time, the weight of the organic matter being laid on the surface each year compacts the lower layers more and more, so the lower bog layers develop a dense consistency.

Some bogs accumulated tens to maybe 100 feet deep of this organic material over the hundreds of years they were in existance. What if a layer of sand was laid on top a bog, as the result of seas shifting, or a volcanic event occured, and the bog was buried? Or ash from a far-distant volcanic event put a blanket over the bog surface? Through geological time, compaction and anaerobic processes will eventually turn this old bog into pre-coal, with continuing pressure, coal, then petroleum, and eventually, given the right conditions of pressure and temperature, diamond will be formed. Fun to think about that as you burn your gasoline. That was potential diamond, if you waited another, oh, 100,000 years.

If people drain bogs, the bog material can be burned like logs when it is dry. It is compact organic matter, with wood-like characteristics.

If you fluff compacted bog material (put air been into it; sphagnum is particularly notable for it's ability to fluff again), it makes great potting material, and can have some great anti-microbial impacts.

Dr. Harry Hoitink at Ohio State University has spent a great deal of time working on the plant-beneficial properties of peat, so if interested, read some of his papers. Or Mike Boehme's papers - he worked with Hoitink for his Ph.D.

But why can peat be disease-suppressive? Anaerobic products. If properly fluffed, there won't be alcohol or other volatile stinky gasses by the time you use it, but the phenols, terpenes and tannins may still be there. Certain peats can be very disease-inhibiting, others not so great. With some peat material, there's enough N, P, K, etc still left in it, with other peat moss, the nutrient were lost through anaerobic volatilization of N, S, P, etc. pH can be really acid in some peats, not so acid in others, depending on the layer of the bog you take the peat from, and what happened with respect to the anaerobic processes. How long anaerobic? What was the interplay between anaerobic and frozen? All kinds of variables.

Quality of the humus can be quite variable. And the biology can be non-existent, as Jeff pointed out. In fact, most of the time, unless the biology is added back into peat moss, you don't have on-going benefit from the peat. The anti-microbial properties don't remain, because when biology does return to the peat in the pot, the anti-microbial products get eaten by some microbe that views those materials as food, not as inhibitory materials.

However, unless you have a peat bog near you, peat is no longer either cheap or abundant. The world's supply of peat is dwindling rapidly, and the loss of peat bogs is a serious problem on a global scale. There are global efforts underway to stop mining peat from peat bogs. We're losing a sink for carbon dioxide that we can ill afford to lose. Don't believe me? Read any issue of of the Ecosystems journal from the Ecological Society of America. Serious problem.

There is a difference between a peat bog and the humus layer in a forest. The humus layer developing at the bottom of the O horizon in forest soils is a great source of humus. This source of humus hasn't gone anaerobic and lost the good guy fungi. Forest soil still has the good guy fungi, as long as the forest is still healthy and growing. So, there is some need to recognize what is a healthy forest.

But no matter if you want to use peat, or forest soil, trying to routinely cover your garden with that material alone is just too expensive.

So, you get a handful of good healthy forest humus, and add it into your COMPOST pile. Make your compost tea from your "humus-enhanced" compost. The "spent compost" from your compost tea still has the good guys in it, so add that back into this year's compost pile. Let it go all winter and bingo! next spring, you have more humus-enhanced compost.

Peat moss is not very useful as an inoculum to your compost or compost tea, in my experience. If you buy peat moss from the store, it has been pasteurized, and does not contain beneficial organisms. Peat moss from a bog? Very iffy about whether it will have the beneficial organisms in it.

Humus layers, as long as they are aerobic, are good. Even better if you can see fungal strands in the material.

So Alaska Humus? For those of us who live no where near an old growth, healthy forest, guess what? Alaska Humus is that humus layer we need. Do you buy 100 tons of it? No way. Well, the Mirage Hotel did, because they were losing their palm trees and needed to save their $30,000-or-more-each palm trees from certain death. And they did. As I understand, there were 600 palm trees in danger of certain death, and all but 5 or 6 were brought back to health. Well, Tom J can correct me, but I believe there are still are a couple of the trees where the fight has not yet been won. Its a foliar crown problem, so soil amendments do not directly combat the problem. Getting compost tea into those crowns is problematical too. 50 feet in the air, trying to spray into a thick crown? But the trees health improved significantly and surely would have died long ago except for bringing the biology back. Alaska Humus was used for the recovery job, and it worked. It was expensive.

For those of us with less money than the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, we are going to find the least expensive source of excellent humus. I've talked about ways to buy expensive humus, and make it feasible to spread that benefit through the next couple years.

So did the person whose e-mail I am responding to, so don't take what I'm saying here as critical of that person. I'm just supporting what that person said.

AH has worked in many situations, at this point. For many people, it is economic and a great way to get the inoculum and the fungal foods they need.

Can you get other kinds of great humus and repeat the same thing? Sure, but please make sure the biology in is that humus you use. Without the right biology in the material, you may be putting the food out, but instead of Santa Claus, you get vermin. Please make sure the right biology is in the humus you use, or add the right biology if you are not certain.

AH has the right biology most of the time, so it's a good investment. But, buy enough to inoculate your compost pile, or add to the potting hole of your expensive tree you just planted. another pssoble approach is to make compost tea with the few pounds of AH you buy, and apply some of the tea to your compost pile. Last year's compost and next year's.

Gee, does that sound exactly like what was recommended for the good humus layer you got from your forest, if you are lucky enough to live next to a forest? Yep.

So, I'm not trying to put anyone down, I'm trying to make it clear that there are always alternatives. There are multiple ways to get the right biology into your soil, your potting material, onto the foliage. Pick the method that works for you.

Having troubles figuring out the right method, what will work, in your climate, in your particular area? Talk to your closest Soil Foodweb Advisor. The list is on the SFI website (it's Sunday, I can advertise, right?).

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

Here's the e-mail that made me feel that a fuller discussion was needed -

> The primordial layer I was refering to is the Humus layer within the bog. I'm sure the experts know that. That is where alot of their humus and humus tea products are derived from. It is a cheap and abundant supply. Roughly 14 dollars per metric ton. The problem I see with getting caught up in the numbers game is to much variabilty from what the seller claims and what may actually be. That also goes for home brew recipes. There is no real guaranteed analysis written on the bag but you will find disclaimers. That is why there is this cry for repeatable data. What plays out quite nicely in the Labratory does not always work well in the garden. Cold soil temperatures are an inhibiting factor. Not all soils in the far north are a toasty 70 degrees. Again how well does it work for the money spent?? If you are looking for long term results and in my mind the most affordable. Add well composted animal manures,straw,hay,leaf mold,fish,seaweed and the list goes on. Whatever is readi
 ly available in your area and many times is there FREE for the taking. Other than a little physical
labor. Take care.


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Received on Mon Nov 03 2003 - 00:08:10 EST

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