Re: [compost_tea] Appropriate Humic acid for building fungi in the soil

From: Mike Harvey <mharvey_at_westnet.com.au>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 09:59:41 +0800


>
Elaine said-
.......Anyone else have a favorite humic acid? If we've tested it, and I c=
an share the data, I'll let you know how it did in testing. .......
It is timely that you have raised this issue.
I have been using Nutritechs humic acid, this is a humic acid that has been=
 extracted using Potassium Hydroxide against a insoluble humic acid. This p=
rocess allows the humics to be soluble and has a resulting pH of about 8. =
Has this one been tested?? It sounds like it may not be a great food source=
 for fungi.
Second question re soil food web testing and recomendations. Soil food web =
tests done on strawberry soils and grapes have come back with a recomendati=
on of 2 to 4 litres per ha humic acid and 150 litres per ha compost tea (s=
ample no 3080 and 3081). Does this mean that after applying this we can exp=
ect to see active fungal biomass and total fungal biomass in the correct ra=
nge (other things being equal) or put it another way do you have data showi=
ng that a once off application such as this will bring the fungal numbers i=
nto the correct range? My view of this is that multiple applications will b=
e required to restore the soil food web. Note this is intensive horticultur=
e so regular applications of AACT and Humic acid etc are not a problem.
I have requested this info from Steve at the Lismore lab however since you =
have raised it I have directed my question direct to you in this forum so t=
hat others will benefit from your response.
Regards Mike Harvey www.composttea.com.au
.




   

> Which reminds me, SFI did some testing on humic acids as fungal food reso=
urces, and I'm not sure I ever reported those results. The take-home messa=
ge was this:
>
> Humic acids extracted using harsh chemicals (strong acid and strong base)=
 are not as good sources of food for fungi as humic acids extracted using h=
ot water, or less harsh chemical means. Humic acids that have been extract=
ed using harsh chemicals can be revived, or biologically activated, however=
.
>
> The list I like? Terra Vita's highest concentration humic acid, Helena C=
hemical company's HydraHume, Horizon Ag's humic acids, a product out of Aus=
tralia called Biostarter, made by Tryton. Tom Piatkowski has made a study =
of all these sources of humic acids, and he is a good resource to ask quest=
ions of. That's tom_at_healthysoil.com
>
> Anyone else have a favorite humic acid? If we've tested it, and I can sh=
are the data, I'll let you know how it did in testing.
>
> 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
>
>
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Received on Sun Nov 16 2003 - 23:25:50 EST

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