[compost_tea] Re: Air Diffuser, Fungal Brew, and Test Results

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 14:18:39 -0800

Matt, et al -- I am disappointed that there hasn't been more discussion and
I have to respond further to your message last Friday, and hope you will
KEEP ON. Yours was the best report I have seen on this listserve since its
beginning. CT content, compost content, soil content, excellent. I think
this is a worthy new reporting model, and very valuable. I hope others can
manage to equal it. Other questions, comments and suggestions below. And
I've put together several single subject messages you suggested which
follow...

> Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 10:16:24 -0500
> From: "Ryan, Matthew" <matthew.ryan_at_rodaleinst.org>
> Subject: Air Diffuser, Fungal Brew, and Test Results

> Dakesian1 and others,

> "I use the classic 5 gallon bucket with a strong aquarium pump (i.e.,
rated for a 75 gallon tank)." <
Sounds adequate. What's actual air volume pumped into tea?

> Could you tell me what type of air diffuser you are using? I am looking
for something simple that I can put together fairly cheaply. I was thinking
about using a nalgene tube, or some type of metal tubing, with lots of air
holes drilled into it. This will be used for our bucket bubbler, aerated
with a large scale oil-less air compressor (shop/garage type). <

What's a nalgene tube? Metal tubing with air holes is a great idea. I
suggest stainless tubing, a little more expensive but inert and
long-lasting. 1/2" should work for most machines and ability to
disassemble for cleaning is important. Plastic pipe can also be used,
weighted down with stainless rods, too. I've made several machines using
plastic pipe and found that 1/16-3/32 holes work well for general aeration
and larger holes work better for stirring action. Makes intuitive sense,
but you have to have air volume capacity to see it. What is the air volume
of your oil-less compressor and is it variable? What compressor are you
using?

> Also I would like to report on our last brew. Background - this compost
tea was made to be applied to a fungal compost that was made to be applied
in a field that tested low for total fungal biomass. Basically we were
inoculating our compost pile before spreading on the field, not that this is
a normal practice for us or anything, just wanted that extra insurance -
trying to optimize. <
Uh huh. Understand optimizing but your soil report tells me you're working
with pretty good soil already... better than the tea you made...:-) Seems
to me ACT is most appropriate for foliar use and plant health more so than
soil maintenance, for which compost and mulches seem most appropriate.

> Brewer: homemade bucket bubbler (30 gallon trash can, with soaker hose
attached to an oil-less air compressor). Approximately 24 gallons water.
All ingredients were added right to the brew (no burlap sack or compost
sleeve). This was done because the end use allowed for it, no screening
needed because it we just dumped it on the compost. <
Good you could do that. How might you work it sprayed tea/foliar
applications?

> "Thought to be fungal" CT Recipe:
1) Vermicompost (Orner's) 454 g. (1 lb.)
2) Fungal Compost (custom made for high fungal) 454 g. (1 lb.)
3) Leaf Litter - from woodlot 681 g. (1.5 lb.)
4) Comfrey Leaves - from employee garden 454 g. (1 lb.)
5) Corn Gluten Meal "Natural Green" (Fertrell) 25g (0.882 ounces)
6) Insoluble Humic Acid "L-65" (Organic Approach) 75 g (2.65 ounces)
7) Soluble Humic Acid "SP-85" (Organic Approach) 50 g (1.76 ounces)
8) Acadian Kelp "Nature's Essence" (Organic Approach) 20 g (0.705 ounces)
9) Fish Hydrolysate "Neptune's Harvest" (Organic Approach) 50 ml (1.69 fl.
oz)

> Note: The leaf litter used was extremely fungal. I found this in our wood
lot under some leaves. Tons of white fungal hyphae, see pictures.

> We don't have an DO meter, but I'm fairly confident that there was
adequate DO levels. Temp started out at 26ºC at 4:00PM, dropped to 15ºC by
8:00AM, at which time I decided to utilize an aquarium heater we have set at
25ºC, by 9:30 temp reached 18ºC. Unfortunately I did not record the temp at
the end of the brew ~ noon, but I imagine it was close to 25ºC. <
So this was a 20-hour batch?

> SFNY CT Test Results:
> AB 29.4, TB 2304, AF 1.44, TF 19.92, HD 3.

> I was a bit disappointed with the AF and TF of this brew, based on the
recipe used. Any ideas why the AF and TF were so low? <
Per previous comment, I think there was not enough compost and recipe
somewhat counterproductive, potentially. All numbers are down, fungal more
dramatically, which suggests to me that there wasn't enough compost and
foods were conflicting somehow.

> The good news is that the compost that we applied this to was extremely
fungal to begin with, and as it turns out the CT application would have been
overkill anyway. <
Overkill? How do you mean that? And why were you putting tea on an already
good compost? That questions may seem a little silly, but I think compost
teas may be especially valuable for compost or mulch inoculation, so I have
to ask.

> This compost was very wet with all of the rain that we have been getting
here in Pennsylvania. The dry weight of 1 gram fresh = 0.33g. SFNY results:
AB 465, TB 1293, AF 164, TF 1443, HD 3. <
Whoo-boy, looks to me like you might have lost a lot of bacteria and most
fungi between compost and tea, and most got sucked into bacterial metabolite
mass? Not a bad outcome but CT is about living critters, hmm?
[clip]
> Have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving,

> Matthew Ryan
> Research Technician
> The Rodale Institute
> 611 Siegfriedale Road
> Kutztown, PA 19530
> (610) 683-1405

Hope all our Thanksgivings are good ones, too.

Kirk L










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Received on Tue Nov 25 2003 - 19:00:39 EST

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