RE: [compost_tea] Re: compost tea a pseudoscience?

From: John Cowan <vivax_at_northlink.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 15:31:49 -0700

Ted,

It sounds like you have done your work on making compost tea. Your story is
good to hear.

A thought for the whole membership: My concern is that ultimately, what
matters is plant health, growth and development. Compost tea is a wonderful
tool but there are some other bases to be covered such as nutrient resources
in the soil, how to assess the health of plants, etc. Plant growth
regulating "hormones" found from certain plant materials, microbial
cultures, etc. can be a very useful tool. Biocides such as chlorine and
toxic ag chemical need to be avoided but how to do it is not always obvious.
Maybe this is off topic and possibly too broad but I think this is probably
of interest to most members.

John Cowan

 -----Original Message-----
From: Ted Peterson [mailto:ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 1:15 PM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Re: compost tea a pseudoscience?



  I still think I know very little. Compared to Elaine, I'm illiterate in
the field but I am learning. I too thought that more additives made better
tea but then started thinking about what I was really doing: I am
replenishing bacteria and fungi into depleted soil and ensuring they have a
chance to survive. These bacteria and fungi, working with other
microbiologic life (nematodes and such) give the plant the best chance to
extract from the soil what it needs to survive the best it can. So I cut my
inputs while watching DO. When the DO changed, I rechecked my input levels
and made adjustments. I brewed exactly 200 batches this way. Now, my
inputs are a fraction of what I used before but I am using slightly more
compost. (I found that, depending on container, compost has a limit also:
too much it goes anaerobic fast. Functional anaerobes are not benefical for
plant growth but are great for plant decay.)




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

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