RE: [compost_tea] Matt's CT Recipe

From: Ryan, Matthew <matthew.ryan_at_rodaleinst.org>
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 11:39:34 -0500

Hello Everyone,

The recipe was adapted from a recipe that was provided by Paul Wagner.
The amount of compost was downsized from a recommendation of 10lbs
compost in 100gal brewer (I know the compost to water ratio is not
linear when up or down scaling, but it's a starting point). I use 2.25
lbs of vermicompost in the ETB 22 that we use for to make foliar CT for
our trials. So figured that the 1lb of the each of the two compost
would be adequate. Am I using too much or too little compost? What
amounts are other people using for 20-25 gal batches?

As far as the comfrey, I thought it was a fungal food? On page 49 of
the CTBM 3rd edition, in the recipe for Fungal Tea there is mention of
comfrey leaves, but the connection to CT and fungal food is very vague.
Should I not be using comfrey leaves as a fungal food?

I picked up the corn gluten part of the recipe from a brief conversation
with Paul Wagner. He did not imply any amount so I just winged it.
Should I not be using corn gluten meal as a fungal food? Does anyone
else use corn gluten meal as a fungal food? When you say
bio-suppressive, are you thinking of plants or microbes, or both?

I don't normally include the insoluble humic acid in the ETB-22 brews,
but I thought the insoluble humic acid provides a solid site for fungi
attachment. Since this tea was not going through a pump or sprayer, I
thought it would be a good addition for fungal tea. Do others use
insoluble humic acid? What about rock dust, does it do the same?

The idea of the many ingredients (both kelp and fish hydrolysate) was to
provide a diverse set of foods for a more diverse set of microorganisms.
Is this overkill and not cost effective, reached the point of
diminishing returns?

I was still under the impression that molasses was a bacterial food. In
the CTBM both the equal ratio fungi to bacteria tea and the fungal tea
do not include molasses in the recipe. I was trying for a fungal tea
and didn't want additional competition from bacteria.

Also that was a typo the 2nd AB should have been an AF under the soil
report, thanks Kirk.

Thanks for the help everyone. Happy Thanksgiving.

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

    


-----Original Message-----
From: Kirk Leonard [mailto:kirk_at_oregonatural.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 5:21 PM
To: Compost Tea Group
Subject: [compost_tea] Matt's CT Recipe


Matt posted this most interesting compost tea recipe 11/21 and I think
it bears some discussion, so I put my two cents in...

> "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) <

Two pounds of compost material in 24 gallons of water? I don't think
that's enough - should be more like 5+? Leaf litter and comfrey leaves
aren't compost. Aged leaves can be good fungal and fine fiber sources.
Not sure what comfrey adds, as I think of it as an astringent and more
of a bacterial food. And I've been led to believe corn gluten is
bio-suppressive, so I'm not sure what it adds.

Why two kinds of humic acid? Per prior post suggestions, it seems like
insoluble humic sources are somewhat useless in a 20-hour compost tea,
though beneficial in a maturing compost.

Kelp and fish hydro additions seem tiny and somewhat redundant. Both
are fungal foods, ostensibly, and fish hydro seems to be emerging as
more of a nutrient source for plants than a fungal tea food, per se.
I'd think either kelp or fish would be sufficient for making a tea and
adding fish at use provides a nutrient boost.

Interesting Matt has landed on many of the basic nutrients and materials
we talk about, except molasses:-). Clearly he's aiming for diversity,
but it seems to me there may be some confliction among them. And I do
wonder about so much comfrey... In the meantime, Matt's info and
specificity is refreshing and worthy of some discussion, seems to me.

-- Kirk L









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Received on Wed Nov 26 2003 - 12:18:05 EST

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