[compost_tea] yucca uk experience

From: David Hudson <dandm_at_dhudson28.freeserve.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:09:08 -0000





Hi,

We followed the recent exchange on yucca with a lot of interest. We have
been using yucca extracts here in England for about 15 years now and have
accumulated a lot of experience. Originally we used it in farm slurry and
sewage to control odours. It does this by suppressing anaerobic organisms
such as Desulfovibrio, which converts Sulphate to sulphide (rotten egg
smells.) and by blocking urease enzyme, which releases ammonia, and
significantly boosting aerobic activity so you not only get reduced smells
you also get better fluidity and nutrient release from the extra
bioactivity.

We moved on to soil treatments because we found that yucca treated waste was
more effective as a fertilizer and we wanted to know if it would have any
effects if it was used without the slurry. Pot trials confirmed it caused
extra growth of plants in sterile mixtures with inorganic fertilizers so it
also acted as a plant growth stimulant. Seed germination was increased when
we used it as a seed dressing. We then started to produce a mixed product,
using yucca in a molasses mix to apply to Sports Turf and particularly Golf
Greens to boost biological activity and to break up thatch. This worked very
well and we got some bonuses. Because it’s a good wetter, water penetration
was improved and new healthy roots grew. Also there was much less evidence
of fungal problems like Fusarium.

At this time we were also aware that yucca was being used in the USA on
various crops and that it was being reported that yields were improved and
that potatoes were showing much less fungal disease when seed was dusted
with yucca prior to planting. We have since established the use of yucca in
combination with seaweed, humates etc. as an excellent soil treatment for
all kinds of crops. We have also used yucca for slug and snail problems as
it is an effective antifeedant and is currently looking good against
nematodes. We have recommended its use as a spreader/sticker in compost teas
and it does the job perfectly. We are also developing a combined
yucca/nutrient incorporating a bacterial/fungal culture for seeding teas to
be applied for soil and foliar treatments.

So you could guess that we like yucca. Its true but you must be aware that
it contains plant steroids, which account for its ability to stimulate
microbes and plants so where a little is effective, like many active
“natural” substances, too much could be harmful. We find that yucca at low
levels is an excellent biostiumlant (and we didn’t get to our dietary work)
and it is true to say that it boosts the good guys and restricts the
undesirables.

By the way don’t OMRI approve yucca as a wetter? One of the UK
certification bodies certainly does.


David & Maureen Hudson




Received on Fri Dec 05 2003 - 12:28:04 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:14:55 EST