Re: [compost_tea] what favors what

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 16:34:23 EST

Jeff's e-mail was right on.

But also consider that when we till soil (plow, rotovate, disc, whatever word
you want to use, when you disturb soil), fungi are more negatively impacted
than bacteria. Good guy protozoa are more impacted than fungi. The beneficial
nematodes are even more impacted (but not the root-feeders, they are small
nematodes), and the microarthropods (which are the fungal-feeders which keep the
fungi in line) are the MOST impacted.

When we disturb soil, we lose the beneficial fungi and fungal-feeder part of
the foodweb. So, most often, what has to be put back is the fungal part of
the system.

Now beneficial microarthropods aren't in compost tea, but their eggs can be,
if you use good worm compost or well-matured thermal compost (that means it
sat without disturbance for a year or two. Not a normal situation in a
commercial composting operation, but is common in Biodynamic compost that requires it
to be at least a year old before use.

Well-matured compost is SO good because the microarthropods are most likely
well and happy. Except if you sieve the compost before you put it out.
Sieving destroys..... yep, you got it, the bigger critters. Lost the
microarthropods again. Sigh. You have to understand the biology to really understand what
is going to be in your materials.

Back to the point - when you till, you lose the fungi and the things that
fungi feed on. So, even though most lawn grasses are on the slightly bacterial
side, you still need to replace the fungi and the bigger critters.

How do you know whether you lost everything, or just the bigger critters, or
what? Well, that's where doing a soil foodweb analysis is useful.

Or just replace everything every time.

OK, what's more expensive? Depends on your source of compost, your AACT
machine, etc. Contacting a Soil Foodweb Advisor might be the best way to approach
this, so you can get a low-down on costs versus time. You can do the
instant-soil improvement, or the it-takes-time approach. Instant costs more, just
like anything else you try to do instantly. It-takes-time means you don't
achieve the end point rapidly, but it costs less money to get the soil into a
condition of health.

But then you are losing money to having to water alot, having to pour
inorganic nutrients and pesticides on the soil. Talk to your local SFI Advidsor, and
get the costs figured out.

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
SFI Oregon, USA
SFI Australia
SFI New York
SFI Europe
SFI New Zealand

"Hope is not a feeling. It is not the belief that things will turn out well,
but the conviction that what we are doing makes sense, no matter how things
turn out." -- Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic





Received on Fri Jan 16 2004 - 23:07:09 EST

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