Re: [compost_tea] Water temps for brewing

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:20:21 -0500

Hi Ted -

>> I use distilled water. However, it is not
> pharmaceutical grade.

This is a problem. Distilled water lacks physiological balance. You need to use a buffered physiological solution, like physiological saline, or phosphate buffer, or citrate buffer.

>> I am looking through the whole cycle. I look for what is in my tea and see if it is replicating in my soil. That means fungi (look just like the textbooks show) protoza and bacterial/fungal eating nematodes.
 
In your post you said bacteria, which is why I responded saying fungi too at the very least. So, great that you look at all of them, but this is where you really need the ability to assess activity. Many of the hyphae in soil are not active, and can be "left-over" from a long time ago. You need to distinguish actinobacteria hyphae from oomycetes, from ascomycete, from basidiomycete. All based on morphology of course. Some training would be a good idea, since these things are not usually pointed out in text books.

A ten year old, doing SFI training? Well, if you have him doing the microscopy, he needs the training. Or have him look at the samples, and send a sample into SFI, and then he can see what we saw, and learn something from the interaction that way?

Not quite sure how to take this response from you. Hopefully you are just kidding me?
  
>> Darn and I was looking to build up a nice resentment and get a chip on my shoulder and flame people and tell the world how right I am in the face of correct knowledge.

I was just trying to figure out the basis of you saying that you could see that brewing at a temperature closer to soil temp was giving you better results. I did not know you had a microscope, and could look before and after at the soil, and look at the tea too. Direct methods are the best way to do this kind of determination. Great that you are doing them.

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

 

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Received on Mon Jan 19 2004 - 22:49:55 EST

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