[compost_tea] Re: CACT and Idea for non-tested brewing approach

From: dkemnitz2000 <dkemnitz2000_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 05:40:07 -0000

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, soilfoodweb_at_a... wrote:
> Just back from Darwin, NT, Australia. Phew! Hot, and humid, and
monsoon
> rains! Two days were really nice - if hot - because we were in-
between too
> hurricanes (called cyclones here!).
>
> David Boehme put on a great school, lots of wonderful contacts,
>
> should be seeing a Compost Tea Center in Darwin soon!
>
> But, on to Chris' response:
>
> > Still the best way not to go anaerobic is to remember: LESS IS
MORE
> > (food that is) and a good recipe, plus colder water.
> >
> I think that matching the water temperature to the soil
temperature, or
> foliar temperature, makes sense. Many people have suggested and
pointed this out,
> so I am not the only person thinking this one through. Brewing in
cold water
> in midsummer isn't going to work too well, most likely, or brewing
in hot
> water in mid-autumn, or early spring, isn't going to work too well
either.
>
> > 2. The success of this method depends in part on how badly
overfed the
> > microbes are. Way too much food and it is unlikely to do the job
without
> > dumping out part of the tea and refilling with de-gassed water.
> >
> Exactly right. Too much food is not a good thing. The Goldilocks
Principle
> applies.
>
> > 3. I think the next place we have to be careful with this idea
is the
> > pump's capacity. What happens to a pump that's on the brink of
#gals it can
> > handle when you top off the brew with more water? In terms of
oxygen in the
> > brew, does the extra water slow the rate of addition of oxygen?
Moral:
> > Have extra capacity. Don't brew at the top of your pump's
capacity.
> >
> But remember that the water you add should be at max oxygen
content, because
> you have aerated to blow off chlorine. That water should up the
oxygen in the
> tea brew ASAP. The additional water will not slow oxygen transfer,
but will
> enhance it.
>
>
> > 4. When it's time to apply the tea, do we need to make any
adjustments in
> > gal per acre? We were trying to understand what adding water
actually
> > did -- I think Elaine would say "exit the notion of dilution"
because we
> > added space and oxygen for more microbes to grow, and helped keep
some
> > existing microbes from going inactive.
>
> What SFI has shown, and even more so in the WSARE grant we have
just
> finished, is that coverage on the leaf surface is what is
important. The little
> microscope unit is finished, and the handbook is about done (just a
few more
> pictures to take!). Looks like it will be about $400 US for the
entire kit. Then
> you can test EACH BATCH of tea that you make, with the occasional
checks with
> SFI to make sure you are keeping your search images up-to-date.
>
> So, when you make tea, if you would have made 5 ug of active fungi
per ml of
> tea, but you added water to the tea, and now have 4 ug of active
fungi per tea
> (you added 1 gal of aerated water into a 5 gal tea brew), you would
still add
> the same amount of water in the sprayer, since your active fungi is
above the
> minimum level of 2 ug.
>
> However, the number of microbes per > gallon is likely to be less
with this
> > added water, depending on how far into
> > the brew the additional water was added. Should we adjust gal
per acre
> > accordingly by simply subtracting the water added from the water
we would
> > normally use as the carrier for the application? (EXAMPLE: If we
were going
> > to apply 5 gal per acre, and had to add 195 gals of water to be
able to
> > spread it on an acre at the 5 gal/acre rate,
> >
>
> The tea itself is diluted, and you have to know what the active
bacterial and
> fungal biomass was, and how much that was dropped with the addition
of water.
> You can easily test that a couple times to know what the reduction
would be.
> Or you learn what amount of food you can add that will keep the
brew from
> going anaerobic when temperatures are hot.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Elaine




You thoughtfully forgot to mention where to send money(for Scope and
method).<grin>Dennis



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Received on Sat Feb 14 2004 - 01:11:56 EST

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