RE: [compost_tea] same recipe - compost free in water

From: Mike Bosko <mjbosko_at_jmtsystems.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 11:52:24 -0800

Dr E says:
 Using a pump means it must be checked to see what the pump does to the
organisms. Some pumps don't harm the organisms, some pumps are just
terrible in what they do to critters. How do you know? The only way is to
test the tea that you are spraying out, after it has gone through all
equipment, etc. If organism biomass is great, then you are in-like-Mike.
If organism biomass is low, then you have to play detective and figure out
WHERE you are losing your critters.
 
MikeB is curious:
Has anyone on this group done any testing of a tractor PTO impeller type
pump. I'm currently using one to spray some of my test brews - basically
building my own sprayer system. But that impeller's really turning fast,
and I'm concerned that its hammering up the little guys pretty well. If
someone has already done some testing on this, I'd be interested in hearing
what you found. I know you probably paid for your testing - but I hope to
share my future tests once I get to that point too. Share the wealth?
 
I haven't gotten my brews to a point of 'ready to test' yet. I'm starting
verrry slow - basically starting with an aerated leachate - no food source
-- then added some fish/kelp (small miniscule amounts) -- then added some
sugar source (again, miniscule). Continually adding more. I'm using the
bottle test for now.
 
Actually, I'm curious what input I might get from some of you on my testing
theory. I'm very comfortable with my own compost - I have a system that I
really like and it comes out looking and smelling great (a test in the
future would be very interesting!). I don't have lots of cash to spend on
each brew's test - so what I'm considering is starting very slow (as
mentioned above). After each brew, I fill the bottle for 24hrs and smell.
So far so good (kinda -grin). I figure that i'll keep incrementing until I
get a bad smelling brew. Then I figure I'll know to back off on the food
source. Once I get to that point, I plan to send a sample of my compost
batch and compost tea in for testing. Until then, I think I'd be wasting a
lot of my money. thoughts?
 
Of course, by then, I suppose hot temps will set in and all will change
again (ugh).
 
Back to my 'kinda' comment on my bottle tests. I have some questions on,
"If it smells bad" ... hmm, being human, we all have a unique sense of what
we consider smelling bad and smelling good. So far, my bottle tests have
been smelling like, well, dirty water - no puky smells - but then, they are
basically leachates now too.
 
BUT, until I added fish powder. The bottle sat for 24hrs, in a window sill=
,
as have my other 'tests' - and when I opened it, it stunk like, well, smell=
y
fish -- but then, shouldn't it? I did put in smelly fish powder after
all... and it did sit in the window... grin. The plastic bottle always
retained its shape - never puffing, never imploding. But stunk, it did.
Nothing to make me gag, but I did smell some foul fish. The brew smelled
earthy too on up until I filled the bottle.
 
Just curious, exactly what is a "bad" smell?
 
Also, as I mentioned, I let the bottle sit for 24 hours. So in the mean
time, my brewer was continuing to brew - thus making it a 48 hour brew. I
removed all compost sources and just had the air source going - but still,
after 48 hours, my brew started to take on a stinky fishy smell too. Does
this mean my tea went bad - even tho it was kept aerated? I know... test
will tell for sure, but... If so, what do we do with our brews when we're
doing our bottle tests (or, while a sample is sent to the lab?). Do you
just consider a test brew ( a brew where a sample will be sent to the lab,
or placed in a bottle ) a sacrificed brew?
 
Just some curiosities...
 
Mike




Received on Wed Mar 17 2004 - 15:37:18 EST

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