[compost_tea] Re: Pre treatment of compost to activate bacT

From: longbranchranch <longbranchranch_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:29:23 -0000
--Ted is there a site for the Hi-Blo pump you mentioned.
Jimmy Muse


- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Ted Peterson" <ted.peterson@t...>
wrote:
>   From: dkemnitz2000
>   To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 3:28 PM
>   Subject: [compost_tea] Pre treatment of compost to activate bacT
>
>
>   Anyone doing this?  Seems like a little tweeking of the compost and
>   amt. added could shorten the brew time to maybe 6 or 8 hours.
>
> You're writing about high-quality compost.  This type of compost is
necessary for diversity.  However, even store-bought compost has
sleeping bac and possibly fun spores (hyphae parts that can grow) and
possibly some protozoa.  The problem with the store-bought stuff is
lack of diversity and you may be getting bac/fun that have nothing to
do with your area. 
>
> Before I get roasted here, let me say that I understand that certain
bacteria operate pretty well universally but it seems to me that the
strains change for local areas.  Bacillus Licheniformis is one such
and there are a lot of strains of those. 
>
> My methods are now to gather as much diversity from my local area
into my compost pile.  If I am composting Eucalyptus, I get Euc stuff
from all over the county.  The same with other compost types.  I try
to mix as much local stuff as I can even if I start with store-bought
stuff for a client. 
>
> Be careful about short brew times.  I think that brewing times can
be adjusted but depend, in part, on what you want to do with the tea.
If you brew for that short of a time, you will get bac doubling
(every 10-20 min) and if your compost is diverse, you will get the
diversity.  If you try to add more food, you create potential osmotic
problems.  I have found that adding food incrementally and cycling my
air give the best bio activity I can see with my scope.  If I just
want bac for a foliar, short brewing times are better but if I want
the full spectrum of life including protozoa, I have to brew longer.
>
> I have been doing some research into bacteria strains and
localization but don't have anything definite yet.  I am seeing some
trending but I haven't found the Rosetta Stone of work that has
compared different soil bacteria from different climates for different
strains. 
>
> For those interested, I am putting up my web site soon and it will
have a bunch of pictures of my activities and maybe even one of my son
taking samples.  Look for www.earth-wise.com. I had it up before but
my ecommerce provider kept throwing people out when they would try to
log in so I dumped the provider and have finally gotten around the the
site. 
>
> I have found new pumps.  I was using Alita but I am now using
Hi-Blo.  They are much better in my estimation and substantially less
expensive.  They sell a model GP40 -- made for OEM manufacturing --
that has two outlets so you can configure it in a number of different
ways.  They are about 25% the cost of Alita and are really sturdy.
They are not as quiet so you have to build an enclosure and I found
that plastic electrical juncion boxes work great.  You can drill them
any way you want and when you add rubber feet, make great enclosures
for about $20. 
>
> Ted Peterson
> Earth-Wise/Spirit of the Earth


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
click here


Yahoo! Groups Links

Received on Thu Apr 15 2004 - 09:50:48 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:12 EST