piccarla:
Here is my experience based on a city park. When we started the project in=
the park there was dense, compacted soil will low penetration rates and no=
signs of worm or even insects. The park had been maintained with organic =
and chemical fertilizers for over seven years and was in pretty bad shape. =
This was one of the reasons we got the contract.
I brewed and applied all the tea and had the park people restrict watering =
to my schedule and stop all feeding and regular fertilizer maintenance. An=
injector system was built into the park irrigation system and the tea was =
administered through the irrigation and distibuted to the turf through the =
sprinkler heads.
Park health improved overall. We applied once a week for the first two mon=
ths (8-applications) then didn't apply any for the next month then once per=
month after that. When I cam back and took soil samples before new applic=
ations (3rd month) I found worm activity in places where there had been non=
e before. The plant roots were deeper and fuller and the soil more porous.=
All in all, it appeared that the tea worked to reestablish the soil food =
web and allow worms to either move back into the soil or worm eggs that had=
been laid at sometime in the past hatched and the worms repopulated the ar=
ea. I'm not a worm expert so I don't really know how the whole operation w=
orks other than those composting worms (Red Tigers) which I do raise in bin=
s. I think earthworms are somewhat similar but will have to find out to be=
sure.
Now for the short answer: It worked when I did it. The above gives the pa=
rameters I used. Maybe others have methodologies that are similar or diffe=
rent. However, you are going to have to establish a program where you use =
tea to restablish the bacterial base then keep adding as the soil food web =
becomes established and higher order bacteria and protozoa start getting in=
volved until finally earthworms.
You may want to consider adding micorrhiza if you are trying to restablish =
turf. Micorrhiza need roots to vector to after they sprout. So they don't=
work in bare soil BEFORE planting and seed germination. Do not brew them =
in your tea! If you use them, you need to aerate the soil then apply the m=
icorrhiza or apply micorrhiza when you seed. Do this after you have treate=
d the soil with tea a few times. There is a bunch of information about the=
se benifical fungi and you can buy them from numerous sources. Contact me =
if you are interested in some sources. Someone on the list published an art=
icle showing how you could grow your own. If you are getting soil ready fo=
r vegetables or row planting, micorrhiza may be helpful but check with the =
crop you are planting. Tea help all crops and in my experience helps reest=
ablish worms in worm depleted soil.
Ted Peterson
EW/SOE
,----- Original Message -----
From: piccarla
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 11:36 PM
Subject: [compost_tea] (unknown)
I am new to using compost tea and am brewing my first batch. If I
make an application to soil that is so poor that no worms are in the
soil, will the application of compost tea attract them or do I need
to put wormsinto the soil?? thanks!
piccarla
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Received on Mon May 03 2004 - 15:06:38 EDT