[compost_tea] Snails day 2

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 10:27:25 -0700

Day 2

Morning. I looked in the cans and the snails have crawled all around the i=
nsides. When I use my flashlight, I can see the snail trails and no part o=
f any can seems immune from their travels. Almost all crawled up to the to=
p of the can but some have attached to leafy stuff. They are on both sides=
 of the barrier. The barrier only goes up a little overy 1/2 way in the ca=
n and then snails are all around the top of the can.

I got a bunch of snails this morning from my garden and I am trying a diffe=
rent experiment.

I will try putting them in an 8" tube 4' long. I will put them on one end =
after I dip the other end into my brewer. I will put the dipped in in to t=
he bottom (27" from the top of the water) then dip the greenery in the tea =
then put the greenery at the dipped end. I will put a screen over the end =
where I put the snails and a screen over the end where the greenery they li=
ke to eat resides.

Strawberries:

Part of my yard has some ground cover that the snails don't like to eat but=
 if I pull it back there are lots of snails. This stuff has grown around t=
wo strawberry plants. I pulled this back to look for snail damage on the s=
trawberries and there was none. Around the base of the strawberry plants w=
ere sleeping snails but none were attached to the plants. I picked them up=
 for the tube test. I looked carefully for any signs of snail damage but c=
ouldn't find any. In the lily plant area which is by a small pond, I have =
lots of snail damage and sleeping snails attached to the underside of the l=
eaves. I used some of these plants in the trash can test and will put them=
 in the tube after I dip them in tea.

Bob said he soil soaked his neighbors plants. He did not indicate that the=
y foliar applied. I have put lots of tea into the area where the lillies t=
hat the snails love grow. The area is basically a dumping ground for my br=
ewers. The ground is a sand mix called, in the soil id book, Los Osos, typ=
e II which is extremely hydrophobic. Most people put tons of amendments in=
to the soil. I have used very little but don't know what had been added in=
 the past. When we bought the house, the whole place was dead weeds. The =
front is growing just from the humus that comes with plants and tea. I hav=
e the whole area on a drip/mist system and water it about 10 minutes every =
two to three days when it is hot. Tea has changed the soil so much that wa=
ter doesn not pool on the surface as normal. The percolation rate in the s=
oil is now quite high. A water penetration test where I use an 8" cylinder=
 and pound it 1" into the soil then add 440mml of water shows a penetration=
 of 45-60 seconds. This is opposed to 10 - 15 minutes for the regular sand=
/soil mix that is typical of the area.

This is California Coastal area (right by the beach) at the end of Morro Ba=
y. It is cooler most of the time and sea air provides extra moisture. We =
are known as the fog capital of the state. It is rare when we don't have f=
og here.

To sum it up: No significant change with or without tea.

This is the report for the day.

Ted Peterson
EW/SOE

  



Received on Fri May 14 2004 - 14:22:32 EDT

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