[compost_tea] Re: Def'n of good tea WAS: Hi Dr. E / nice thing to do!!! :< ))))

From: dkemnitz2000 <dkemnitz2000_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 21:52:05 -0000
> >
> > Let's go through definitions of good tea -
> >
> > When the tea has no biology to speak of (maybe just a few
bacteria
> per field of view), that's BAD tea.  Really, it's not tea.  Guess
> which tea brewer often gives you that result?
> >  
> > If you see:
> > - 25 to 500 bacteria per field of view at 100 total
magnification,


<>>>Dr. Ingham, Did you mean 1000 total magnification instead of 100?
Dennis





> > - no fungi even in 10 to 20 fields of view,
> > - no protozoa,
> > - no nematodes,
> > that's POOR tea.  At least you have a decent amount of bacteria,
> but that's it.  It's poor tea, because you only have bacteria, and
> they are probably anaerobic, or the fungi, protozoa and nematodes
> would be there.  Guess which tea brewer usually gives this kind of
> result?  And you can check this for yourself with the little
> microscope. 
> >
> > If you see:
> > - over 500 bacteria per field of view,
> > - at least one strand of fungus in 10 to 20 fields,
> > - a couple flagellates and/or amoebae, or a FEW ciliates
> (flagellates, amoebae and ciliates are all kinds of protozoa),
> > - maybe a nematode or more om 10 to 20 fields of view
> > then you have ADEQUATE tea.  This often happens when you add too
> much food for the aeration level you have.  Or the water was too
> cold, still had chlorine residue in it, had some toxic something in
> your recipe, the tea machine wasn't cleaned properly.  If you have
> only adequate tea, you need to be careful with the amount of tea
you
> spray out - you may want to double or triple the dose.  Make it 15
> gal per acre for a foliar, not just 5 gal per ac. 
> >
> > If you see:
> > - lots of bacteria per field (more than 500),
> > - a fungal strand in the first 5 fields you look at,
> > - all of the groups of protozoa in that first 5 fields
> > - maybe some nematodes in those 5 fields,
> > you have VERY GOOD tea.  Use the 5 gal per ac amount for foliar
> sprays. 
> >
> > If you see:
> > - huge numbers, thousands, of bacteria in EVERY field,
> > - a fungal strand in each field of view,
> > - many flagellates and/or amoebae in EVERY field,
> > - a nematode or two in the sample,
> > then do a dance!  This is EXCELLENT tea.  This can be applied at
> less than 5 gal per ac.  This tea can be "diluted".
> >
> > Guess which tea machines give us these kinds of results?  KIS,
> Nature Tech, EPM, Bob-O-Laters, WormGold, Charlie Clark, Alaska
> Bounty, and many home-made brewers.  In Australia, many folks have
> good machines, but you need to ask the Australia lab for that
info. 
> >
> > So, every one selling tea should get a little microscope, get
> trained to identify the critters, and take pictures of each tea
brew,
> to be able to document what is in the tea brew.  You still need to
> confirm activity and quantify biomass, so twice a year, have a tea
> checked by SFI to let you know you are getting the levels of active
> organisms that you need. 
> >
> > Those of you buying tea, you should ASK the seller for this kind
of
> information.  Where is their proof that they are selling good
stuff? 
> >
> > Doing the little microscope approach takes about 30 seconds to
put
> the sample on the slide and observe it.  It can be done EVERY
batch. 
> You can even take a sample at say, 15 hours, and figure out if you
> need to do something to improve the tea, so it is EXCELLENT tea by
> the time you get to 24 hours.
> >
> > Any questions?  Come take a class......
> >
> > Elaine Ingham
> > President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
> > SFI Corvallis, OR
> > SFI Port Jefferson, NY
> > SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
> > SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
> > SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
> > SFI Culiacan, Mexico
> > SFI Jerome, Idaho
> > http://www.soilfoodweb.com


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Received on Fri Jun 11 2004 - 19:39:12 EDT

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