Re: [compost_tea]ACT that DID do well.

From: John Francis <mrkringles_at_msn.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 13:08:30 -0000
Maybe it looks better because you stopped using it for a parking lot?

John

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, CHARLES BARKER <chuckiebtoo@y...>
wrote:
> In 2001, my yard was a mess...poor soil, grass, shrubs....all
vegetation.  I had just bought the house from an owner who had leased
it for several years to some people whose idea of lawn maintenance
was parking on it.  Vermicomposting led me to this site and ACT.  My
yard is now more than competitive with all the neighbors who
constantly approach me with thanks for removing the eyesore of the
neighborhood.  They then want to know what fertilizers and
weedkillers I use.  I love telling them only worms and compost.  This
usually leads to an invitation to a backyard barbecue at their
house...which leads to, well, you know.

> Chuckiebtoo
>
> John Francis <mrkringles_at_m...> wrote:
> Bob,
>
> My lawn was the same way for the past two years...patchy,
unhealthy,
> sparse grass that looked poor.  This year it is lush and requires
> that I cut it twice a week just to keep up!  But I didn't apply
ACT,
> I applied nothing. It was just the Spring rains and temperatures
that
> brought it back to life this year.  I'm thinking maybe your garden
> responded to the same?  I'm not convinced that ACT did all you
claim.
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, Robert Norsen <bnbrew@y...>
wrote:
> > It is certainly much easier to measure the microbes than to
> evaluate what the ACT is doing to the plants.   It takes time to
> measure a response in plants.  Like Elaine was saying it took years
> of testing, with application and observation to determine what is
> good and what is not good enough TEA.
> > 
> > My yard and garden is one where the garden had to be blended with
> the landscape. ( Her request)  So we have Rhodies, strrawberries,
> roses, blueberries, grass, fruit trees, Oxalis, raspberries, our
worm
> bin, apples tree, iris, plumb trees big cedars, all growing in what
> is  - well we like it.  At the start 23 years ago we added some
> putrid grass clippings to the basic heavy clay soil. Dug some in (
> this was way before I was aware of the Soil Food Web. The empty lot
> had been the local clippings & yard waste dump for years,)   We got
> fair results.   When Giovani  started his compost work we added 2 "
> of compost to some areas.  And we applied ACT a couple times in
2000.
> > Also applied ACT once in 2001 and 2002   Year 2003 I made a lot
of
> ACT to test the CACT cycle. Applied much of it on my own yard
> & "gardens".starting in mid summer.  Didn't get much in the way of
> results.  Fruit crops were poor.  Strawberries had blosoms and
> started to bear but the berries were small.. Blueberries f rom 12
> large plants fed the robins plus one breakfast treat.  Fruit trees
> had a small crop that tasted good. I wondered if my ACT was
> effective.  It tested OK at SFI
> > 
> > This year is different.  Heavy fruit load,  berries are bigger,
but
> not ready yet. Plants look better.  It is still too early to know
how
> the summer will go.  Conclusion to date - it takes a season to
change
> what this type of plants do.  This year we are testing the mobile
> BobO500 so the yard is getting good applications of ACT.
> > 
> > In my neighbors raspberry area where the vines were all about
alike
> when I sprayed in 2002 & 2003 I sprayed the North 2 rows and the
> South two rows.  Left the middle 6 rows with just the level organic
> fertilizer that was applied evenly entire 'patch' in 2002. In 2004
> the North 2 rows are 6 times the size and productivity of the
middle
> rows.  Weeds did well in all areas.  The south 2 rows are 4 times
the
> size and productivity.  I will show pictures later.. 
> > 
> > The problem in my own raspberry "patch" is the plants grow so
lush
> I have to cut them back hard to find my way thru to pick.  Need to
> leave more open space between initial planting.  Plums, peaches,
> apples are heavy.  Blueberries - I defy the robins to fly away
with 
> enough to make a difference.    .
> > 
> > It took a season with several heavy applicatons  to see results
at
> my house, but it changed !   Bob      
> >
> > soilfoodweb_at_a... wrote:
> > Hi Eric -
> >
> > When we first started testing "aerated compost tea", which in
fact
> wasn't aerobic (there's a difference betwee aeration and being
> aerobic), we killed a number of tomato plants. Symptoms were
browning
> of leaves, leaf curl, deformed leaves.
> >
> > We didn't always out-and-out kill the plants. Sometimes insects
> pests were attracted to the plants that had been harmed by the
> anaerobic teas, and the pests were what delivered the coup de
grace.
> >
> > and of course, there are the plants that did not receive adequate
> compost tea ORGANISMS to protect the leaf surfaces, and the plants
> succumbed to the disease we had applied.
> >
> > I would like very much to hear from folks that tea did not work
> for. I've always said that.
> >
> > We then try to figure out what went "wrong", so the problem is
> assessed and prevented from happening the next time.
> >
> > Please share, folks! We need to know about when things don't
work,
> although I sure ALSO want to hear about when things do work!
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>    To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/compost_tea/
>  
>    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> compost_tea-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com
>  
>    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>
>            
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Friends.  Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
click here


Yahoo! Groups Links

Received on Mon Jun 14 2004 - 10:45:14 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:22 EST