Re: [compost_tea] Re: chelating minerals with ACT

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 13:25:03 EDT

Hi Hank -

I don't see the need to "brew" for weeks and weeks to get the rock powders
incorporated in to the biology. And I prefer biology that isn't going to
potentially be a detriment to the plants.

Note the potential word there. I think there's some interesting things going
on with EM bacteria that needs further understanding. And I will be working
on this project next Feb in South Africa, so information should be
forthcoming.

The lactic acid bacteria, and proprionic bacteria, both of which grow better
a reduced oxygen concentrations, and appear to be VERY competitive with human
pathogens, are major componenets of EM. There are some yeasts in there which
function in a similar fashion to the bactera. Could we put them in our
compost teas, and then even if the oxygen dropped a bit, the human pathogens would
still not be a problem?

Intriguing, yes?

You asked:
with bentonite (a montmorillonite clay, which BTW has disease
suppression properties of its own) to my teas and the clay blends very
well into the tea, unlike the results of mixing calcium carbonate with
water which tends to clump. I also apply the bentonite as a skin to my
compost piles, a biodynamic practice. Or should we be innoculating our
compost with dolomite and let the critters digest the minerals first for
use later in the compost tea?

Any clay adsorbs water, and available nutrients to a limited extent. That
means, the clay reduces the availability of water and nutrients to the organisms
in the compost, or in tea. Those are the most likely ways that the clay
influences the growth of the biology.

But it is non-selective. Good guys and bad guys are affected. Sure would
like to know if the bad guys are more affected than the good guys - and what the
dose response actually is there. One part clay selects against bad guys,
while two parts will take out both good and bad? Sure would love to have that
kind of knowledge.

But we don't, as far as I can tell.

But I was in the library checking out literature, and there are now three new
pubs on actively aerated compost tea having good to excellent beneficial
effects in reducing foliar and root disease. I'll try to post the references,
when I get to the e-mails I sent from the library.

Oh, a last note - DON'T use dolomite!!!!!!

There is more magnesium than calcium in hte material, and the point of using
these calcium-containing materials is to improve the ratio of calcium to
magnesium. Can't do it, if the material you are putting on has more magnesium than
calcium......

Use lime, eggshells, ground oyster shell, ground fish bones, calcium
nitrate... there are other sources, just not pulling them into active brain space, but
I think you get the idea. Avoid gypsum, unless you need the sulfur. And
then make sure to add the biology back - the sulfur in gypsum seems to
negatively impact the fungi.


Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institue Cambridge, New Zealand
Soil Foodweb Inc., Hilversum, The Netherlands
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho




Received on Mon Jun 14 2004 - 15:21:14 EDT

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