Re: [compost_tea] Another Newbie with the same question

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 01:46:03 EDT

Ted is right - I tend to want to KNOW what's going on, so I get into the
technical side of why the organisms grow, what gives certain results, etc.

Bacteria grow more rapidly, and they out-compete every other organisms when
simle sugars, like molasses, simple proteins, like milk proteins, are added to
tea. Bacteria grow rapidly (faster as teperature rises) and use up oxygen
rapidly, driving a compsot tea anaerobic, usually resulting in the wrong kind of
bacteria to help plants grow being present in the brew.

Fungi use the more complex foods, so if you want to put back into soil the
organisms that have been killed by too much tillage, too much pesticide use, too
much inorganic fertilizer use, too much compaction, etc, you need to
encourage fungi. So add fish hydrolysate, humic acids (water-extracted please),
oatmeal, or other complex proteins.

Most people don't need to know deep knowledge of why teas work, but isn't it
nice that when you do want to know, there's someone who probably can explain
things to you.

So, sharing your results as you develop your brewing experience would be
great! We can all benefit by knowing more.

Elaine





Received on Thu Sep 16 2004 - 05:14:45 EDT

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