[compost_tea] Additives, A step back: Some advice from experience

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 12:27:39 -0700

When I first started with CT it was exciting. (It still is.) Being a creat=
ive person, I thought of all kinds of things I could put in my tea and ways=
 to make the brew better. I did a lot of experimenting and even more inves=
tigating. In a moment which I can only describe as "Coming to the place you=
 started but recognizing it for the first time", I got back to asking mysel=
f one simple question: "What am I doing when I brew tea?" My answer was: "=
Growing bacteria and fungi and nematodes and other critters found in my com=
post."

I have come to realize that growing bacteria and fungi can be mutually excl=
usive events in some ways. This is because of the rapid bacterial growth a=
nd slow fungal growth. There are a lot of other factors too but I develope=
d the idea that I was growing bacteria and extracting fungi. This is espec=
ially true when brewing times are low. Higher order animals are a different=
 story and take a long time to grow so I developed a technique where I brew=
ed separately and mixed before application. But more on this later.

I came to see additives as just that: additives to the tea. I have tried t=
hem both and other things with mixed results. So before I used an additive =
like yucca or aloe vera I had to ask myself some basic questions:

1. What does the additive do to the bacterial/fungal life in my compost?
2. If it increases biomass in my tea, why can't I just make a dilution of t=
he stuff and apply it directly to the biology in my soil?
3. Is the biology my additive feeding going to be something that actually w=
orks in the soil where I use it?
4. If the additive repels certain kinds of bugs or fungi or bacteria, is it=
 actually making a friendly environment for the biology that is immune to t=
he constituents of the additive on plants that would not normally be attack=
ed by that biology?
5. Does the use of the additive offer a better result when I do soil analys=
is and plant assay?
6. Does the use of the additive change my product from CT which is a brew o=
f the biology in my compost into something more like a brew of a plant extr=
act?
7. Was the whole mess cost effective?

I have come to see CT as a very powerful tool in soil restoration. It is p=
owerful and effective but it is slow. My turf expermints give a time line o=
f about three years to restore soil to a point where it is significantly di=
fferent and self-sustainable over a large area. Smaller areas may react fa=
ster but I think with proper care, a lawn can be completely free of any fer=
tilizer input in just about three years. There are ways to shorten this but=
 they are very expensive and may involve a lot of soil replacement.

It is a preventative in many cases but to date not proven as a curative as =
one would view a pesticide. It can increase agricultural quality but not n=
ecessarily quantity. (A caveat here: In test on one vinyard, the quantity o=
f the harvest was larger but every vinyard had a larger harvest. I never d=
id a quantative analysis to determine if the vines sprayed with CT were sig=
nificantly more productive than those that received no tea. I did a brix a=
nalysis and the vines treated with tea showed significantly higher brix.)

My feeling is that the simpler one keeps the process the more success one w=
ill have. If recipies such as the ones given in the Compost Tea Manual or =
found on my web site www.earth-wise.com or from other reliable sources are =
used, beginners and experienced users can brew consistently good tea with h=
igh bacterial numbers. Fungal extraction and diversity are reflective of th=
e compost they use. Beyond that, I don't think there is definitive data th=
at shows that additives, however attractive they may look, significantly ad=
d to the end result of the tea. In other words, more may not be better in =
this case.

So, I would start simply and if I added anything test the plants where the =
stuff is used to make sure it is working or in the worst case scenario, doi=
ng nothing. Keep going back to the basic questions: "What am I brewing in =
my brewer? What do I want to get out of my tea? Get a good understanding o=
f the Soil Food Web and how biology interacts with plants. Always remember=
 that we are victims of our education. We are tought and live in a culture=
 that has a specific mindset and it is hard to overcome that thinking and w=
ork with something new. When thinking about tea, soil reports and plant as=
says, it is always important to remember that these reports are designed to=
 show chemical levels consistent with a conventional knowledge of the manuf=
acturers recommendations.

Have fun.

Ted Peterson
EW/SOE







Received on Mon Oct 11 2004 - 16:01:36 EDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:31 EST