Re: [compost_tea] Re: Tea and powdery mildew

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:27:37 -0700

You may have something there. Document your findings with some controls an=
d let's take a look at it. I have been brewing a long time and came to the=
 free suspension method through testing. I tried bags, chambers and free s=
uspension and free suspension won every time using exactly -- or as exact a=
s possible -- the same compost, ingredients and air supply. There may be s=
omething I am missing but let's see some field tests on powdery mildew with=
 some controls. I have the tests and the results and am involved with 5 se=
parate vinyards now with a mixture of organic and conventionally grown grap=
es. In addition, each of these vinyards uses rose bushes as indicator plant=
s. If Titel is successfully eradicating mildew the CT, I am all for his me=
thod. I learned early that it is easy to overstate and assume with somethi=
ng as new a CT. There are obvious benefits when using it but there are dra=
wbacks also.

I am extremely careful abut touting benefits of CT in any situation. A goo=
d example is snail/slug control. Since nobody has given me anything other =
than anecdotal evidence, I stand firm that CT does not control snails/slugs=
. I tried a test with controls and it turned out that the snails liked the=
 tea better than not. Now maybe if some kind of plant extract is added to =
the tea that naturally repels snails, it may work but I tried a lot of diff=
erent methods over the summer with success only in attracting snails not re=
pelling them. Funny that the only response was that the tea was bad. The =
responders took the word of somebody who did no testing and had no controls=
 because it felt good to believe that it could work. I still have not seen=
 proof.

So, as I suspect, people will attack my tea again. It's a useless exercise =
without field tests. Tea tests are useless in this case because a tea may =
test high in bacteria and fungi and be biologically diverse but not do what=
 it is being used for in the field yet still be of benefit to the plants in=
 general.

I will state this again: In my experience, CT is not a pesticide nor a fung=
icide and it does not appear to repel molusks. It can and does revitalize =
soil and can prevent certain disease. CT can limit the growth of pathogens=
 and I have have published a report that shows, through tests, that it can =
works that way. It can revitalize turf and I have published reports, with =
tests, that shows it works. I have prevented mildew from spreading and hav=
e tests that prove that too. Other than the above, I am unable to make any=
 substantive claim. I wish it would do some things but I haven't found tho=
se things to be true to date.

Also, please explain to me the mechanics of how "contained" compost machine=
s better extract enything. Hmm?

Ted Peterson
EW/SOE









Received on Sat Oct 23 2004 - 02:32:37 EDT

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