Re: [compost_tea] Re: Sticky Gooey .

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 14:25:23 -0800

    

  TED:

  I
  disagree with the idea that tea is necessary OR sufficient to extend
  the watering interval

  ROOTS, MICROBIOLOGY, WORMS, BEETLES AND LARVAE:

  We make lots of space in the soil. It fills up with water like a
  reservoir and you get less run off and evaporation. This is why you
  don't have to water as frequently.



I don't know who wrote the above but wow, I must have been living in the da=
rk ages. I guess I will just take all the advice I get on this list and fo=
rget about any other experiment. I thought I mentioned that the tea rebuil=
ds the soil biology and as a result the roots extend in depth and mass. Is=
 there something I am intrinsically missing in these posts? I submitted a =
whole report on this stuff I have gotten other contracts based on that work=
. I have whole communities changing how they manage turf based on work I h=
ave done and it is all backed up by tests. It's good to know that I don't =
know what I am doing. There was a time when I didn't know but I learned th=
rough experimentation and testing. Gee, what a waste of time. I should hav=
e stayed ignorant.

So now on this list I have learned:

My tea is bad.
My brewer designs do not work.
My testing is suspect.
Compost tea actually repels snails and slugs and it is only my "bad" practi=
ces that keep me from seeing these wonderful results.
Compost tea is actually a pesticide.
I need a bunch of additives to make the tea work.
The concept is sooooo difficult to understand that hundreds of dollars in t=
esting must take place before tea can be used.
Tea promotes pathogen growth.
Slime allows soil to hold water more efficiently.
And a host of other worthwhile, but untested, information.

What an education.

There used to be a poster named Hi-Yield who railed at some of the statemen=
t made on this list. Who ever Hi-Yield was, the writing style was extremel=
y acerbic so while the posts had some merit, the style was one that made ad=
 homenim argument the point of the post. Having now been on and off and ba=
ck on this list, I have to admit that I have come to have more regard for t=
he posts of Hi-Yield.

We will all make mistakes. That is the nature of something like CT because =
there are so many variables. It's easy to get caught up in a moment and at=
tribute CT to things that it is totally incapable of doing. What is tea? I=
t is a way to increase and transfer the benefits of compost in a different =
form. It has shown some disease preventative properties when applied in cer=
tain situations. Folks, that is it.

We shouldn't be agreeing or disagreeing here. If someone has a result, we =
should ask for testing. If no testing exist, we should ask for the paramet=
ers of the experiment so we can see if we can replicate it. If we can't we=
 should report that. Issuing an opinion does nothing but waste everyone's =
time.

Opinion is not knowledge. Opinion is not intelligence although many people=
 think that if they have an opinion it somehow makes them knowledgeable abo=
ut something and subsequently intelligent.

Ted Peterson
EW/SOE






Received on Tue Nov 09 2004 - 18:10:01 EST

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