Well, this is a tough one because it depends on what you are composting and=
what materials you are composting. It is generally thought that presence =
of worms in soil is a sure sign of health. However, for California Coastal=
native plants, the presence of worms is undesirable. The sandy soil they =
thrive in doesn't support a biology that is beneficial for worms.
I know the general thinking is that vermicompost and the digestive action o=
f the worms gives a higher bacterial count. However, worms have specific d=
igestive systems and composting worms, like the Red Tiger, are different fr=
om earthworms. Also, what goes into a worm bin can determine what the verm=
icompost is made of but doesn't necessarily mean that the vermicompost will=
magically be embued with diverse bacteria in your local area.
Testing I have done using vermicompost as part of a tea brew show no signif=
icant differences in tea quality and effectiveness on plants. I have my be=
st results, as viewed through soil analysis and plant assay, when I use a h=
ighly-diverse, locally based compost as the basis of my tea. When I go to a=
new area, I try to get as much diversity as possible from that area and ad=
d it to any "starter" compost I may use from my location. When I do that, =
I get the best results and these are verified by testing.
Ted Peterson
EW/SOE
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Jaszewski
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 11:11 AM
Subject: RE: [compost_tea] Re: Asian Rust
-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Peterson [mailto:ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 10:52 AM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Re: Asian Rust
If you make high-quality compost, you can get more diversity than you wou=
ld from vermicompost.
[Tom Jaszewski] Opinion here or testing?
·
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Received on Tue Nov 23 2004 - 15:16:45 EST