> > Regarding the backyard scale, aquarium bubbler compost brewer, >> what is the current research regarding how that compost tea compares >> to commercially brewed tea? >> We have heard that commercial brewers must take care to sterilize the >> walls and surfaces between batches. Why is that? Why do the surfaces >> serve as inoculation sites for "bad" organisms? What are the problems >> with surface-dwelling organisms? >> ========================== >> Dave Robison > >Hi Dave - > >There's a new brewer coming out, a 5 gallon one, that has as good >extraction of bacteria and fungi as the Microb-brewer, the Earth Tea >brewer, the Compara Xtraktor, and the Sotillo brewer, at least in the few >tests. The simple auqarium bubbler doesn't have enough agitation to >match the extraction of these machines. Bucket bubblers need to brewer >48 hours and generally needs to be applied at 20 to 30 gallons to the >acre, instead of 5 gallons in order to get disease protection. For house >plants, no problem, just drench the leaves top and bottom and you're at >more than that level. But for orchards, you'd have to brew so many 5 >gallon batches, you can't deal with it. So, get a larger machine. > >You don't have to sterilize the surfaces between batches, just clean them >well. When you get a thick layer of bio-film on the surface, the bottom >layers use up all their oxygen and oxygen can't diffuse through the >thicker upper layers of the film, so you get anaerobic products made. >The alcohol produced can be very toxic to many organisms, and some of the >other organic acids are quite toxic as well. As the film gets thicker, >more toxins are produced and the smell starts to occur. The aerobes are >killed and the human pathogens and fungal pathogens can be happy as >larks. So, you lose most of the benefit of the tea, plant toxic >compounds are made and the "bad" organisms are being selected and grown. > >If a bio-film develops, as long as the tea maker is capable of supplying >aeration fast enough to keep the surface layers of the bio-film aerobic, >then the microbes in the tea stay happy. But if the aeration isn't equal >to the task, the organisms use up the oxygen ever more quickly, and then, >you kill the beneficiasl in the tea. > >All you have to do is wash the bio-film off, so a brush may be needed if >you have long pipes. A hig-pressure hose may be needed for the inside of >the tank. So, not a problem, if the tea maker has given enough thought >to how easy it is to clean the machine. > >Hope this lays your worries to rest! > >Elaine Ingham
