Dear Lloyd and fellow list members, I have been following the discussion on the pro's and cons of compost tea manufacturing what sort of pump to use to circulate the water, or whether air is better than recirculation. I don't see that anyone has advocated the economic benefits of anaerobic teas as developed by Weltzein and others in the 1980's. Anaerobic teas can be very effective in the control of fungus and bacteria, however all compost teas depend on the amount and type of compost used. The type of compost used is determined by what you are trying to do with it. The main thrust of research into the use of compost teas developed in the mid 1980's by the German Biodynamic researcher Heinrich Weltzein. Weltzein produced the first documented research paper in 1989 on the use of compost teas for the control of pathogens and fungi on plants. Weltzein's research showed that horse manure compost extract was effective in the control of Late Blight (Phytophora infestans) in Potatoes and Tomatoes, and that a compost tea derived from cow manure and straw was effective in the control of Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea)on beans and strawberries. This followed his initial work published in 1989 on the use of animal manure/ straw based compost for the control of Powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) and Downy mildew (Plasmocara viticola) on cucumbers and grapes. The Japanese researchers Hideachi Kai et al . published a paper in 1990 on the use of Bark Compost Extract for microbial control. The emphasis in this research was on control of Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum). In 1994 this earlier work was confirmed by the Israeli researchers Elad and Shtienberg who published a paper on the use of combined chicken and cattle manure compost extract for the control of Botrytis on tomatoes and peppers.This work has also been followed up by Cronin and Andrews (1996) which showed that a tea made from spent mushroom compost extract was effective in control of Apple Scab (Ventura conidia). All of these researchers advocated the use of anaerobic compost teas.
Compost tea is not the panacea for the control of all ills of farming . It is a useful tool, but like all tools it does specific jobs.To start out and try to prove that BD compost makes the best teas misses the whole point of the use of compost teas. The complexity which is being brought into this discussion would deter most people from even attempting to make compost teas. Chinese market gardeners have long realised the advantage of having a drum with manure in it and watering it around their plants. The best indicator of what is happening to your compost teas is your nose, or just put your hands in it for a while, it will soon tell you what stage it is up to. Even if your tea does lose all of it's microbial life, their energy is still in the water and provides the energetic food for the microbes which are already in the soil. Just try homoeopathically potentising some of your high grade compost teas to 6c and add it to your microbial culture and see what happens. Highly industrialised, technological farming moves us away from a real understanding of the processes of nature with which we work. We become beguiled by the intricacies of our technology that we dream up more complex ways of doing a simple job. A bank of 44 gallon drums full of compost teas brewing and stirred for 5 minutes once a day can keep you so busy harvesting produce and spraying out your compost teas. I could keep going on for hours about the benefits of anaerobic compost teas. Whichever path you choose to follow, aerobic or anaerobic, in the quest to build up the microbial activity in the soil just get out there and use them and then we can get into a real discussion on the teas based on their use, not on their manufacture. For those with a field broadcaster try broadcasting out the teas and see the difference. Kind best wishes James ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lloyd Charles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2002 12:39 PM Subject: Re: vortex pump > > ----- Original Message From: Allan Balliett > > > Why so much tea, Lloyd? > > > > Elaine is recommending 5 gallons of good tea to the acre and says > > that tea has less than a 24 hours container life. > > > > I want to thank both you and Frank for reminding me that simple > > pumped air is impractical for working with large volumes of liquid. > > > > -Allan > > Hi Allan > 1. Mine is not compost tea (by Elaine's definition - or > mine) - Elaine's style of brewing is pretty dramatic - the whole thing is > over in a couple of days - a wild rush of microbial growth - followed by a > spectacular crash - fantastic but difficult to manage - the one day shelf > life makes things interesting too - I am not well enough organised to do > this on 1000 acres of wheat and barley and anyway we dont have much of a > disease problem. > 2. I am aiming more for a nutritional effect - we do a slow > brew that takes 7 to 10 days and my critter numbers probably would not be > worthwhile counting - but with a little careful feeding we can keep a tank > going for a couple of weeks if needed - it makes a nice base for our foliar > sprays and we can usually get a couple or maybe three to four points lift in > brix using this system - even for a week or two after the brew has cooled > out it is still worth using ( if the smell changes or the pH drops at all we > would throw it out). > 3. This stuff would go out at about 1or 2 quart /acre (2 to > 4L/ha) as part of a mix that probably has some chemical fertiliser, maybe a > little calcium nitrate or some food grade phosphate - (for the certified > there are organic substitutes just costs twice as much) probably have some > straight seaweed and/or kelp too - pendulum and refractometer tells me what > to do. > 4. Our feedstock consists of anything good that you can > think of and find to put in there. We manage to brew 1 litre of fodder > (liquid fish, kelp, humate) into 20 litres of brew that seems to have at > least equal value energetically and nutritionally. I have and use, Elaine's > course notes and the compost tea manual as scientific reference. > 5. you can do these brews slower in a fifty gallon > plastic drum with a couple of fish tank bubblers and a bucket > Regarding the pumped air there would be a way to do this I just > have not figured it out yet - maybe my wife's leaf blower hooked up to some > pipes ??????????? > I really enjoyed Frank's return post on this > Cheers all > Lloyd Charles > >
