Hi Cordelia Some notes on compost Teas
> > Forwarding this announcement from Sanet, a new publication > from ATTRA called "Notes on Compost Teas." > > Steve Diver > > ----------------------------- > New item on the ATTRA web page: > > Notes on Compost Teas: A Supplement to Compost Teas for > Plant Disease Control > http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/compost-tea-notes.pdf > A 19-page PDF download with text and slides (March, 2002) > > Compost teas are a hot topic in organic agriculture. > > The rhizosphere and the phyllosphere are those zones of rich > biological activity on the root and leaf surfaces. That is > where the spores from pathogens land and then germinate and > get a hold on plants which result in diseases like early blight, > anthracnose, and powdery mildew. > > Yet, with compost teas you have an opportuntity to inoculate > these plant surfaces with a healthy population of diverse > beneficial microrganisms which fight the bad guys and save > your crops from disease outbreaks. > > Organic growers, prohibited from using synthetic fungicides > to control diseases, are taking to compost teas > like a mud salamander to water after a long Texas drought. > > Yet, disease control is just one of the benefits of compost > tea application. They also provide soluble nutrients, > enzymes, bioactive compounds, and other substances. > Crops tend to green up and look strong and healthy > after a dose of compost teas. In some instances remarkable > yield increases have been recorded. Well, if you are an agricultural > field that's been regularly dosed with chemicals and suffered > from tillage overkill for 20 years, and then one day a biological > farmer comes along with a cup of microbial tea, you would > be singing "green acres and sunshine", too. Such is the case in > California on a number of "conventional" farms converted to > "biological" farming. Soils that were becoming hard as a rock > and a haven for soil-borne diseases have been reclaimed with > bulk composts and compost teas. > > "Notes on Compost Teas" provides a summary of liquid extracts > and compost tea brewing methods, it has a list of compost > tea brewing equipment, and it has a large selection of web > resources which you can look through for background reading > and research on this topic. The other section I think > you will find interesting is Elaine Ingham's data on > characteristics of a healthy soil foodweb, minimum standards > for compost, and minimum standards for compost teas. > > Of special interest is the section titled "Key Literature," > which contains several OFRF research reports, a pointer to > SFI's "Compost Tea Brewing Manual," and compost tea reports > from William Brinton's at Woods End Agricultural Research > Laboratory. > > There is also a section with slides that provide a > complementary presentation on compost teas, including > microscopic close-up views of the phyllosphere. It is > a jungle out there on the leaf surface, with hundreds > of species of microbes living there amidst the undulating > epidermal surfaces covered with a forest of trichomes. > > Best wishes on the Spring Equinox, > Steve Diver > > =============================================== > Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) > P.O. Box 3657 > Fayetteville, AR 72702 > 800-346-9140 > 501-442-9842 Fax > http://www.attra.ncat.org > > ATTRA is a project of NCAT - National Center for > Appropriate Technology > ================================================
