Dear Wayne, the microbes in the soil multiply their numbers whenever they are provided with food. It can be pure sugar, starch, cellulose or a complex substance like green leaves. The microbes need the same minerals that the plants and animals need, and when they multiply, they take the minerals from the soil. Normally, the soil minerals have very low solubility. They form solutions having mineral concentration that can be measured in PPM or PPB units. But the microbes can absorb them even from such dilute solutions. Another property of the soil solution is that the concentration of the minerals dissolved in it is always constant. Molecules absorbed by the microbes from the solution are replaced by molecules entering the solution from the undissolved pool of minerals in the soil. This is called dynamic equilibrium. Now suppose your soil is deficient in Nitrogen. Then, only the N2-fixing bacteria would survive in that soil. When the organic food provided to the microbes is consumed by them, they die of starvation. In that process, they release their biochemicals into the soil. So now the soil that was poor in nitrogen, would appear to have more nitrogen. So, when you talk to the farmers, give them this example. The microbes must multiply. When they multiply, they take either from the soil or from the air, whatever they need for their growth. When they die, they release these compounds into the soil, and these elements are then taken up by the plants. Soil analysis actually analyses only the water soluble compounds in the soil, whereas the microbes can extract minerals that are "insoluble" (i.e. having so low solubility, that the elements go undetected in soil analysis). When these so called absent elements are then detected in plants, people start talking of transmutation of elements by soil microbes. Yours A.D.Karve
On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 1:58 PM, Jim McNelly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Wayne Zschech < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> G'day All! >> >> I know that the quality of the liquid digestate as a fertiliser depends >> on the type of feedstock ingredients. However, as a generalisation (or with >> specifics) how does our liquid digestate compare to liquid worm castings? >> Is the digestate even close to the 'potency' of the worm castings? Also >> when comparing the standard NPK values of inorganic fertiliser is there a >> rule of thumb that allows digestate to 'compete' with them even though the >> NPK values are much higher in the inorganic fertiliser? This will help me >> in talking to farmers when talk about the benefits of our product as >> instead of fresh manure or chemicals. >> >> Blessings, >> Wayne >> >> ___ > > > >> Have you actually tried to take the filtrate or digestate and feed it >> directly to earthworms? I have. It kills them within hours. You can >> analyze it all you want, but just do this one thing. Actually feed it to >> earthworms and see for yourself what happens. > > > -- > Jim McNelly > > Renewable Carbon Management, LLC > 44 28th Ave N Suite J > Saint Cloud MN 56303 > 320-253-5076 > > www.composter.com > > > > Confidentiality Statement: > This message is intended only for the use of the Addressee and may contain > information that is PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL. If you are not the > intended recipient, dissemination of this communication is prohibited. If > you have received this communication in error, please erase all copies of > the message and its attachments and notify us immediately. > > _______________________________________________ > Digestion mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more information about digestion, see > Beginner's Guide to Biogas > http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/ > and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/ > > > -- *** Dr. A.D. Karve Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
_______________________________________________ Digestion mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org for more information about digestion, see Beginner's Guide to Biogas http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/ and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/
