Subject: Re: [compost_tea] fungi

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 20:31:29 EST

Hi LF - 

I don't know about quite a few of these - never been tested, or tested by 
someone with a proprietary interest so the data can't be discussed.  

Acadian kelp is Norwegian cold water kelp, isn't it?  Both bacteria and fungi 
are enhanced by cold water kelp high in nutrients.  The Acadian kelp website 
has lots of good information about the trials they've done with the kelp.  
Also, kelp adds nutrients that can be taken up by the foliage, and by roots.  

The following materials are going to depend greatly on the precise set of 
food resources present, and there are changes in quality with time or season. 
 Variability is to be expected.

> Crab waste granulated - meat products are likely to push rapid bacterial 
> growth.
                                    Careful with oxygen concentration.> 
> Flaked alfalfa meal - High nitrogen, so add if your plants need the N.
> Blood meal - High nitrogen, and a very rich food resource, so watch oxygen 
> use.
> Fish waste granulated - go back to Bob Norsen's experience with fish - 
> careful of
                                     oxygen!> 
Probably more fungal foods than bacterial in the following.  The variation in 
response by the bacteria and fungi probably is directly related to protein 
types in the materials - 
> cornmeal
> corn bran
> wheat bran

The following are minerals.  They are nutrients which the microbes should 
help move into the plant.  You should look at a soil chemistry test to 
determine if you need to add these to your soil, or better yet, do plant 
tissue tests to determine if certain nutrients are actually plant limiting.  
Quite often, the nutrient will seem to be limiting in the soil, but be in 
good concentration in plant tissues.  This is likely to be an 
organism-mediated nutrient uptake mechanism.  But when the nutrient is high 
in soil, but low in the plant tissue, then most likely the biology needed to 
take up the nutrient and supply it to the plant is missing.  Getting the 
biology back into the soil, on the roots, or on the foliage, would be a 
necessary step to get the normal nutrient cycling processes going again.

   greensand> 
> rock phosphate
> rock dusts from quarries

Hope this helps!

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com