RE: [compost_tea] PH and F:B ratio

From: Meagan Hynes <mhynes_at_soilandplantlaboratory.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:56:28 -0800

Did you happen to look at the ericoid mycorrhizae in this study? I would be curious to see what happened to them with the alteration in pH.

-Meagan

Meagan Hynes, Ph.D.
Soil Consultant
Soil and Plant Laboratory, Inc.
1101 S. Winchester Blvd., Suite G-173
San Jose, CA 95128
Ph: (408) 727-0330
Fax: (408) 727-5125
mhynes_at_soilandplantlaboratory.com



>>> "Pawlett, Mark" <m.pawlett_at_cranfield.ac.uk> 2/17/2011 3:39 AM >>>
  
Hi
This might help. Fungi survive quite happily in low pH, and hence their biomass relative to bacteria increases. Bacterial biomass will go down with pH, and so there will be less competition for resources for the fungi. However fungi also survive quite happily through a wide pH range. By increasing fungi you will not automatically have a reduced pH.

Personally, I did some research on Scottish peatlands (acidic), by playing with management regimes. One of which was adding lime to increase pH. When I did this the fungal (ectos) biomass was not altered. In this instance the bacterial community was reduced as the indigenous microbial community was happier in the acidic rather than the neutral pH soil

A reduction in pH in your compost tea would likely be due to products of metabolism. In which case the bacterial community would drop with the pH.

So, in short. Increasing fungi wouldn’t necessarily reduce pH unless there are other factors involved. So don’t use pH as a method of looking at the fungi:bacterial ratio.

Mark


From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com [mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of cpp_rj
Sent: 16 February 2011 19:39
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: [compost_tea] PH and F:B ratio

  
Does the ph of aact reflect the Fungi: Bacterial Ratio? I'm making tea, and expecting the ph to drop with the increase of fungi in the tea... but after 36 hours of brewing, ph still rises (starting at 6.4 then after 36 hours it's at 7.7). Wondering if/ and how long it would take to notice any change based on F:B.

Received on Thu Feb 17 2011 - 13:03:12 EST

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