Lowenfels -
That's a great find. Coincidentally I was recently
looking at Bryant Scharenbroch's collection of soil
classification and training materials at the MASS
Laboratory - Morton Arboretum Soil Science.
MASS Laboratory - Morton Arboretum Soil Science
http://www.masslaboratory.org
http://www.masslaboratory.org/mass_018.htm
It's a nice set of educational materials that
are well done, obviously by a soil scientist.
Scharenbroch has published widely; many papers are
accessible via Google Scholar.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Scharenbroch%2C+B.C.
For example, you can download the papers referenced
in the PowerPoint presentation.
Distinguishing urban soils with physical, chemical,
and biological properties
Bryant C. Scharenbroch,John E. Lloyda, Jodi L.
Johnson-Maynard
Pedobiologia (2005), Vol. 49: 283—296.
Gaps and Soil C Dynamics in Old Growth Northern
Hardwood–Hemlock Forests
B.C. Scharenbroch, and J.G. Bockheim
Ecosystems (2008), Vol. 11: 426-441.
>>>
The data in the PowerPoint presentation shows great
fungal and bacterial, amazingly high levels of
protozoas, and then average nematodes.
Arboriculture and Compost Tea
International Society of Arboriculture
Chicago, IL on July 28, 2010
http://www.masslaboratory.org/linked/scharenbroch_isa2010_chicago_act.pdf
It appears they used Purple Cow Organics
http://www.purplecoworganics.com
"Purple Cow Organics Activated Compost with MicroLife
is a scientifically formulated, tested, and certified
premium compost - vermicompost based product delivering
a full range of benefits, along with metabolic building
blocks to enrich and enliven your soil's foodweb."
Slide 22 compares ACT tests results based on use
of the GeoTea and KISS brewers, though apparently
based on different recipes -- with KISS brewer products
compared to Purple Cow Organics. The differences
between electro-chemical and biological parameters
are substantial. It would be interesting to see
this level of refined data using the same exact recipe
(in proportion to volume of brewer).
Soil incubation studies showed significantly
increased potassium levels with concentrated
compost tea.
Potassium is notoriously high in composts and
compost teas and extracts, so this is within
expected results.
The data examining ACT dilutions in comparison
to water and fertilizer and their effect on
respiration, N mineralization, microbial biomass
showed "some" differences with ACT, but they
were less than fertilizer.
The data goes on through laboratory and
greenhouse studies, all of which show
show "some" differences between treatments, too
many to summarize here.
Some interesting results were a decrease in
nitrate leaching in Compact Loam soils (urban soils?)
where ACT was used compared to water. But this
decrease did not repeat with Loam and Sand.
Then in field studies, soil water nitrate
increased with ACT.
Altogether it represents a signficant research
effort to define the quality of compost teas,
the effect of the brewing process, and to
compare ACT with other treatments including
water as a control, compost, mulch, and fertilizer
in various laboratory, greenhouse, and field
studies in terms of their influence on soil
and landscape plant properties.
I would expect this research will eventually get
published as a journal article.
Steve Diver
Texas
Jeff Lowenfels <jeff.lowenfels_at_...> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Wonder if anyone has looked at this report which is a favorable study of =
ACT….
> .
>
> Never seems to be picked up by the doubters….
>
> Jeff L
>
>
> Jeff Lowenfels
> jeff.lowenfels_at_...
>
Received on Thu Sep 22 2011 - 17:09:23 EDT