Hi Jason,
I have long advocated that a few anaerobes are a good thing in their place.=
My hypothesis is that microorganisms are heirarchically arranged in soil. =
That is, they are divided by levels in the soil in accordance with their sp=
ecific functional ability to 'degrade, consume, mineralize' certain substan=
ces. So you have bacteria/archaea and fungi which live near the surface whi=
ch are rapid degraders of organic matter. They 'break down' these substance=
s into a form which other microbes below them are able to utilize and so on=
and so on. In my opinion this is why one can topdress with something like =
wood shavings or bark mulch but if you mixed these into the depths of the s=
oil you throw off the natural order, the microbes at that depth are given t=
he task of degrading all that carbon and use up all the available nitrogen =
as fuel to do so, thereby causing a nitrogen/nutrient lock up for your plan=
ts. This is just one example and oversimplifies things considerably.
The same can be said (IMO) from the bottom up. Lower down in the soil are a=
naerobic or facultative anaerobic microbes which have the capacity to 'proc=
ess' substances such as rock and other matter which exists at lower depths =
and can pass nutrients in a form which can be utilized by microorganisms at=
higher levels like the rhyzosphere.
The story about the terra preta beds in South America is that so long as th=
e soil remains undisturbed below 20 cm it is able to restore itself to its =
long living fertility. To me this indicates a restoration from below.
My experience with black strap molasses is that it feeds bacteria/archaea a=
nd fungi equally well in ACT and cultures. I use it at a rate of 0.5%
Usually what occurs in a brew is the first organisms to begin growing are f=
ungi (if in your [vermi]compost) and bacteria/archaea. One can have a well =
developed bacteria-fungal brew at 12 to 18 hours. Generally going to 24 hou=
rs is a safe bet if you do not have a scope. At around the 30 to 40 hour pe=
riod you should have quite a few flagellates (protozoa) which will be devou=
ring the bacteria and quite often the bacteria is devouring the fungi which=
usually continues growing. For a pretty full compliment of microbes, I rec=
ommend using the tea at 36 hours. If you are desirous of a protozoa dominan=
t brew, then let it go to 48 hours [or observe with a microscope] If you le=
t it go longer, like 72 hours, usually you will end up with a brew dominate=
d by ciliates (protozoa), the effects of which, I've yet to determine for m=
yself.
This natural progression towards a single organism dominance is one reason =
I remain skeptical about perpetual brewing.
I think one is better off to try for a brew with the greatest diversity and=
let the soil and plants decide what organisms are most required.
Salutations,
Tim
--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "jgerha" <jasongerhardt_at_...> wrote:
>
> Hello All,
> Thanks for the many responses. Tim, I found your site full of info and r=
ead through it all. You have done amazing amounts of research, thank you f=
or freely sharing!
>
> I ended up writing directly to Dr. Ingham and got an answer a few minutes=
ago. First off, the article is nearly 15 years old, which helps me to kno=
w that tons of research has been done since then (there was no date on the =
article itself). Elaine answered that she doesn't recommend adding sugar ba=
sed "food" to tea because most small brewers don't have the capacity to aer=
ate it well enough to allow it to develop past aerobic fungi, protozoa, etc=
. She also said, most of her research since the fine gardening article has=
shown that we already have high enough bacterial populations in most soils=
and compost (unless intensive biocide application has occurred) and what w=
e are lacking is the fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and microarthropods. Ther=
efore, most garden systems need to be inoculated with these microbes, not n=
ecessarily bacteria. This makes sense to me.
>
> I am still at a loss for one aspect of this, and I realize I didn't expla=
in it well enough in the first post. I am interested in the longer term of=
nutrient allocation and availability and have come across information abou=
t anaerobic microbes being a necessary part of nutrient storage in soils vi=
a the ethylene cycle, where anaerobes actually hold nutrients back from pla=
nt availability which has been theorized is a beneficial function of soils =
to maintain fertility over the long-term. Most soils will have pockets of =
both anaerobic conditions and aerobic conditions. When thinking in terms o=
f till-based gardening we are encouraging aerobic conditions via the contin=
uous addition of oxygen inducing tillage, but as we know long-term this dep=
letes soils over time. I am interested in whether it is actually beneficia=
l to maintain a healthy population of anaerobes in the soil and thus in our=
compost teas.
>
> Long, not entirely informed, question short, has there been a lot of rese=
arch done on looking at anaerobes from a beneficial standpoint? I wonder i=
f the research has been skewed more towards aerobic microbes since that is =
how we treat soils generally through various forms of agriculture (i.e. til=
lage). When it comes to compost tea, I then wonder, what is so bad about h=
aving a few extra anaerobes? Is there a healthy balance? Or in a tea brew=
ing situation perhaps it goes too far toward anaerobes once headed in that =
direction.
>
> This is getting complex, but I would be interested to know others thought=
s.
>
> Jason
>
>
> --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "wormlady" <whitemountainworms_at_> wrot=
e:
> >
> >
> > I'd be interested in the answer to that myself.
> >
> >
> > --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, Jason Gerhardt <jasongerhardt_at_> wro=
te:
> > >
> > > Hi All,
> > > I am new to this group, and joined mostly to stay up to date on the l=
atest
> > > research into compost tea brewing. I have one question that perhaps
> > > someone can answer. Does anyone know if Elaine Ingham endorses the w=
ay she
> > > suggested brewing compost tea in the this article in Fine Gardening
> > > magazine at this site:
> > > http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/brewing-compost-tea.aspx
> > >
> > > There is no date on the article so I am unsure if it is disproven by =
recent
> > > research. I simply want the best, least expensive way to brew consis=
tent
> > > small batch compost tea. I saw the above article, saw that Elaine wr=
ote
> > > it, therefore trusted it, and already went ahead and bought all the
> > > materials before doing further research. I don't really want to buy =
oxygen
> > > meters and spend hundreds on testing batches taken from multiple poin=
ts in
> > > the brewing process. I suppose I might if I have to, but I am hoping=
there
> > > is a straightforward 5-gal bucket method that doesn't require too muc=
h
> > > research work. My hope is that the risk for harm is higher in larger=
scale
> > > brewing, and minimized at the small-scale.
> > >
> > > Any thoughts, anyone?
> > >
> > > Jason
> > >
> >
>
Received on Thu Dec 01 2011 - 21:23:08 EST