[compost_tea] Re: words / was sustainable farming .... brewing

From: B Blake <bbdallas100_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:52:33 -0000


Wonder how much the changes to the various nutrients
during the brew cycle has been studied?
(Transformation is a nice term.)

You hear a bit about mineral dissolution, secretion,
excreting waste products and various toxins, etc, etc.

What is being created (or could be formed in the broth)
seems to get lost in the quest for microbe counts.

The subject may soon hit a point where short cycle, year round,
test crops become just as important as microscopes.

One man's 'waste product' may be another man's secret nutrient.

I've talked with some experts that claim bacteria is "too simple"
to have any waste products. One fellow claimed his bacteria
produces Amino Acids but no waste products.

Another says Carbon Dioxide is his waste product.
(4) Four 500 gallon brewers going in the same room and
the CO2 is plentiful enough that it needs to be vented.

I love both goodies mentioned but I feel there are a lot more.
Some good for enhanced plant growth. Some not so good and
some 'too hot to classify' :-)

....................................................................

<snip>

There are thousands of species of bacteria on earth, many of which have not=
 yet been identified. When attempting to classify a bacterium, a variety o=
f characteristics are used, including visual characteristics and laboratory=
 tests. Bacteria are simple, unicellular organisms. Most are free-living o=
rganisms, but a few require animal or plant hosts for survival. Bacteria ab=
sorb nutrients from their environments, excrete waste products, and secrete=
 various toxins that help them invade tissues. Bacteria have no enclosed nu=
cleus. Their chromosomal material is in the form of a large loop, packed in=
to the cytoplasm of the cell.

Some bacteria can be identified through a simple visual perusal. First, th=
e operator considers the appearance of the bacterial colony (a group of the=
 same kind of bacteria growing together, often on a petri dish.) The opera=
tor also views individual bacteria under a microscope, considering their sh=
ape, groupings, and features such as the number and location of flagella. =
 

A variety of laboratory techniques can be used to narrow down the identity =
of a bacterial species if a visual survey is not sufficient. The operator =
can stain the bacteria using a gram stain or an acid-fast stain. The bacte=
ria can be cultured on a specific medium which promotes the growth of certa=
in species, as in the membrane filter method of testing for coliform bacter=
ia. Other tests can detect bacterial by-products, while yet more advanced =
tests actually analyze the DNA of the bacteria.

http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/ENV108/lesson5_2.htm

....................................................................


Hopefully someone will come up with a brewer that we can call
Big LeRoy ;-)
Even though he may not stand that tall.

At that point we may filter out most things other than the
bacteria. Then we filter out the bacterium and weigh the badboys.

While putting in a huge amount of time looking over the wonderful
collection of Posts here I have taken several side trips.
One has been the weight of various microbes including bacteria.
Different experts have different numbers.

Of coarse if 'LeRoy' could get even close to the mathematical possibilities=
 at say even 8 hours - how many
microbes it takes to equal a gram or a pound of microbe fertilizer would be=
come irrevelent.

How much goody the microbes actually absorbed and how much they give up upo=
n kicking the bucket would be nice to know.

If ALL conditions stayed near perfect some bacteria
sounds near immortal until it runs out of room, eats itself or gets eaten b=
y whatever.

One source that sounds good was claiming 1,600,000,000
of a particular bacterium per gram.

The Guardians claim typically it's a
Trillion per gram.

Either number might be nothing to LeRoy
if he could just hit his stride and not worry about how others
have done - or not done.

http://www.theguardians.com/Microbiology/gm_mbi01.htm#small

http://www.theguardians.com/

Was at Walmart the other day and they were weighing stacks of money
after first counting it. Perhaps the day will come when people
throw a cheap Back-flushable 0.1 micron (drip) water filter on a scale afte=
r a test portion of the brew already went through the initial filtration st=
ages and then through the bacteria filter last.
Just to get a real rough idea of the filtered weight.

A fellow that says he brews up 5,000 gallons of Compost Tea
at a clip (naturally on the West Coast) and delivers it to huge
farms gave me some time recently. I had already spoken with Bruce
that makes his equipment.

We were talking about the nutrient composition of the bacteria
itself among many other things like the evil ;-) old air stones
being used.
40 of the stones to make 5,000 gallons along with 10 venturi pumps.

He claims one of his sources says bacteria averages
98.9% water content. I don't know. Another source that sounds good says it'=
s closer to 70%
It's what ever actual goody that is in it that I'm worried about.

A certain amount of conflict (like the evil air stones) is to be expected i=
n such a vast and exciting study. It's nothing compared to the last study t=
hat I wrapped up in September.
Over the years 'experts' were contradicting THEMSELVES often
within the same document in that deal.

Irregardless of this that or the other thing there seems to be
a tremendous amount of room left in this subject for open minded
students that avoid the blinders that can become common sometimes.
Over the years I've always been impressed with the best gardening
and greenhouse questions rather than just the soap box.
Of course it's hard to only ask questions with
something this exciting and filled with such promise.


Bill



--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Dan" <dansquest2005_at_...> wrote:
>
> Hi Bill,
> I believe it can but the source for getting the microbes might have to=
 change. I think as time goes on ACT driven foliar sprays will be food sour=
ce specific for the microbes that are needed as well as pH and temperature =
limits being dialed in to brew them. Fish emulsion/seaweed extract foliar s=
prays have over 50 years of proven performance but more as source of nutrie=
nts whereas I think microbial foliar sprays will be more for deterring spec=
ific pathogens or possibly devouring oomycetes like late blight. I think AC=
T is a means by which one adds biodiversity to the soil and ends up with he=
althier soil. These are just the musings of a gardener in the middle of win=
ter thinking out loud.
>
> Dan in Ct Zone 6A Where I don't have a Twitter account because I am eas=
ily confused and have been known to change direction repeatedly and fear h=
aving to turn around and follow my followers.
>
>
> --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "B Blake" <bbdallas100_at_> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Dan, Can Compost Tea techniques be used to enhance proven
> > foliar sprays without getting bogged down in the requirements
> > for an excellent soil microbe product?
> >
> > Bill
> >
>




Received on Mon Dec 26 2011 - 22:43:40 EST

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