Re: [compost_tea] Need Infospider mites

From: Jeff Lowenfels <jeff_at_gardener.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 19:54:49 -0600

I hope all had a great Thanksgiving. Talk about fertile microbial farmland,
these turkeys and stuffings.......and the NOP worries about the possibility,
mind you only a possibility, of E. Coli when how many hundreds of Americans
are sick today because of known microbes in Thanksgiving dinner
dishes....whew.

Anyhow, in reference to what soap was used for my, admittedly right up front
not verified by duplication experience with spider mites, I don't think the
tea works in the same way as a surfactant/soap which smoothers. I assume
there is a biological agent at work either competing for food or eating the
mites or their webs. Ah to have an electron microscope.....

Incidentally, other personal successes include sawfly on gooseberries and
currents and delphinium defoliators on delphs. I will have readers test en
masse this summer to try and duplicate these results.

I just started a test to see if CT can get rid of fungus gnats. There is a
known nematode control so with some luck a few might be in the tea.

This points out what is always going to be one of CTs problems: One solves a
particular problem using tea made with his or her compost but others don't
get the same results because of a difference in diversity and species.
Should we be sharing microbes like people do sourdough mixes? Hmmmm.

I do know we need to share tests, ideas and all sorts of other information
and that seems to be what this listserve is doing.

Cheers,

Jeff





To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
compost_tea-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



.

Received on Sat Nov 30 2002 - 11:15:58 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:26:31 EST