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Re: [compost_tea] Citric acid
Yes, citric acid and any citrus product kills SOME organisms.
Which ones? At low concentrations, and depending on which tea maker you have, the amount of citric acid or orange oil you add, you can reduce E.coli and other human pathogens.
There's a compost tea machine maker who also makes a nutrient mix to use with their tea maker, who adds some of these kinds of bacteria-inhibitors to the starting material. Some people making fish products add orange or citrus to their fish, in part to make the material smell less strong, but also to help hold down the problem bacteria. Quite smart actually. And how much do they add? Proprietary information, and believe me, they got some surprises as they started working on this.
So, if you have poor compost, the question becomes, HOW MUCH do you add? WHEN do you add it?
You add it when you think the compost you have gotten isn't so great, and might contain E. coli or other human pathogens. How much? Testing the amount in your tea maker would be necessary, but the amounts would be in the range of one or two drops in a 50 gal tea maker. Otherwise, you may be adding too much and killing beneficial organisms.
Wouldn't it just be better to ask that the person you are buying compost from documents that their compost is E. coli -free?
Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com
SFI Oregon, USA
SFI Australia
SFI New York
SFI Europe
SFI New Zealand
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