Goodness this is good discussion, I think. Anaerobic, aerobic, worms, crab
shells, eggshells, chickens, fungi, bacteria, all good rich organic stuff.
We gotta get to good organic practices in agriculture and landscaping, and
all of this seems like progress to me.
We must get USDA/NOP to support compost teas, though, beyond our own
efforts. Without naming names, as Doc E advises (sorry Dave), I'd hazard
another reply.
"Foul" manure applied in Fall will most likely be benign and beneficial by
Spring. I also believe manure is good no matter what USNOP says... There is
good recent science and centuries of experience supporting this. And there
is absolutely no sane reason for having a problem with composted manures.
Animals with no teeth should not be relied on to convert hard, inert-ish
materials. Gotcha.
Whatever your soil condition, using compost (including manures) and plant
residues will enhance it. Organic content and good bug diversity in soil is
key to nutrient cycling, whatever you're growing. Healthy plants will take
charge! Using soil drenches made from good composts to nutrify plants and
add organic content works. Using foliar tea sprays to compete with foliar
problems works. Compost teas bump up natural, organic strength, no matter
what.
What the heck is CaNO3? Sounds like Cal Nitrate. So?
"Ro" is rot, I think, which I can spell. Or in my instance, it's a short
affectionate name for my cat Rojo, a good big red guy. Great mouser, too,
and he even agrees to come in at night.
> The strawb growers I am working with use Cal Nitrate as the main Nitrogen
> and Ca input through the fertigation system. However this will result in
> excess nitrates in the soil and hence in the plant and Elaines (I think)
> work has shown that excess nitrates in plants causes botrytis and other
> plant disease. <
So why would we be pursuing this? Vermicompost usually provides a good dose
of plant-ready nitrogen, calcium carbonate and humic acids. Compost can do
similarly, different balance and chemistry, also beneficial. Worms and
fungi in soil will normally deal well with calcium, cobalt, boron, selenium,
all trace organics and metals, seems to me. Good teas made from good local
composts will enhance any situation, as far as I can tell, if you have
enough organic matter in the soil for them to work with.
> Clearly it isn't just dissolved oxygen levels that are important"
> Both brews dropped to D O of 1.5 ppm after about 6 hours and no matter how
> much MORE air I pumped in I couldn't get them to rise.<
Could this be from too much molasses? Not an air thing, but a molasses
thing. If you use too much molasses, there's no way DO or any air pump can
keep up because it's such a powerful bacterial food. I don't think you need
to feed bacteria much. They are the most prolific and omnipresent critters
out there, and they will take care of themselves, imo. If you're smelling
molasses or fish at the end of a batch of tea, there's too much in it, hmm?
For the poulsbo kid, welcome back. Guess I'm glad I live below Washington
state? Glacial movements may have wiped out worm populations, but where
they have returned and are doing their wonderful work, I welcome them.
They're doing well here. No one has ever shown worms have ever done any
harm, eh?
Kirk L
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Received on Tue Oct 21 2003 - 22:17:05 EDT