[compost_tea] Re: Different kinds of soil tests - SFI and NPK

From: hi_yield1 <hi_yield1_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 20:46:49 -0000

Chris,
I prefer to use our local cooperative extention service. The test
results are given in ranges and that works well for me. I also have
out of curiosity sent soil samples to Monarch Laboratory Inc. Chico
California and plant tissue to Sunland Analytical, Rancho CA and
locally to be analyzed. These test are much more precise and break
down everything from Boron to Zinc into ppm, Meq/L, discuss CEC, SAR
and so on, very detailed. However it's been my experience that plants
aren't that dependant on exact amounts of nutrients to grow and
produce acceptable yields. Unless you are having a real problem the 35
dollar method is more than adequate. I do realize that soil fertility
is something else entirely different. But to pay $250.00 to $600.00
for a test that gives you a number or numbers without any real
correlation or true understanding between what a plants acutally needs
and what the acutal benfits are in my mind, just numbers. These kind
of test are for someone looking to bolster up a product that they are
trying to sell passing their cost onto the customer.
99 perecnt of the soil food web is not understood and cannot be
cultured in a lab and I quote.
Again BUYER BEWARE of buying something you may already have in
sufficient numbers, what ever that means. When in doubt common sense
practical approach works best.Take care hi_yield

PS: I grow just about all of the cole crops, beets, carrots, lettuces,
tomatoes, melons, onions, potatoes and lots of flowers. I have not had
any real disease problems to speak of. I try to stay away from any
cultivars that are prone to them. Most of the time it is more
environmental, especially in the greenhouse when I sometimes forget to
exchange the air on a daily basis. If you choose the right plants-
those with vigor, disease resistance, taste, quanity and uniformity
you are 2/3rds of the way there. .!!GENETICS!!

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "chriscreid" <reidchris_at_e...>
wrote:
> Hi_yield1 said:
>
> I can have my soil looked at locally for about 35 dollars so that's
> > why most folks balk at 250 to 600 dollars. The money would be
> better spent at home adding the above mentioned to your garden. I
> know I have a very robust healthy food web in place in my garden
> because of the hi_yields I get year after year even long before I
> tried CT. I just think Brewers and Buyers need to beware of buying
> something they might already have!!
>
> REPLY TO Hi_yield1,
>
> I will send you off-line a sample of an SFI soil report, so you can
> see the difference between your $35 soil test and what SFI does. I
> am not trying to sell you, just trying to explain the difference.
> It provides different information, and you can use it in
conjunction
> with your NPK type soil test to try to get a fuller picture of
> what's going on in your soil. In fact, it's helpful to give this
> info to SFI when you send in a soil biology assay request, as I
> understand it.
>
> So take a look, and if this is the info you are getting for $35,
> send me the name of your lab! And send it really quick before they
> go out of business. By the way, there is some explanation on the
> report, but in a number of cases more info is necessary to
> understand what's happening and how to understand and make use of
> the report. SFI goes over the report with you and helps you
> understand what program to put in place to help balance the food
web.
>
> I think you raise a very good point and I happen to agree with you
> in several areas. I think that a home composter who understands
how
> to make good thermal compost or vermicompost probably has no need
> for compost tea, and can most economically take care of his or her
> garden with compost. Learning how to brew tea and apply it and
> understand your soil is time consuming and expensive for a home
> gardener. Some home gardeners may be interested in learning, or
> curious about soil biology and use tea as a way of exploring the
> topic, or willing to spend the money, but compost tea is at not at
> the top of my list of something home gardeners need to do.
>
> On the addition of molasses to your tea as an add-on to the recipe,
> no matter which recipe you're using, I recommend you not add it.
> You are likely to be making your tea even more bacterial. a little
> molasses goes a very, very long way. In practice it's primarily a
> bacterial food, tho some of the complex sugars could feed fungi,
per
> Elaine Ingham.
>
> Most tea makers can make bacterial tea no problem -- don't even
have
> to add much food to compost to get bacterial tea. But there IS
such
> a thing as too much. Beware. What happens with too much bacteria?
 
> Too much bacteria and you'll overwhelm the fungi, and you need the
> fungi to be present in the tea, so it can be added to the soil in
> order to have a good food web and to do the kinds of health
> promotion/disease opportunity reduction that good tea can do. OR
> you can end up with too many organisms, probably bacteria. What
> happens with too many organisms? The tea goes anaerobic. If it
> goes anaerobic, you end up with no fungi. And there goes an
> important component of disease opportunity reduction.
>
> With all you are adding to your soil, how are you doing in terms of
> your plants' disease resistance? Do you find you need to use any
> kind of controls? How is your NPK soil test turning out in terms
of
> ppms of nutrient levels? Do you know the name of the soil test you
> are using (different soil tests have different methods of
estimating
> the NPK in your soil).
>
> You didn't say what kind of veggies you are growing, by the way. I
> think with some of the Brassicas, the recommendations might be
> different than they would be for say pumpkins or squash.
>
> Chris Reid


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Received on Wed Nov 19 2003 - 21:09:10 EST

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