Re: [compost_tea] Comments mixed into Chis notes.

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:46:26 -0800

All the mumbo-jumbo. I ran into a computer tech who used to baffle everone=
 he talked with. I heard him explain something and it became evident that =
he didn't know what he was talking about but he did know the language so he=
 would throw words together to sound good.

Prelim:

You cannot brew anything out of your compost that doesn't exist in your com=
post. Brewing does nothing but mulitply the bacteria/fungi in your compost=
. Bacteria grow much faster than fungi so if you have little fungi in your=
 compost, you will get little fungi in your tea.

First:

Any compost put in water for as little as 1/2 hour will grow bacteria. Som=
e of the fungi in your compost (if they are there) will extract into the wa=
ter. Put it in water and let it sit and drain. You will get bacterial mul=
tiples.

Second:

Add O2 and your multiples will be higher. How high depends on how much foo=
d is available for the bacteria/fungi. Remember that these are opportunist=
ic feeders. You want to favor the ones that like O2 so add it and they wil=
l grow.

Third:

Add food. Your bacteria will grow in direct proportion to the amount of fo=
od and O2 available to them. What food? Raw sugar, processed sugar, malasse=
s, a source of NPK (fish fertilizer, blood meal or any organic N source, Bo=
ne meal, Kelp, etc. humic acid. . .) How much? Find a recipee. The compos=
t tea brewing manual has some good ones.

Fourth:

You can be certain of bacterial and some fungal content in your tea.

Fifth:

You will not know how much bacterial/fungal growth and the diversity. This=
 is because the diversity will be determined by your compost. Period! If i=
t isn't in your compost, it will not magically appear in your tea.

Sixth:

You can test for activity with a dissolved O2 meter. I use model 31250 fro=
m ICM. It works great. It will tell you if O2 is being used by something =
in your water. You can test this by unhooking your air source. If your ba=
cteria are active, your O2 will drop like a rock. In my tests, O2 with air=
 is 6 - 8. If I unhook air at early stages, O2 drops to under 1 very quick=
ly.

Here's the way it works (In a very simplified form):

Bacteria and fungi grow when they have a reason to grow. The reasons they =
grow is availability of food. That's it. Give them food and O2 and you ge=
t growth. They will grow until they eat all the food or use up all the air=
. Since you give them a limited amount of food and an unlimited amount of =
air, they will eat the food until it is gone. Then they will go to sleep (=
Bacteria/fungi really don't die unless they are digested.) While they are a=
sleep they can be eaten by higher order or other microbes.

Grasses favor bacterial tea. Woody plants favor more fungal tea. Regardle=
ss, you need a balance in your soil. That balance includes aerobes, anaero=
bes as well as higher order critters (nematodes).

If you follow some basic advice, you don't need an O2 meter or SFI testing =
and you should be fine. After all, I sell commercial brewers to the housep=
lant market and I can't expect them to get their tea tested at $250 a pop o=
r buy a DO meter to feed their own garden or houseplants. So, I know that =
if they follow my instructions, they will get multiples and the diversity a=
vailable from their compost.

You should, if you are a commerical brewer, get your compost tested, test y=
our tea as well as do soil tests and leaf assays where you use the tea. I =
use a lab called A & L in Fresno, CA. They are great for soil and leaf ana=
lysis. They don't do SFI testing though and you will need to use an SFI la=
b for that.


Ted Peterson
Earth-Wise/Spirit of the Earth



Received on Tue Jan 13 2004 - 19:03:01 EST

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