RE: [compost_tea] Application rate

From: Ryan, Matthew <matthew.ryan_at_rodaleinst.org>
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:21:10 -0400
Hi Bill,

Just curious, what disease are you trying to prevent on your soybean
crop? 

Is there any other reason why you want to apply tea to soybeans besides
disease suppression?

Sorry, but I do not know of any field trial reports that are applicable
to your situation. 

Thanks

-----Original Message-----
From: soilfoodweb_at_aol.com [mailto:soilfoodweb@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 9:10 AM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Application rate


I have just returned from South Africa, and I was lucky enough to get
some time at a game reserve.  Wow!  Saw all but leopards of the Big Five
and you name it of the rest!  I bagged them all in my camera!

AND the best of all, there will be a Soil Foodweb Lab in South Africa.
Precise location to be determined, so if you have input, please let me
know!  The tech for the SA lab will be here at Corvallis lab mid-May,
through until August.  So, again, if you have ideas and thoughts, please
stop by the lab to chat while he is here!

But, the question I am answering, now that I am back (phone connections
in the bush are non-existent, so I hope you will all forgive the lack of
interaction during the time I was gone), is this one from Bill -

> I need to determine the gallons per acre for one application assuming:
>     3 applications per season
>     the crop is soy beans
>     no manmade chemicals will be applied
>     field was fallow last year
>     located in eastern Arkansas

The basis of this answer needs to be in solid data.  Please get the
Compost Tea Brewing Manual, where there is clear data on the answer.
But to summarize, the consideration is COVERAGE on the leaf surface.  If
you get the leaf surfaces concered, top and bottom, by AT LEAST 65%
bacteria, and 5% fungi, we have always been able to protect the plant
foliage from diseases. 

Please note that this is NOT a pesticidal effect.  We are not killing
anything.  We are occupying the leaf surface with beneficial critters
that do not cause disease.  This is a very hard concept for people that
are used to relying on chemicals to grasp.  But it works.  Same with
human beings - prevent disease.  Combatting disease once it is
established means you are fighting a horrible battle.  Don't go there. 

So, how much tea is needed to establish 65% bacterial coverage, and a
minimum of 5% fungal coverage?

IF you have good tea (see SFI standards for compost tea), and you apply
that tea so the organisms are not killed, then you will have that kind
of coverage, if you spray 5 GALLONS of GOOD COMPOST TEA PER ACRE, in
however much water (as a carrier) as you need to srapy the 5 gallons of
tea out evenly over that acre. 

You need to spray a minimum of three times through the growing season -
once at first true leaf stage, once pre-bloom, once post-bloom.  Why the
focus on bloom?  Because it is easy for growers to know that the plant
is at certain stages, and be able time spraying based on something the
plant tells you, not on whether you have the time to do the spraying....
Grin!

IF WEATHER RESULT IN PERFECT CONDITIONS for the diseases to grow, then
you have to spray more often.  You need to make the leaf surfaces better
for the "good guys" than the "Bad guys", which means some effort on your
part to change the leaf surface conditions.  So, then you start spraying
perhaps every other week, and if conditions are really perfect for the
pathogen, spray once a week. 

OK?


Bill wrote:
> Vendors have suggested from 5 to 24 gal.  I would like to get close to

> the minimum effective amount, the point of diminishing returns, to
> minimize expense.  Is there any field trial data applicable to this?
> Bill
>

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
SFI Culiacan, Mexico
SFI Jerome, Idaho
http://www.soilfoodweb.com




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Received on Thu Apr 29 2004 - 11:08:18 EDT

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