Re: [compost_tea]ACT that DID do well.

From: CHARLES BARKER <chuckiebtoo_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 03:31:37 -0700 (PDT)

In 2001, my yard was a mess...poor soil, grass, shrubs....all vegetation. I had just bought the house from an owner who had leased it for several years to some people whose idea of lawn maintenance was parking on it. Vermicomposting led me to this site and ACT. My yard is now more than competitive with all the neighbors who constantly approach me with thanks for removing the eyesore of the neighborhood. They then want to know what fertilizers and weedkillers I use. I love telling them only worms and compost. This usually leads to an invitation to a backyard barbecue at their house...which leads to, well, you know.
 
Chuckiebtoo

John Francis <mrkringles_at_msn.com> wrote:
Bob,

My lawn was the same way for the past two years...patchy, unhealthy,
sparse grass that looked poor. This year it is lush and requires
that I cut it twice a week just to keep up! But I didn't apply ACT,
I applied nothing. It was just the Spring rains and temperatures that
brought it back to life this year. I'm thinking maybe your garden
responded to the same? I'm not convinced that ACT did all you claim.

John








--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, Robert Norsen <bnbrew_at_y...> wrote:
> It is certainly much easier to measure the microbes than to
evaluate what the ACT is doing to the plants. It takes time to
measure a response in plants. Like Elaine was saying it took years
of testing, with application and observation to determine what is
good and what is not good enough TEA.
>
> My yard and garden is one where the garden had to be blended with
the landscape. ( Her request) So we have Rhodies, strrawberries,
roses, blueberries, grass, fruit trees, Oxalis, raspberries, our worm
bin, apples tree, iris, plumb trees big cedars, all growing in what
is - well we like it. At the start 23 years ago we added some
putrid grass clippings to the basic heavy clay soil. Dug some in (
this was way before I was aware of the Soil Food Web. The empty lot
had been the local clippings & yard waste dump for years,) We got
fair results. When Giovani started his compost work we added 2 "
of compost to some areas. And we applied ACT a couple times in 2000.
> Also applied ACT once in 2001 and 2002 Year 2003 I made a lot of
ACT to test the CACT cycle. Applied much of it on my own yard
& "gardens".starting in mid summer. Didn't get much in the way of
results. Fruit crops were poor. Strawberries had blosoms and
started to bear but the berries were small.. Blueberries f rom 12
large plants fed the robins plus one breakfast treat. Fruit trees
had a small crop that tasted good. I wondered if my ACT was
effective. It tested OK at SFI
>
> This year is different. Heavy fruit load, berries are bigger, but
not ready yet. Plants look better. It is still too early to know how
the summer will go. Conclusion to date - it takes a season to change
what this type of plants do. This year we are testing the mobile
BobO500 so the yard is getting good applications of ACT.
>
> In my neighbors raspberry area where the vines were all about alike
when I sprayed in 2002 & 2003 I sprayed the North 2 rows and the
South two rows. Left the middle 6 rows with just the level organic
fertilizer that was applied evenly entire 'patch' in 2002. In 2004
the North 2 rows are 6 times the size and productivity of the middle
rows. Weeds did well in all areas. The south 2 rows are 4 times the
size and productivity. I will show pictures later..
>
> The problem in my own raspberry "patch" is the plants grow so lush
I have to cut them back hard to find my way thru to pick. Need to
leave more open space between initial planting. Plums, peaches,
apples are heavy. Blueberries - I defy the robins to fly away with
enough to make a difference. .
>
> It took a season with several heavy applicatons to see results at
my house, but it changed ! Bob
>
> soilfoodweb_at_a... wrote:
> Hi Eric -
>
> When we first started testing "aerated compost tea", which in fact
wasn't aerobic (there's a difference betwee aeration and being
aerobic), we killed a number of tomato plants. Symptoms were browning
of leaves, leaf curl, deformed leaves.
>
> We didn't always out-and-out kill the plants. Sometimes insects
pests were attracted to the plants that had been harmed by the
anaerobic teas, and the pests were what delivered the coup de grace.
>
> and of course, there are the plants that did not receive adequate
compost tea ORGANISMS to protect the leaf surfaces, and the plants
succumbed to the disease we had applied.
>
> I would like very much to hear from folks that tea did not work
for. I've always said that.
>
> We then try to figure out what went "wrong", so the problem is
assessed and prevented from happening the next time.
>
> Please share, folks! We need to know about when things don't work,
although I sure ALSO want to hear about when things do work!
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links


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Received on Mon Jun 14 2004 - 10:45:06 EDT

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