Re: [compost_tea] New Member checking in...
Hi Mike!
Good to have you on-board as a new member. Welcome.
Yes, we have flamers on this list serve - what list serve doesn't? But you
learn soon enough who those flamers are, and then its your choice to open or
ignore their e-mails. I tend to not even open their e-mails. Why elevate your
blood-pressure?
Now, on to the interesting info -
With as much rainfall as you received, there will be soils that are
completely water-logged. There isn't much you can do to help those soils, until the
water drains. Application of a compost tea could add the biology into the
water-logged soil, and get the organisms starting to work on developing soil
strucutre, but the opposite end of that is, if the organisms you add have too much
food resource, their activity could drive the soil anaerobic, with resulting
detrimental effects on the plants as alcohol and other plant-toxic, anaerobic
materials are produced.
Note that is is pretty much always anaerobic compounds that kill plants.
Very few aerobically produced materials are toxic to plants.
Microbial growth is temperature sensitive as well, and if temperatures are
high, microbial growth will be more rapidly, and take up more oxygen, which
means in a tropical system, you could go anaerobic even faster than in temperates
climates. So, addition of compost tea to water-saturated soils must be done
carefully, with an eye to how fast the orgnaisms are going to grow. Too fast
growth, and the soil is in worse shape than if had not added the organisms.
Growth rate relates to both organism biomass added as well as amount of food
added. In really poor soil with little organic matter, and therefore not much
food to feed the organisms, adding tea or compost to saturated conditions is
probably safe.
But if the soil has significant organic matter, it is probably better to wait
until the soil drains or dries, and then start adding the organisms.
Therefore, the answer to your first question is that you could add your
compost immediately, if poor organic matter soil, or you may need to wait, if high
organic matter soil. Intermediate level OM? Use your judgement, or apply
compost to half the area, not to the other half and see what happens.
There's another aspect to your question, which is what if the compost is
water-saturated? Consider getting compost covers, especially in areas where
drenching rainfall occurs. But, as to the compost pile, if you had good structure
in the pile itself, and the pile was mature, it will not take long to drain.
Apply as soon as you can pick up the compost without causing it to ball up.
That's the problem with compost that is too wet - if you turn it, or spread
it when too wet, the compost balls up and you have clods that go anaerobic on
the inside. So, let the compost dry enough so it does not ball up when turned.
As long as the compost did not go anaerobic, then it can be used immediately
it is dry. And probably the sooner it is spread, the better, because
spreading will be an aerating process. The good guys will come back ASAP. As long as
the compsot didn't go stinky.....
If the compost went anaerobic, then you'll need to turn it carefully until it
dries out and the beneficials come back....
You also asked:
I also have some literature here which speaks of brewing and indigenous
micro-organisms, and the use of rice bran as a substrate. I dont have rice in
this area where I am.
#WHat would make as good a substrate for the micro-bacteria and fungi as rice
bran that I can find here in the tropics??
You want to find something that has a C:N ratio like rice bran. What grain
crops are produced locally? Do you have husks of nuts, or fruits that are in
that C:N ratio range? You want something that is in the 100:1 C:N ratio range,
or perhaps up to as high as 250:1 C:N.
Another aspect of bran is the coarseness of the fiber in the material. Those
fibers are important, so you want to look for something that has good fiber,
as well as wide C:N.
Then do some testing to make sure the material you choose grows the critters
you want to grow. Get a small microscope, and come up to SFI for some
training. TRaining with Betsy Ross might be closer for you, and I believe she offers
the microscope class, or could offer the microscope class, after we finish
with the Texas Tea-Off that is coming up.
OK? Good questions, and I appreciate your interest!
Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institute Cambridge, New Zealand
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho
Soil Foodweb Inc., South Africa
Received on Fri Oct 08 2004 - 12:52:26 EDT
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