[compost_tea] Re: G.S. I . Tea results, Hi everyone, Dr.e ,ted ,steve,thanks for the help

From: David Hall <dchall8_at_texas.net>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 22:04:20 -0000

> I think I know but humor me. Describe your soil type?
> And, the drainage situation?
> --- tomjasz <tom_at_l...> wrote:
>

I'm not sure who you are asking but I'll go.  I have about a 5 foot
elevation drop in 50 feet across my lot.  My soil is 0-18 inches of
white limestone rubble/dust on top of limestone bedrock.  The
nearest cement quarry is about 1,000 feet from my house.  Drainage
can be poor to excellent.  My front yard is an example of both.  I
used to get a lot of runoff until I started deep watering.  Now my
soil seems to have no limit to its ability to absorb heavy rains
without runoff.  I watered about 4 times this year.  My soil is no
longer white in the root zone.  It is pretty black.  All I do is
water (infrequently), mow high, and fertilize with corn meal about 4
times a year.  I have not used compost in years, don't aerate, no
chemicals on the property, and haven't used tea on it.  When it
rains a lot my soil is so soft I can barely walk across it.

My neighbor's yard (never watered in 5 years) was recently dug up
and found to be very dark as deep as they went.  Enviable soil.  I
don't know if hers started out like mine or not. 

Regarding Las Vegas turf, perhaps fescues are not the best grass for
your area.  Rule number 1 for successfully growing stuff is to pick
well-adapted plants.  I can see where using compost tea would be a
great short cut to getting the beneficial microbes in place.  Still
after considerable in depth discussions with many professional turf
caretakers using pure chemical programs, I believe the microbes are
not a consideration to the ability of soil to absorb water to great
depths.  I'm as organic as I can be, and I evangelize as much as I
can, but on the subject of deep watering, there is too much evidence
that turf under pure chemical programs can be watered deeply if they
purposely develop that capacity.  Can microbially balanced soils be
watered more deeply?  No doubt, but for the purposes we're talking
about here, I don't see the infrequent watering as giving you a
marketing edge for compost tea.  That's all I'm saying. 

David Hall
San Antonio, TX

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, butch ragland <wilddog_202@y...>
wrote:
> >
> > -- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "David Hall"
> > <dchall8_at_t...> wrote:
> > 
> > >
> > > So all I'm saying is that using watering frequency
> > as a measure
> > > of 'goodness' of your tea is of no value.  I could
> > start out with a
> > > horrible lawn, make a tea that was simply
> > dissolved ammonium
> > nitrate
> > > in a 2,4-d base, and make the same claim at the
> > end of the season
> > > simply with proper watering management. 
> >
> > That judgment may be a bit over the top. Here in Las
> > Vegas we have
> > seen lots of turf type fescue lawns with 2-3" root
> > zones. As a result
> > we were NEVER able to skip watering days. It was
> > also very difficult
> > to get sufficient watering depth without soil
> > structure. In this
> > scenario using compost tea to develop a soil food
> > web AND soil
> > structure CLEARLY saved water and allowed to develop
> > the kind of
> > watering schedules you suggest.
> > 
> > 
> > Tom Jaszewski
> > Las Vegas
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> =====
> Butch Ragland
> Conflict is as addictive as
> cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes,etc
> I'm sorry to report that
> cooperation is not
>
>
>            
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Received on Tue Nov 09 2004 - 02:17:47 EST

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