Re: [compost_tea] basic questions

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 10:08:17 -0500

Butch wrote:
Now the question; after harvest will that area be
improved, stay the same or be depleted in some way.

If the proper set of organisms became established on the leaf surfaces during the summer, likely because compost tea was sprayed, then there will be an on-going benefit to the system because the beneficial biology is present.

With a more beneficial set of organisms on the leaf surfaces, those leaf surfaces will not be colonized by disease-causing fungi and/or bacteria once the leaves fall to the soil surface.  The leaf material will decompose faster, because the beneficial organisms are present, and will be turned into soil faster.  This means next spring there will be soil, instead of disease-ridden detritus under the trees. 

This soil is beneficial to the plants, as the bacteria and fungi using the dead leaf material have tied-up and retained nutrients.  Less leaching and loss of nutrients will occur.  The need for inorganic fertilizer will be reduced. 

Protozoa and nematodes were added into the system with the compost tea, and so if the protozoa and nematodes survive, by eating bacteria and fungi (which they should, given that the tea has improved beneficial bacteria and fungi), then nutrients will be made available to the plant, when the plants need, during the rapid growth period in the spring.  Nutrient cycling decreases as the plant fulfills it's nutrient uptake requirements, so leaching is once again minimized into the late summer.  

Thus, it is important to know what organisms are missing from the soil when you start trying to get the right biology back into your soil.  Then it is useful to monitor on occasion to determine if the beneficials are surviving, and if the protozoa and nematodes are increasing so the needs of the plant are actually met, without you doing any more work than applying compost, or compost tea, or a green cover crop (which should be a perennial herb in an orchard system). 

Did that answer your question?

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


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Received on Fri Dec 31 2004 - 11:58:41 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:41 EST