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[compost_tea] Re: [SANET-MG] Regulation of compost teas
-
Lawrence - We use an all fruit, vegatable, minerals and wood based
compost, use a rather light load of nutrients with plenty of
aeration, we get and accept what is good to excellent numbers of
microbes - both bacteria and fungi. we do not try for extremly high
numbers with heavy nutrients because we want to be well on the safe
side of plenty of O2. We do use an Oxygen meter because we are
developing the brewer and want to know how it acts under many
conditions. With the recipes furnished the brewer always runs in the
high 7 to 10 range of O2 so there is no hazard from the e-coli and
salmonella and such. Never anaerobic.
Still a good idea to test but not required often if you stay near the
standard proceedures. It does make Compost tea very inexpensive and
has proven highly effective. We apply nearly 500 gallons a day on
customers landscapes and gardens. That is going to be much more next
year, all produced by the " little brewer that fits in a duffle bag"
that Jeff talked about Bob
-- In compost_tea@y..., "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@i...> wrote:
> Jeff Lowenfels wrote:
> > Is compost tea cheap? Yes, Frank is correct: it is all relative.
> >
> > I now have a 400 dollar machine that cleans in 2 minutes, fits in
a golf
> > size bag and makes great tea in a large garbage pail though I
bought a 50
> > dollar ,65 gallon, barrel. It can do a container up to 250
gallon. I added
> > my own pump to ($135) it. I use about 5 dollars of materials per
brew and
> > make 60 gallons at a shot. I use all manner of conventional
sprayers and
> > fashioned a 35 dollar "direct from the tank" transfer system. So
for well
> > under1000 dollars, I have a great system........
> >
> > My first system, incidentally, made great tea and cost 20 dollars
plus the
> > use of my $135 pump. All you need is a rubber garbage pail and
1/4 inch
> > soaker hose that can be coiled at the bottom---but go to
compost_tea at the
> > yahoo site and see for yourself. It doesn't have to be
complicated or
> > expensive. That is one of its beauties. It does, however, have
to be tested
> > properly.
>
> For maximum effectiveness in treating vegetable or fruit diseases I
can
> understand having testing done though, even without it, it would
seem beneficial
> to use unless risk of exacerbation of certain crop diseases would
indicate
> otherwise. If you're using known correct methods to make compost
with safe
> materials, is there really much risk of the presence of ecoli in
the tea
> that would unknowingly get spread onto crops harvested for the
table and thus
> presenting something of a health risk? Is this really more of a
risk than
> the pesticide residues that are claimed to exist on conventional
supermarket
> produce?
>
> It just seems that compost tea represents a real boon to home
gardeners as well
> as commercial growers, any scale, and that there ought to be a way
to make
> effective tea, even if it is not the best that could be made,
without involving
> lots of expense. What sort of testing is needed and what are the
costs? Are
> there kits for home use or will they be developed.
>
> LL
> --
> L.F.London
> lfl@i...
> http://market-farming.com
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php/Composting
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