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Dr. Ingham's February E-Zine
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Dr. Ingham's Talks on the Soil Foodweb
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E-Zine Issue #4 February, 2000
Greetings fine people!
Welcome to February wherever you may be...
It's beautiful here in Oregon. Actually turning
out to be a rather dry winter...thank goodness.
Lots of very exciting news so let's get
right into it!
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR FEBRUARY:
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1.) DR. INGHAM LIVE INTERACTIVE TALKS ON THE SOIL FOODWEB:
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Okay, we heard back from a bunch of you several months ago that
you would be interested in being included in a "live" lecture/talk
of Dr. Ingham's via the interent. Now's your chance!
This is incredibly exciting stuff folks and we encourage
you highly to get involved.
Here's the plan:
When:
Monday, February 28th at 1pm
Pacific Standard Time (USA)
Subject:
Dr. Elaine Ingham on the Soil Foodweb and its Functions
Introductory Talk
How:
Listen via Real Player over your normal dialup in real time
from anywhere in the world!
You'll need to log in at http://www.unisun.org
Or you can jump to us through
Soil Foodweb's website at http://www.soilfoodweb.com
Sound quality is good. Go to Dr. Ingham's Recording's Page
and listen to the audio sample of her first CD...if you can
hear that, you'll hear the live webcast... It's the same
program used, only in real time. If you need any help from
us or advice...please just say so. We're committed to making
this event a great success and the more of you on board the
better it's going to be! We'll help however we can.
Length of Program:
Aprox 2 hours depending.... Dr. Ingham plans an hour and a half
talk on the Soil Foodweb, then we'll open up the discussion to
YOU! You'll have the opportunity to email her your questions and
even request visual aids... Our tech folks will respond to your
requests in real time and post applicable info on the website as
well as ask Dr. Ingham your questions...
Cost:
Only $20.00
FOR MORE INFORMATION and to ORDER:
You'll need to visit http://www.unisun.org for more info....Or
you can follow the links from Soil Foodweb's site at http://www.soilfoodweb.com
There is complete info, an order form to print and mail and of course
you can always order online via our secure server!
REGISTER EARLY PLEASE:
We only have a limited amount of bandwidth to push which means a finite number
of people can actually be streaming live at one time... So if you're interested,
act now and get your registration in...We'll then reserve your stream and
send you a unique password that you'll need to log in.
See http://www.unisun.org/webcasts for more info.
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2.) March Compost and Turf Systems Workshops at SFI
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Speakers:
Dr. Elaine Ingham
Michael Alms
Keith Hopkins
Frank Wann
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Full Day Workshop
Compost and Compost Tea
Friday, March 24, 2000
and
Full Day Workshop
Turf Systems
Saturday, March 25, 2000
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Location:
Soil Foodweb, Inc., Corvallis OR
Take I-5 to Hwy 34 West, turn north on 2nd Street Hwy 20 N off of =
Harrison Street (Hwy 34)
Proceed 1/2 mile, turn left at Rivergreen Office Park.
1128 NE 2nd Street, Ste 120
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For Details and the Agenda:
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Visit:
http://www.soilfoodweb.com/seminars/marchseminars.html
COST:
$100 for each seminar if paid in advance
(check or credit card)
$125 for each seminar at the door
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Regustration Form
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Name: _______________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________
City:______________________________ST___________Zip_____________
Phone:______________________________Fax________________________
Email:_______________________________________________________
Make Checks payable to: Soil Foodweb, Inc.
Registration is limited to 30. Please register by mail or fax, at least
one week prior to the workshop to make sure that there is room! Location
map and lodging information will be mailed to you.
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Mail or Fax Registration to:
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Soil Foodweb, Inc.
1128 NE 2nd Street, Ste 120
Corvallis, OR 97330
Fax: (541)752-5142
Phone Numbers:
Stacy @ Soil Foodweb, Inc-(541)752-5066
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3.) WTO TEACH-IN LIVE WEBCAST
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Corvallis group organizes WTO teach-in
A local group has scheduled a teach-in on the World Trade
Organization and the "Battle in Seattle" for
7 p.m.
Tuesday
Feb. 8
The Majestic Theater
115 S.W. 2nd in Corvallis.
Simulcast LIVE in Real Audio at:
http://www.unisun.org/webcasts
Composed primarily of local residents who were in Seattle during
the WTO Ministerial early in December, Corvallis Action on
Globalization has arranged for seven speakers to appear in an event
expected to run two and a half to three hours.
The event will center on the issues that brought approximately
50,000 protesters to Seattle to protest the WTO's structure and
operations. A broad coalition including human rights activists,
environmentalists, labor and others converged in Seattle to
participate in marches, rallies and protests in an attempt to
call public attention to the WTO.
Scheduled speakers at the teach-in include:
Wayne Anderson:
United Steelworkers of America
Chuck Willer:
Coast Range Association
Manuel Pacheco:
Professor of philosophy at Oregon State University
Paul VanDevelder:
Journalist and Film Maker
Albert V. Krebs:
Corporate Agribusiness Research Project
Alan Kapuler:
Research Director of Seeds of Change
Sharon Scott:
Social worker and member of Benton Pacific Greens.
The speakers will respond to questions from the audience following
individual 15-minute presentations related to such issues as labor,
agriculture, the environment, democracy, and human rights.
Local sponsors of the event include Benton Pacific Greens, Carpenters
Local 1094, the Coast Range Association, the Committees for Correspondence,
Students for World Awareness-Crescent Valley H.S., the Corvallis
Environmental Center, the Corvallis Page, First Alternative Co-op,
Jobs with Justice, the Just Peace Committee of the First Congregational
Church, KBOO Radio 100.7 FM, NW Earth Institute, OPEU-OSU Classified
Employees, and the United Steelworkers of America. Admission to the
teach-in is $3.00, though no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Info Contact: Angus McBrian, angus@justice.com
Get More Info on the LIVE WEBCAST NOW:
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http://www.unisun.org/optimist/wto.html
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This live feed will be free of charge...however, due to bandwidth constraints
there will again be a limited number of open streams...
So, the early surfer catches the feed!
See you online at www.unisun.org at:
7pm Pacific Standard Time (USA)
Tuesday, February 8th
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4.) DR. INGHAM's SPEAKING TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
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For all of our friends "down under"...remember...Dr. Ingham's going to be
touring your country for two weeks mid February! Please be sure to watch
your local resources for dates and times and, of course, check out the
Soil Foodweb Calendar of Events at:
http://www.soilfoodweb.com/calendar.html
We'll be sure to add more info as we receive it....
That's it for me this month... As always...thanks for your support
and please be sure to let your friends know of these exciting happenings!
You have our full permission to forward this E-Zine and spread it around as
you see fit...
Peace,
Samuel A. Ettaro II
Unisun Communications
Dr. Ingham/SFI Publisher
http://www.unisun.org
sam@unisun.org
(541)367-8980
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Now for the February Newsletter:
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We've been getting a ton of great questions recently...so this month
we figured that we'd just put out this series of Q&A's for
you to gather info from...It's good stuff!
Keep those great questions coming:
mailto: sfi@unisun.org
Q #1:
Dr. Ingham,
I'm curious as to what would be considered too high of a pH
for finished/mature compost. I'm amending somewhat acidic soils,
and growing a perennial crop (pear trees), so a somewhat basic
compost is what I'm producing. What would be too basic?
- David
A #1:
Hi David -
Depends on the plant you are growing and on its nutrient demands.
Too high a pH for an orchard would be 7.5 or higher, although I've
seen trees do fine at 8.5 as long as the roots were highly mycorrhizal.
Compost pH isn't a big deal in my experience. Extremes are serious
problems - too high (above 8.5 to 9 for grasses for example, 7.5 for
trees or shrubs, but cactus does fine at pH 10), or too low (pH 5.5
for most grasses, pH 4.5 for most trees and shrubs, cactus doesn't
do well at any acid pH) can both cause problems. But that leaves a
huge range in between. If the compost pile has only aerobic bacteria
growing, pH may be quite alkaline (high - as in pH 9 or 10). If the pile
has gone anaerobic and only anaerobic bacteria are growing, pH can be
down at 1.5 or 2. Very nasty. Don't play with this stuff very much. fungal
in general buffer pH between 5.5 and 7.0, so you can see that fungal growth
is a good thing.
For pear trees, it depends on the soil you are putting the compost on
and how much compost you are putting on. The resulting pH is what you
want to pay attention to, once you mix the compost and soil. If the
soil is too acidic, say around pH 4.5, then making the compost about
pH 7.5 will be good, but you need to add about a half inch of compost
to the soil surface. With pears, it is better to leave the compost as
a surface layer, or to rake just slightly into the soil if you have erosion
problems. A little contact helps get the fungi growing and holding the
soil in place fast.
If the soil is pH 5.5, then make the compost pH about 7. Or course, it
would be nice to have a fully replicated set of samples of soil pH, compost
pH, and the resulting pH when you mix the two together.....
Q #2:
How do I make a fungal compost?
A #2:
Hello -
If you have low fungal biomass, you want to make sure the compost is about
1:1 fungi to bacteria that you use, or make. You want to aim toward a combination of:
25% high N materials
45% green materials
30% woody, dry, brown materials
Green grass clippings supply some of the N needed, but is usually not high N. Dry grass clippings
supply some “woody” component, but if the grass clippings are young, they are still mostly
green material and should be counted in that component. If the grass is mostly stalk material,
tough and fibrous straw (not the case for most golf courses), then it should be counted as woody.
Green wood chips including green pine needles depends on the kind of green wood. It it's pine or
conifer, then it's all woody. If it's alder, poplar, birch, then it's got some green component
to it - count about 25% of it's volume or weight as green, the rest woody.
Green pine needles are really almost completely in the woody category, because even though they
are green in color, needles have so many terpenes, phenols and other nasties that the bactera
and fungi need a great deal of N and juicy green stuff in order to break them down. Same thing
with oak leaves.
Dry wood chips are strictly woody. Dry leaves - depends on the plant they came from.
Filimentous algae from lakes - Take about 50% of this as high N, the rest as green
component. This is great stuff!
Manure - what kind of manure? Cow, horse, pig? It is part of the high N component, but be
careful of any antibiotics or de-worming medicine being used on the animals. Try not to use
the manure coming from sick animals, or if sick, use additional molasses or sugar to make
sure the nasty compounds are decomposed.
You should measure temperature of the pile at about 2 to 3 feet into the pile at chest height
daily while the pile is heating. Do not make the pile any higher than 6 to 8 feet. Turn whenever
temperature starts to reach 155 to 160 F.
If the pile smells bad, turn it immediately! Bad means ammonia, sour milk, swamp gas, vinegar or
vomit smells. Turn immediately and again the next day. If you smell stink when dig in the pile to
put the thermometer in, turn immediately as well. Typically with the starting mix I gave you, you
will reach 135 F in 24 hours, and 155 in 3 days. First turn is
typically at 3 days.
If you reach 160 faster than 3 days, you put too much high N and should add in more woody stuff
right now. If you never make 135 F, you have a toxic chemical in the pile and have to add sugar
and perhaps N as well to help the bacteria break down that nasty stuff. If temp goes up to 155
and stays there, the pile is going anaerobic. You have to turn.
Particle size is important. If the particle size is too fine, oxygen diffusion is too limited and
the pile will start to smell or will never cool down. If particle size is too large, the pile dries
too fast and you don't get good decomposition. Maturity is defined by turning the pile when it is
at 60 to 70% moisture and not seeing a temperature rise following that turning, assuming the pile
went through a normal temperature and decomposition cycle.
Static piles and worm-composting go through different processes of making good compost, but the
end products are just as good if done correctly. Tea made from good compost should contain the
organisms and soluble nutrients from the compost. The compost used to make tea should be mixed
back into the compost pile.
Hope this helps! Let me know how things go, and if you have more questions, fire away!
Elaine
Q #3:
Elaine,
After farming (corn/soybeans) for close to 30 years and for the past few years learning that there
is an abundance of nutrients in the soils here in swMN, I have felt that the proper approach to
fertility should be releasing what is there rather than adding to the bank.
I'm just an average farmer and after finding your site tonight know your work is way above my education
level but would like to ask you what approach you might suggest for me to try bringing life back into
my soils?
Sincerely
David
A #3:
Hi David -
The easiest way to get started is to read some of the books on soil organisms and understand what they
do for you, or come to a workshop that we put on here, or come to one that will be held nearer to you.
The list of places is on the website.
Basically, you probably should send a soil sample to SFI and let us find out what the health of your soil
is - what organisms are present, and which, if any, need to be helped. We let you know which ones are out
-of-whack for the plants you are growing, and give you lots of ideas on how to fix the problem.
As someone doing corn-soybean rotations, you know that corn is a heavy N user, but you typically replenish
that N when you plant soybean, because they form a mutualism with N-fixing bacteria. But so often the
pesticides used kill the N-fixing bacteria, and then you lack to set of beneficial bacteria, as well
as many of the other disease-inhibitors. We need to work with you to make sure the beneficials are
all present in your soil. Growing a crop becomes easier once the life is back because disease and
pests are so much reduced, and the plants directs the soil life to supply the foods it needs.
So, learning about this life that should be in your soil is the first step, then learning what is in
your soil and how to go about bringing back what is missing is next.
There's a new publication out, called the Soil Biology Primer. You can get the address to order it
from the Soil Foodweb website. That's probably the easiest publication about the foodweb to comprehend.
Elaine Ingham
Q #4
Hi Melanie -
Caught me just hours before I leave again! You wrote:
I will be applying compost to a very large perennial garden and shrub beds in Coburg. My customer has
had repeated problems with spider mites on her burning bushes, mugo pines, and a columnar type of
juniper as well as root weavil problems with her kinninnick, epimedium, and rhodys.
If we get the right set of organisms established, these critter problems will go away. Not completely
disappear, but no longer in epidemic mode.
Spider mites tell us that the PLANT is putting out volatile compounds because it is in stress. The
mites home-in on those stress compounds. So, we need to help the plant out of that stress reaction.
Most likely, these plants are in bacterial-dominated soils, when they require fungal-domination in
order to have the right form of N. These plants need mostly NH4 in the soil, not NO3. They want
slightly acidic soils - say pH 6 to 6.5, although they do ok in pH 4.5 soil. But they don't like
soil pH above 7. If you make the soil right to grow corn - which is the paradigm that your standard
soil chem lab uses for their recommendations - your conifer, shrub and perennial plants will not be
happy, will most likely be stressed, and will put out stress compounds that attract mites, weevils
and root-feeding nematodes.
Melanie wrote aslo:
She has had the shrubs treated commercially for the root weavil and spider mite infestations. I
would like to know if we could use an inoculant or specific type of compost to prevent, at least
the spider mite problem. The beds have received a mixture of garden compost, mushroom compost and
steer or chicken manure two times per year for the last three years. The area is fairly large as
her lot covers an acre with the house.
The steer and chicken manures were both probably strongly bacterial-dominated. You want something
much more strongly fungal to maintain pH, form of N and build soil structure.
We would want to look at some of the roots of these plants to see if they have, or do not have,
the right mycorrhizal fungi. I can almost bet they lack the beneficial fungi, given the mite and
weevil problem you describe, but you know us scientists - we have to have data before we're
willing to do anything....
I'd aerate the soil (poke tines into the soil to make tiny cores) and then fill the holes with
Jack's fungal compost. You could hedge your bets on the mycorrhizal fungus and get an inoculum
of both VAM and ectomycorrhizal spores from Ted St. John (tstjohn@cosmoaccess.net along with
his suggestions on how to best get it to the roots.
I personally would mix the mycorrhizal inoculum into the compost, and then rake the compost/mycorrhizal
mix lightly over the aerated areas so the holes fill with the compost/inoculum. Ted will tell you
that you won't get much colonization that way, but all we need is a little. After that the fungi
will take off this summer and by fall, the problem is gone.
If the roots are already mycorrhizal, the inoculum isn't needed, though, so maybe just Jack's
compost for now. Send us roots so we can check colonization. You could also send some soil for
us to check the foodweb and if fungi in general are too low, use a compost tea made with LASE
to feed all the good fungi and select against the bacteria causing you
problems.
A fungal-compost tea applied to the foliage will also take care of the spider mites, as long
as in the meantime you remove the plant's stress, which results in the signal to the mites
to eat the plant.
Elaine
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Unisun Communcations is proud to announce the release of....
Dr. Elaine Ingham Talks on the Soil Foodweb---An audio CD Lecture Series.
The first in the series of 8 lectures is "An Introduction to the Soil
Foodweb" and is now available! We hope you decide to purchase this
first CD. If you have an interest in helping us distribute this line
of products we'd love to chat with you further... Please read on!
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DR. ELAINE INGHAM's CURRENTLY PUBLISHED WORKS
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Compact Disc: Dr. Ingham Talks on the Soil Foodweb
Speaker: Dr. Elaine Ingham
Lable: Coyote Hill MultiMedia
Distributor: Unisun Communications
Format: Double CD Set
These are not live recordings. All of the CD's are recording in a state
of the art digital recording studio and are of the highest quality.
Diagrams accompany the CD on the inside jacket.
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CD Series #1--"An Introduction to the Soil Foodweb" NOW AVAILABLE
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Dr. Elaine Ingham discusses the important functional groups of organisms
that live in soil, how and why they enhance plant growth and production.
This is the introductory talk about the Soil Foodweb. All other CD's assume
an understanding of this introductory material.
Included in this Double CD set:
-The seven benefits of a beneficial soil foodweb.
-Who starts the process? Soil organisms or plants?
-Disease suppression: Working together.
-Nutrient retention: Bacteria and Fungi
-Production of plant available nutrients: Protozoa, nematodes
and microarthropods
-Getting rid of toxic compounds.
-Soil structure: Bacterial bricks, fungal walls, protozoan,
nematode and microarthropod engineers.
-Some considerations about plant health
For more information, to order, and to even PREVIEW her CDs please
visit http://www.soilfoodweb.com or visit us at http://www.unisun.org/artists/ingham
If you wish more to get information on distribution, wholesale/reseller
pricing, and press opportunities with Dr. Ingham and other Unisun Communications
& Coyote Hill Multi Media Products please let us know and we'll give you
a direct phone call!
Peace,
Samuel Anthony Ettaro II
Unisun Communications
http://www.unisun.org
(541)367-8980