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Subject: Compost Teas: 24 hour, EM, IM, BD & fermented plant extracts

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  • From: "Soil Foodweb, Inc." <info AT soilfoodweb.com>
  • To: compostteas AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Compostteas] New Thread - Humic acids
  • Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 19:20:36 -0500

Hello-
I bought bottles of Lase and Blend. My understanding is that
you created
the products although they are made by Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
There is not
much info on the bottle, especially for landscape gardeners
(I have my own
business), although Dr. Olaf Ribeiro has advised me to use
them. How much
should be used for a single tree? How often should it be
applied? Should I
spray the foliage, also? I use a backpack sprayer that I
also use to apply
Bobbex (highly refined slaughterhouse waste in a fish
fertilizer base) to
repel deer. I fill it with water three times and rinse it
after using- do
you think it is safe to use? Also, could I just use a
sprinkling can to
apply it to the soil? What rate do you think I should use?
Do you think it
would help with powdery mildew of rhododendrons? Lase should
be used for
woody plants, and their foliage?
Thank you very much for any assistance you can provide me.
Autumn

Hi Autumn -

No, I did not create LASE or Blend. Whoa, would the Bio
Huma Netics guys be unhappy to hear a rumor that I created
them!

Two really astute people realized that humic acid from
leonardite (the right leonardite, not just any stuff), and
the wonderful stuff in compost, put together, just right,
along with some algal stuff (gotta have the right algae),
some other organic things - proprietary - make a base that
can be used in a variety of ways. From soil to leaves to
water, the critters that grow on these products are
extremely beneficial.

The original company founded by these two people has broken
up, sorry to say, and so several versions of the product are
on the market. We haven't tested them all, but the products
made by Bio Humanetics, or Huma-Gro, can work quite well.
Not everywhere, not under all conditions. Anyone who says
their product works everywhere, under all conditions equally
well is lying to you. Don't buy anything from them, OK? Or
don't complain when it doesn't work then....

Anyway, SFI tested Blend and LAse in a variety of conditions
and yes, these products are foods that can grow very
beneficial bacteria and very beneficial fungi.

Given that you have the beneficials in your soil. You may
need to inoculate the beneficials with a little bit of
compost or compost tea to make sure you have the good guys
there.

Then, add Blend if you want more bacterial soil, like for
vegies, grass, annual plants. Use LASE if you want more
fungal soil, such as for trees, perennials herbs.

Now, we have seen places where these products work wonders,
and where they don't work much at all. Soils that are not
healthy are the ones where you see the greatest impact of
benefit form these products, given there is some life
present to be fed. But no organisms in the soil? Doesn't
do any good to add these products.....

When you have plenty of life, and lots of foods, adding more
food doesn't make much difference.

For a single tree, how healthy is it?

Does it need lots of resuscitation? Or a little? We're
talking a gallon per tree if the trees are in serious danger
of dying - and get some GOOD, AEROBIC compost down around
them too. Then mulch with good woody stuff.

If the tree is just a little peaked, a quart around the tree
would work. Maybe just a spray of 5 gallons per acre
compost tea into which you put a quart of LASE in 10 gallons
of tea would do.

If you have foliar disease, or a history of foliar disease,
then spray once every 14 days until dange of the foliar
disease is gone. With mildew, that's June to September.
With Taphrina, that's a two week period about now.
Black spot - once now and again when or if it starts coming
back.

More info on all this in the Compost Tea Brewing Manual.

The Bobbex sounds like concentrated fertilizer. Shouldn't
be any residual, it's all organic right? Extra food for
fungi.....

Sprinkling cans are fine for soil drenches. I generally
drench my lawn with a 5 gallon bucket. I get strange
patterns in the lawn sometimes, but they even out over the
course of the summer.

The LASE in the tea should help against the powdery mildew
of rhodies. We've had one or two people try it, and not
report success, but they never tested their teas to know if
they were doing a good job of making tea.

I love the folks in Seatlle, where two years ago, they
decided to try the "ingham method". They never checked to
see what tea recipe I would have used. They never tested to
see if the tea they made was up to snuff. The City of
Seattle sent a test in half way through the summer, and it
was awful. There were no fungi, few bacteria, no protozoa -
and they were upset when the tea "didn't work"

I have to shake head at those people. That's like you going
to the doctor, and she says "Take two of these every day for
three weeks", and you split the pills in half, forget to
take them most of the time, and mix them with stuff that
destroys the antibiotic. And then complain that the doctor
sold you bad stuff.

You need to check that you're making good tea. If you are
making good tea for the system you have, I have not seen a
failure. I've seen lots of failures where they don't do
testing, or adequate application. I've seen disease control
where the teas weren't adequate from my standards - for half
the summer, and then they were takenover by disease.

I'd use LASE, with maybe a little fish stuff to keep the
deer away, and feed some more fungi. A touch of honey, or
molasses - about an ounce per 25 gallons. The recipes from
the Compost Tea Brewing Manual are starting points, and you
change things to fit your land, conditions, from the very
first tea you make.

Hope this helps!

Elaine




  • [Compostteas] New Thread - Humic acids, Soil Foodweb, Inc., 05/26/2002

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