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I would like to know what sparyer set-ups people
who are having success with CT are using.
What is the micron size of the organisms and how
small can the filters,screens etc. be on sprayers.
Right now I have a 25 gallon sprayer with a 12 volt
diaphragm pump that pumps at 40 psi .7gpm. The screen on the intake
blocked the residues that came along with the tea I bought from a growing
solutions machine which is filtered down to 850 microns (i think).
Daniel
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2002 8:27
AM
Subject: Re: Subject: [Compostteas] CT
application
In response to Daniel's
question about application rates:
I agree with what Jeff said - most
machines are making decent tea, and thus the standard amounts relative to what
you are applying the tea for should be used. Jeff did a great job of
summarizing that information.
One additional piece of information,
however. The volume of tea per acre depends on the organisms in your
tea. That is why it is important to learn by testing a couple of your
first teas what your machine typically makes. Typically, fungi have been
the hardest to extract and grow in tea, so base your tea volumes on the fungal
biomass you have in the tea.
If you are less than 2 micrograms total
fungi, you will have to apply more than 5 gal of tea per ac. So, if your
fungi are 1.5 micrograms, and you need 2 micrograms, then how much tea do you
need to put out to get 2 micrograms? Instead of 5 gallons of tea, apply
8 per acre.
If you have 1 microgram, then to get the 2 you
need, you apply 10 gallons per acre. and so on.
What if you have
over 5 micrograms of fungi? Then you could reduce the amount of tea
applied per acre, given that the bacterial biomass was there too.
Most people look at what the tea machine manufacturer can achieve with
a standard recipe. You compare what you put in your recipe to what the
manufacturer has, and figure if you will grow more or less fungi or bacteria
given what the machine maker reports on their website. Then you could
adjust volume based on what you are making in your tea.
The tea
machine-makers who report no data what-so-ever on their sites make it
impossible for you to know what volume of tea would be reasonable to apply.
They let you, the customer, down by not having that data on their
websites.
Neither SoilSoup nor Growing Solutions help their
customers by having that data on their websites. However, for the GSI 25
gal machine, there is data on www.hendrikusorganics.com
If you are going to buy a GSI machine, I'd go look on
the Hendrikus Schraven website first.
So, go with standard
amounts (5 gal/acre) if you are using a machine from a tea maker who is not
afraid to show you what their machine actually does. Those people who
show you the data from their machine happen to make machines that make good
tea. If a tea machine maker doesn't show any useful data about what
their machine does, you might wonder about their product quality.
Elaine Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc.
In a message dated
6/7/2002 2:58:44 PM Pacific Standard Time, madhava AT fidalgo.net writes:
have some questions about application of CT. I've heard
that good tea can be used from 1 to 5 gallons per acre and that good
dilution rates from 5 to 1, to 10 to 1. How are people applying the
tea to get these types of coverage? Is there a difference between soil
applications and leaf applications?
Thanks,
Daniel
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