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

[Soilfoodweb AT aol.com]

Hi Kirk -

I am sorry to be so slow in answering some questions, but let me give you a clue 
about asking questions and getting answers from me. 

One question at a time is more likely to get answered than dozens in one e-mail.  The older I get the greater my attention deficit, I'm afraid.....

I understand the testing thing, and I think we can say that it you do a series of teas and learn what the color, smell and feel of your tea is, and then send a tea sample in for testing, and learn that it is good tea, then you know the characteristics of a good tea.  As long as your teas have those qualities you learned are good, then things are fine.  When the tea quality changes or is different, that's when you might not want to use the tea, or test it again.  

The paper towel test you suggest is a version of paper chromatography.  This is a version of the chroma tests used by the Luebkes and by George Liedig, if I remember correctly.  George runs Autrusa and sells the Sandberger turners.  Good machines.  He used to teach composting classes, but I don't think he does that anymore.  Anyway, the chroma test is a more complicated  version of what you suggest, but does tell you very interesting information.

Chromatography separates out different size molecules based on smaller molecules diffuse farther.  There is extreme importance to the texture and composition of the paper towel you use.  But, given that you keep these things constant, or as constant as possible given the variation in quality of towel material, this approach should be very useful.  

Thank you for suggesting it!  Could we work with you to correlate the data you have gotten so far, with the SFI methods?  The paper towel approach would be a much easier way to tell from a grower point of view!  Just have to know what the pattern on the towels meant!

Ya, Thanks!  Can you call me, or can we touch base soon?  

Elaine


> Dear Elaine, et al -- I'm a new subscriber enjoying this CT forum.  I've
> been making and selling tea at a farmers market in small quantities since
> last year.  I have devised one test I rely on to tell me if I've got OK tea.
> I would like to be able to do more testing but cost and time relevance are
> prohibitive.
>
> I would suggest that specific brewers and nutrient formulae are important
> but not nearly as important right now as is being able to test what you've
> got when it needs to be used.  I think we would all agree that using CT as
> soon after brewing as possible is the right way to go.  We need a simple,
> cheap, well-calibrated way to check CT on-site in real time if any of the
> experimentation we are all doing is to be validated anytime soon.  What
> instruments and parameters can we agree on and get propogated out there
> affordably?  Is there an opportunity for someone to put out a standard $10
> kit that can tell us we're on track with current batches?  I think there is
> but what it is is beyond me.
>
> The simple test I devised was an indicator of suspended biomass in the tea,
> I think.  I used paper towel strips dipped into the tea every few hours and
> found clear differences in the way they felt and smelled over time.  I
> thought there might have been some color differences, but there was little.
> After the strips dried, the feel of each strip differed dramatically,
> though, so I know I was measuring something, and I convinced myself it was
> biomass in two ways:  If it was bacterial, the stiffening of the paper was a
> sign of bacterial slime, and if it was fungal, it was hyphae grabbing onto
> the paper fibers.  Now is that a solid scientific insight or what?
>
> Help!  I want to test my stuff better but it needs to be affordable, quick
> and reliable, or it's not worth it.  If it's not worth it (i.e., not
> economic) CT progress lags, both economically and scientifically....  We
> need easy tests we can do ourselves that are calibrated with an
> international standard kit that supports consistent results and validatable
> reports.  Ya?
>
> -- Kirk Leoanrd