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

["Scott Alexander" <daylily AT bigpond.com>]

The continuing saga . . . .
This morning the D O reading was back up 6.5 from minus 2.5   the day
before.
Feedback from others suggested:-
1. I may have a "contaminated" pump, aerator, tank etc. and "bad" organisms
could have pulled the oxygen levels down.
2. Too much food.

At 8 am I put in approx. 10 kg's compost (fungal dominated).
Three hours later the D O went down to 4.5 to 5

At 5 pm I checked the readings after spending a couple of hours at
Nutri-tech Solutions and met up with some clients of theirs who were compost
tea "experimenters." Isn't it great to talk CT's with other folk
face-to-face? (my wife reckons i talk in my sleep about CT's!!   :-))
The D O reading was 5.6 to 6 and the temp. was 27 Celsius at 600 m above sea
level.

Peter, at NTS, gave me some CT food to try in my next brew and also advised
me to try to get more O2 into my tank.
I decided to slowly add 3/4ths cup of this stuff to a brew that was starting
to get some foam. During the next 10 minutes, I watched that D O meter
slowly drop to minus 1.5

WHY IS THIS ???

I shall pop out to the farm 3 km away from home later tonight and have a
peep (if I can drag myself away from the British Open Golf!)  . Are other CT
people this crazy?

Scott
PS  Do we have any leaf sap pH "experts" amongst us? I tested a few leaves
at NTS this afternoon and found that the sap in my daylilies is way down to
pH 5.5


YESTERDAY'S EMAIL
Since I bought a D O meter, I'm having real problems!
The last brew was a disaster - too much food, too much compost, and not
enough dissolved Oxygen in the tank. But I've been thinking and wondering
all week , why did the D O drop so quickly? Maybe there's something "wrong"
with one of the nutrients?

Yesterday I oxygenated 450 litres of water for 4 hours @ 20 Celsius  and
reached a D O  of 8.5
I added 1 litre of organic molasses and 1 litre of humic acid
Two hours later the D O was 7.6
I added 2 litres of a product from Nutri-tech Solutions called Seachange -
30% kelp, 60% fish and 10% fulvic acid.
Two hours later the D O was 7.5
This morning, 13 hours later, the temp was 21C and the D O was minus 2.5
!!!!!
This afternoon, 9 hours later the D O is minus 2 to minus 2.3
AND I STILL HAVEN'T PUT IN THE COMPOST!
What is happening in that tank???
For the D O to drop 9 points during the 13 hours, wouldn't there have to be
some microbe activity going on in the tank?
I have been using the same Humic acid and Seachange for months and have had
two very good brews (according to SFI). The organic molasses has been used
once before. It tastes OK but if any fermentation takes place, does that
mean there are some organisms in it that would multiply up in the tank in
all that dissolved oxygen?
I don't know if there were some anaerobic organisms hiding out in the pump
and equipment, but if there were, wouldn't the D O of 8.5 not be suitable
for them?

Now let me tell you about the Seachange which I have used since March. When
the 200 litre drum arrived in January, I took the advice of someone who had
put Biodynamic Preps in his. He told me how it had changed the consistency
and improved the smell of Seachange. I added the BD Preps 502 to 507 by
placing the tiny amounts in balls of compost (about the size of a golf
ball). Every two to three days I gave it a couple of stirs and after two
months it turned out smelling so nice I reckoned a few drops in a glass of
water would probably be good for you :-))

Anyone got any ideas?

Scott Alexander
MALENY
QUEENSLAND
AUSTRALIA