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

["Tom Jaszewski" <tomj AT lvcm.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Soil Foodweb, Inc." <info AT soilfoodweb.com>
To: <compostteas AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2002 12:01 PM
Subject: [Compostteas] Re: Compost tea pH


> Respone to Scott Maleny and Carole Eddingtion's questions/comments
>
> Compost Tea pH -  What is the right pH for tea?

OK, here I go treading into another area I lack expertise....

For all the years I have been managing palms, I've listened to the cries for
lower pH to improve, among other things, nutrient uptake. Previous directors
injected acids in an effort to lower water and, eventually, soil pH. No
significant changes were made in 8 years of injecting acid. No significant
differences in the visual quality, nor in the nutrient uptake.

I did the same thing as the morning I stopped using pesticides...I woke up
and pulled the injector system and focused on CT. For me there seemed to be
little point in concerning myself with something I have little control over.
The irrigation water we use is high 7.8-8.1 pH. It appears that most of the
ornamentals responded far better to regular CT spraying than any acid
injection. Oddly enough, fertilizer usage continues to drop despite the high
pH levels that continue to exist. Oddly enough in over two years of CT and
untreated water pH levels have NOT rose!

My home tomato plants, fed only on CT and calciferous, saline, and high pH
water are the most prolific ever. I don't expect blueberries would do well
in 115F! Perhaps sustainable practices also mean realistic expectations?
Crops that require lower pH shouldn't be grown in high pH soils and
irrigation water? CT and a healthy soil food web make this concern with pH a
part of the chemical paradigm, and are not as important with sustainable
practices?

Tom