Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Steve Diver <steved@ipa.net>]

Hello again Michael -

See the May 2006 issue of BioCycle regarding 
vermicompost teas, published by Clive Edwards
at Ohio State Univ.  

That one article alone is sufficient to offer an
a completely different viewpoint on microbial
activity and bioactive substances obtained from 
compost teas, but there are dozens of other 
studies and practical examples that demonstrate 
that compost teas contain a diversity of microbes 
and compost tea-derived microbial activity is 
responsible for plant disease control and plant 
growth promotion. 

Your statement that compost teas benefit plant growth 
primarily and solely through mineral nutrients in total 
dissolved solids is just plain incorrect.  Many studies 
and practical experiences have shown otherwise.   

Of course you offer some worthwhile insights
on a couple of points, including endospores and 
microbial propagules as important components
of commercial microbial inoculant products.   

Keep in mind that compost teas are largely
a decentralized process made on the farm. 

Of course there are several compost tea centers 
where they are brewed and custom applied.   

Steve Diver  



-----Original Message-----
>From: Soilsecrets@aol.com
>Sent: May 27, 2006 10:33 AM
>To: tradingpost@riseup.net, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: [Livingontheland] Compost tea and bugs in a jug
>
> 
>In recent years there has been a big jump in companies  making and claiming 
>to have soil bio liquids, liquid inoculants and Compost Tea  like products. 
>What is the efficacy of these products?    
>As you may already know, I'm not a fan of any form  of Compost Tea, if it is 
>being touted as a microbial product.  The  facts are that the bacteria that 
>are capable of surviving and multiplying in a  compost tea are only those 
>that 
>are water borne regardless of how aerobic you  keep it.  Any Soil Amendment 
>business that attempts to get microbial  inoculants label approved in most 
>states 
>will find that the law is clear.  While the law states in almost every state 
>in the U.S. that if you are  making claims of benefits concerning these 
>issues 
>(listed below), then the  microbes documented in research to provide these 
>benefits are very specific and  can only be propagated and perpetuated on 
>the 
>roots of plants. Therefore the  manufacturing entity of these products, if 
>they 
>are claiming something exclusive  and unique, must own a nursery with 
>greenhouse facilities in order to grow these  microorganisms!  And that 
>facility must 
>be properly licensed and  approved by the state agency in charge of that 
>regulatory process.    
>Therefore here  are the benefits that legal claims can be made when dealing 
>with specific  root/plant mutualistic microorganisms:   
>-improving the health of plants 
>-improving the yield of crops 
>-improving the water uptake of plants 
>-improving the mineral nutrient uptake of  plants 
>-improving the resistance of disease 
>-providing a root-shield or protection from root disease   
>-providing competitive exclusion of pathogens in the  rhizosphere of plant 
>roots  
>None of these  claims can be made concerning the microorganism found in a 
>compost  tea! 
>Then the microorganisms that can legally be claimed to have  those benefits 
>and that can be defended in a court of law by demonstrating  research and 
>sound 
>scientific methodology, can only be microbes that are  mutualistic and 
>indigenous to the root system of plants.  This type of  association of 
>microorganisms are not water borne and cannot be propagated or  perpetuated 
>in a compost 
>tea.  It?s a myth that by keeping the leachates of  compost agitated and 
>aerated 
>along with feeding the tea products such as  molasses will increase the 
>Species Diversity, Count and Viability for the  objective of providing 
>landscape 
>material benefits of any of the claims listed  above.  The idea of measuring 
>the 
> value of a compost tea by looking at squiggly things swimming around in 
> your 
> viewfinder of your optical microscope proves only that you have microbial  
>action, but cannot be dependable for finding those specific microorganisms 
>that 
> these legal plant benefit claims can be made upon.  Species diversity tests 
>also prove  little when measuring a compost tea.  I can take a fresh 
>dropping 
>from my pet dog and analyze it for Species  Diversity and it will blow away 
>those measurements of the best made compost tea  in the industry.  But did 
>it 
>prove  that the product is the best product for inoculating or fertilizing 
>your 
>grass  or crop with? 
>In my judgment the main value of a compost tea is the  mineral nutrient 
>value 
>of the TDS (total dissolved solids) that leached into the  solution from the 
>compost.  Garbage  In ? Garbage Out!  If the compost  was made from crummy 
>products with little quality control and the method of  making the compost 
>was in 
>question, the final product will be junk.  Therefore the leachate or tea 
>extracted  from this junk will also be junk.   
>When legitimate Soil Inoculant labs make microbial products  and use a 
>liquid 
>as the carrier then those fungi or helper bacteria are put into  the liquid 
>in a seed state and not in an active phase. They will not be  squiggling 
>around 
>for you to see in an optical microscope.  The seed states of the mycorrhizae 
>are  called vesicles, spores and propagules while the seed states of the 
>bacteria are  called endospores.  Special care  must be done to balance the 
>chemistry of these liquid carriers so that the  liquid does not cause the 
>dormant 
>material to degrade, corrode or simply go  bad.  This is a very precise 
>process 
>requiring a  good knowledge of Integrated Bio Chemistry and not one that 
>someone making  compost tea is going to stumble upon by accident. 
>When anecdotal evidence suggests a benefit from a treatment  of compost tea 
>occurred, I'm willing to bet the tea provided some mineral  nutrients that 
>the 
>plant needed and not because of the microbial content of the  tea.    This 
>is 
>not a  solid foundation to stake a business ethics or success on as you will 
>not  succeed on purpose most of the time.  Success will happen only by 
>accident 
>every once in awhile.   
>Dr. Michael  Martin Melendrez  
>