North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Kevin Moore <aleguy33@yahoo.com>]

I can't speak to the purchasing of the various products you describe. I make my own. As far as compost tea is concerned. I believe it must be kept aerated in order to provide its most important benefits. So buying a big jug that has been sitting on a shelf would be worthless in my opinion.

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From: Kieran &/or Donna <holycow@frontiernet.net>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:43:28 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] mychorizal fungal rip off?

I have to say that the people who "believe in" compost sprays are probably the ones who are getting results.  Years ago when we first bought our chunk of worthless red clay, I was given some BD "barrel compost".  I was told to just try it out, I didn't have to "believe" in it.  The effect was spectacular.  It was almost exactly comparable to the effect of using a foliar seaweed spray.  For about two weekd the garden would green up and grow well. 

    There have been discussions of foliar feeds on this group with many folks saying they do nothing.  Well, nothing compared to what?  Nothing compared to a garden in Iowa soil I can understand.  But with worthless soil, anything a plant can get is noticeably helpful.   I hear this kind of argument all the time.  According to people who don't have back pain and have never been to a chiropractor, chiropractors are worthless.  Iron supplements won't help if you don't have iron deficiency.  Mycorrhizal fungi won't help if you have rich soil filled with mycorrhizal fungi already.  But if your topsoil is ALL gone and you are starting with subsoil, it will probably be a big help.  Perhaps what we would all like to recieve is advertising that actually helps us to pick and choose products that will benefit us specifically, instead of just trying to get us to spend as much money as possible.  That's the difference  between a reputable company and the average company.  A reputable company wants our repeat business, so they try to help us choose products that fit our specific needs.        Donna