Compost Tea/ Extracts: Practical Applications

Quality is everything

Biology defines quality

Dr. Elaine R. Ingham www.soilfoodweb.com

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A Healthy Food Web Will: • Suppress Disease (competition, inhibition,

consumption; no more pesticides!) • Retain Nutrients (stop run-off, leaching) • Nutrients Available at rates plants require

(eliminate fertilizer) leading to flavor and nutrition for animals and humans

• Decompose Toxins • Build Soil Structure –(reduce water use,

increase water holding capacity, increase rooting depth)

Aerated Compost Tea!

1. AEROBIC, BREWED, Ambient temperature, oxygen is adequate

! 2. WATER EXTRACT

Water quality critical: pH, salts, temperature Energy to extract organisms

!3. of COMPOST

Compost quality is critical: NOT SMELLY

Definitions• Compost Extract – no brewing time, all the

organisms possible !

• Compost Leachate – no brewing, few organisms removed, basically enzymes, soluble nutrients !

• Plant tea – compost not involved !

• Manure tea – compost not involved – Anaerobic, pathogens present !

• Put-to-sleep teas – loss of 50% of species

Factors involved in making GOOD CT• Compost – AEROBIC! Organisms? Nutrients? • Aeration (extraction), Pump, Cleaning • Temperature – ambient, hotter is not better • Foods – check soil: Feed organisms that are low • Water - chlorine, chloramine, quality • Timing – time of day • Sprayer – Nozzle size, filters, pumps • Application factors: What’s missing in the soil

determines how much tea/extract to add • MONITOR

Find an Aerobic Compost

1. What Organisms are in the soil? 2. What Organisms does the plant need? 3. What Organisms are in the compost? 4. What foods will increase low organism

biomass? 5. How much food to add? 6. Protozoan Infusion if protozoa low or

missing

Start With Aerobic Compost…

Thermal compost – Jolly Farmer, New Brunswick, CANADA

Recipe GUIDELINES (where to start)

– Slow or limited aeration: Only add a total amount of “foods” equal to 0.01% of total water volume. (500 gal = 0.05 gal foods)

– If aeration moves surface reasonably well, only add 0.05% foods

– If aeration moves surface of water in rolling boil, max 0.1% addition of food

• MAX 1-5 gal of food total in 500 gal brew • Protozoa Infusion at 1% of liquid

Fungal Tea Recipe • Compost must have, MINIMUM:

– 300 ug/g high diversity bacteria – 300 ug/g beneficial fungi – 10,000/g flagellates and amoebae – A few beneficial nematodes/g

• Extract into the water at least those levels of organisms

• To 500 gal of water, add foods to grow fungi: 2 cups kelp, 1 gal of humic acid or 1 gal of fish hydrolysate, 2 cup oats/meals

Select a good machine Aeration: Can the machine keep the brew aerobic? !Extraction: Is water movement through compost strong enough to rip organisms from compost surfaces into the water !Pump: Are organisms killed as the tea/extract passes through the pump used to extract, pump tea into the sprayer, circulate !Cleaning: Biofilms release anaerobic organisms (diseases, pests) and toxic chemicals into the brew. All parts of the brewer must be easily cleaned !Ask to see DATA on organisms the machine can extract and grow

GeoTea Brewer

bob@greater earthorganics.com

Jolly Farmer, Canada

Tea machines in Mallanganee, NSW

Mookesti, South Africa

Fruit Growers, Ceres, South Africa

The Process

Cleaning the Machine !

Bio-films! !

Hidden surfaces are bad news !

LOOK inside the machine before you buy it! !!

How easy is it to clean the machine?

Foods

!Maximum amount of food to increase desired

organisms without driving brew anaerobic !

Fungal foods – humic acids, complex proteins, kelp, oatmeal, bran, fish hydrolysate, wide C:N ratio foods

!Bacterial foods – molasses, sugars, simple amino acids,

simple proteins, simple carbohydrates !

Dilute the tea if you add too much food

Temperature (water or air) !

Q10 effects – slower growth when colder (longer lag period), faster growth when warme

!

Food is used faster when temperatures are higher, less rapidly when cooler

!Oxygen is used up faster when temperatures are higher, and concentrations of oxygen in water is

lower as temperature rises

Oxygen used faster than diffusion replenishes if too much food

Oxy

gen

(ppm

) A

ctiv

ity

(ug/

ml)

0

2.5

5

7.5

10

Hours

0 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 2 35 38 41 44 47

Activity

O2

Aeration ended

Lower temperatures or less food solves the problemO

xyge

n (p

pm)

Act

ivit

y (u

g/m

l)

0

2.5

5

7.5

10

Hours

0 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 2 35 38 41 44 47

Activity

O2

68 F instead of 72 F; fewer foods

Organisms that can be added to compost or tea

!Fungi:

- Beauvaria, - Trichoderma, Gliocladium, - Mycorrhizal fungi

Bacteria: – Pseudomonads – Bacillus – Azotobacter, Rhizobium

Nematodes: Steinernema, Heterorhabditis

Good enough for the plant, it’s good enough for me!

Lynn Andrews !Merlin Organics !Tucson, AZ

G.W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas: recreate the Texas Prairie similar to the Bush Ranch

Ted Hartsig, CPSS Soil Life Consultant Olsson Associates

7301 W. 133rd St. Suite 200 | Overland Park, KS 66213 thartsig@olssonassociates.com

!James Sottilo

Soil Life Consultant, Michael Van Valkenburg Associates

!Earth Fortifications Supply Company

Soil Foodweb Lab Corvallis, OR 97333

!

The site before much construction started…..

September, 2013

DIRT! No Life, no organic matter

Compost – Life! Organic Matter!

September, 2013

G.W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas: recreate the Texas Prairie similar to the Bush Ranch

September, 2014

…to restore native prairie landscapes, you must restore the features of the native prairie soil that supports the Texas vegetation and inhibits non-native species.

Native grasses, from seed, rapidly germinated and had roots deeper than 8 to 12 inches within weeks of planting, with few, if any, invasive weedy species.

September, 2014

No pesticides, no inorganic fertilizers, no irrigation, no weeds

...a base soil of some of the original A horizon (very clayey, but good structure), then imported soil conditioned with compost and eventually LBA. Testing by Earthfort for biological condition.

….the same median about 2 to 2.5 months after soil placement and seeding with buffalo grass and Texas grama.

Applications!

Need to cover surfaces with bacteria and fungi so diseases cannot get to foliage, or roots

!!

How often, how much food to feed organisms once sprayed?

!!

Ask to see DATA on sprayer and coverage ability

Application Methods

Sprayers, pivots, drip, helicopter, planes !

Nozzle sizes – match compost bag mesh with nozzle opening !Time of day - Not important as long as water-drop size is greater than 1 mm. Evidence? Pivots !Water source – same considerations as for the brewer Pressure – not pressure, exactly but impact on surface

With Compost Tea

Without Compost Tea

100% of grape leaf covered by compost tea

70% covered by Botrytis cinerea

100% of grape leaf covered by compost tea

70% covered by Botrytis cinerea

70% compost tea

70% Botrytis cinerea

50% of grape leaf covered by compost tea

50% of grape leaf covered by compost tea

70% covered by Botrytis cinerea

10% of grape leaf covered by compost tea

70% covered by Botrytis cinerea

The Process

When to apply !

Soil Drench (20 gal/ac) spring and harvest OR 0.5 to 1 ton compost/ac

!On seed

!Crops – 1st true leaf, pre-, post-blossom

Perennials – Bud swell, monthly until no disease danger, weekly if disease pressure high

!Control – treatment DATA good idea in first year

Tea sprayed (green area) versus no tea area (brown)

Compost Tea Application Sept 7, 2003

Compost Tea Application Sept 7, 2003

Grass Seed, Willamette Valley, 2003

Compost Tea Test Trial

Summer 2003

by Abron New Zealand

Russell Snodgrass, SFI Advisor

Biological V’s Conventional Approach to Soil Management

Background• Trial area consists of two plots fenced off from stock and the

pasture harvested every 20-30 days using a mower !

• Trial was carried out on a conventional dairy farm in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand !

• All testing is done by Hill Laboratories and the Soil Foodweb Institute NZ !

• Trial overseen by Mark Macintosh of Agfirst Consultants !

• Trial started 1 October 2003 Trial finished 24 February 2004

Treatment• Compost Tea Plot

– Three applications of compost tea and foods at 150L/ha applied every 4 weeks starting in October 2003

– No fertiliser had been applied to the compost tea trial plot for the 12 months prior or throughout the trial

!• Control Plot

– Conventionally fertilised with urea at an application rate of 75kg/ha every 6-8 weeks (450kg/ha per year)

– Phosphate Sulphur Magnesium applied at industry maintenance levels

Total Dry Matter GrownK

g pe

r ha

7200

7450

7700

7950

8200

TrialControl Compost Tea

8133

7276

Average Clover % in Pasture Sward%

of c

love

r

0

12.5

25

37.5

50

TrialControl Compost Tea

42.5

6.25

Herbage Mineral Levels%

Incr

ease

ove

r con

trol

0

30

60

90

120

Minerals

Nitroge

n

Phosp

horus

Potass

ium

Calcium Zinc

Coppe

rBoro

n

Molybd

enum

Cobalt

Seleniu

m

Biological Soil Test ResultsBiomass Data Control Compost TeaActive Bacteria (ug/g) Total Bacteria (ug/g)

64.2 348

30.4 257

Active Fungi (ug/g) Total Fungi (ug/g)

0.5 113

144 227

Fungi to Bacteria Ratio 0.32 0.88Fungi Hyphal Diameter (um) 2.5 3Protozoa (per gram) Flagellates Amoebae Ciliates

!8395 8395 4046

!58730 5873 1767

Mycorrhizal fungi root colonisation (%)

0 4

Soil Foodweb test done 4 weeks after 3rd application - Dec 2003

Nematode

Type Control Compost Tea

Variance

Bacteria feeders 1.98 4.52 128%

Fungal feeders 0.99 1.58 60%

Fungal / Root feeders 1.09 0.24 - 78%

Root feeders 0.99 0.12 - 87%

Predatory Nematodes 0 0 0

Numbers per gram fresh soil

Key Results

• 11.78% increase in total dry matter grown over the control

• $307/ha increased milk income from the extra dry matter grown

• Big increases in herbage mineral levels, resulting in reduced animal health costs

• 780% increase in clover content giving the soil access to more free nitrogen

• Huge reductions in root feeding nematodes, providing a better environment for increased clover growth

Summary• The results from the trial show a significant

increase in total yield • More high quality pasture grown through the

summer means more milk at a lower cost • The huge increase in clover will mean

substantial reductions in fertiliser nitrogen - this is possible because of the increased nitrogen fixing ability of the clover