Why Compost Tea?
The Theory of Actively Aerated Compost Tea
Bob's Brew Cycle
Why Compost Tea?
Introduce Multitudes of Diverse Microorganisms who
Form Mutually Beneficial Relationships with
Your Desired Plant Species and
Together Perform the Functions of a
Healthy Soil Food Web
Tilling the soil, harvesting crops and the use of fertilizers, reduced the original vast number and diversity of microbes that are essential in fertile soil. This reduction of
microbes led to apparent need for and use of chemical fertilizers. The
result was a further loss of friendly microbes. With fewer microbes farmers had to
increase irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and to cope with insects and disease that followed, added pesticide poisons. This killed the rest of the natural
microbes. The high cost, low profits, low yield, lost favor, lost nutrition,
erosion, floods, plant diseases, threat of loss of plant species, damage to ecology,
signs of damage to animal and human health followed. This sequence threatens the
economic survival of agriculture.
In nature from the beginning, microbes fed and protected the plants, furnished macro and
micro nutrients. To obtain this service from the microbes the plant provided
nutrients to the microbes. The massive presence of microbes protected the plant from
pathogens, gave the soil qualities essential to healthy plants, microbes and soil.
Impressive results have been obtained by returning the microbe population to the soil. The
return can be made with the application of Compost or with Compost Tea (CT).
Compost is a very effective. Use is encouraged. However applying compost to
large areas involves many tons. Compost affects the scene in a way that limits when
it can be applied.
Compost TEA also adds microbes, benefits the soil and plants, affects the scene little,
can be applied at less cost and at most times. Than allows CT to be applied to
benefit soil and foliage and to manage plant problems.
Microbes improve rain absorption and water retention, reducing erosion,
improve plant health, appearance, productivity, flavor and nutrient content and shelf
life of edible plants. These benefits come with significant added retail value,
cost savings, and is safer for the farmers and consumers.
What are some of the accomplishments of Compost Tea (AACT)? In addition to
improving gardens and lawns and golf courses parks and roadways?
AACT saved a strawberry farming region that had destroyed itself and the soil food web of
the beds with methyl bromide poison.
Returning microbes to those fields restored flavor and nutrition to the berries, returned
the original high yield, reduced the cost of product, increased income, saved these farms
and this crop in the region.
The millions of palm trees have been destroyed and are threatened by a root infection.
The palm trees of a casino were sick with the infection. Returning the AACT
microbes was part of the treatment to the soil and to the root system saved that saved
those trees and established an organic way to save palm trees world wide.
A banana plantation yield had been reduced below economic use by a disease that threatens
bananas with extinction. Microbes including those in CT returned the plantation to
normal yield. An organic method for the banana crop is now known with non-toxic
natural CT microbes.
California's Live Oaks have been dying with an "incurable disease". Microbes of CT
returned trees already defoliated to good health.
This June a watermelon grower in Taiwan wrote in compost_tea@yahoogroups.com reports that
he had enjoyed the best crop, the best tasting, the best customer response of any melon
crop ever. He used AACT. No fertilizers, no pesticides.
The examples go on. The future of AACT is just beginning. This non-toxic
soil/plant support system is "just beginning to sprout. It will become a forest".
AACT will improve agriculture, support ecology, improve our health, help return
ravaged land areas to fertile fields, all in a very cost effective way.
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THE THEORY OF ACTIVELY AERATED COMPOST TEA
History reports the use of "teas" that were manure leachates or "poop in a bag soaked in
a bucket of water". These forms of "tea" were reported to have had a good effect on
plant growth. Bio research would say the plants grew in spite of the tea.
Often it did not work well and "Compost tea" lost
credibility. biology of such systems proves that the tea formed
in this way was anaerobic. Anaerobic "tea" produces methane and alcohol and permits
the growth of E-coli and other adverse pathogens. All detrimental to plants and
people.
Is it Anaerobic? If it smells bad it is and don't use it
Actively Aerated Compost and actively aerated compost tea are biologically very different
from anaerobic products. Aerobic compost is composted with a supply of
air/oxygen. Aerobic microbes propagate. These are the microbes that protect
the plants from pathogens. With effective aeration no anaerobic microbes flourish. The resulting compost has a very large aerobic microbial and fungal count to overwhelm pathogens ant to build up the.
If it smells good (a little earthy) its aerobic and ok to use
Actively Aerated Compost tea starts when AAcompost is immersed in non-chlorinated water,
with nutrients and oxygen. This "brew" is agitated, to extract microbes from
the compost into the water. Nutrients provide the food that causes the microbes
to multiply. Enough oxygen assures propagation of aerobic microbes.
A good tea cycle will increase the original microbial count x 1000's over a 12 - 24 hour
brewing cycle. The cycle is considered complete when the nutrient has been
consumed. This is detected by a rise in the oxygen level. To assure aerobic
conditions, air must be kept supplied to the "brew" until the tea is applied.
The tea is ready for transfer. TEA may be hand dipped, gravity flow or pumped to
whatever means is used to apply the tea. The tea is then applied in one of four
ways:
Soil drench: Floods the soil, letting it soak in.
Tea is often applied with added de-chlorinated water and optionally with added
nutrients to feed the microbes and the plants.
Injection: A nozzle injects the tea deep into the soil
usually to a root zone.
Foliar: Compost tea is applied to foliage.
Purpose is to feed and protect the plant.
Irrigation system: Compost Tea may be added to
irrigation systems. Note; that water must not be chlorinated.
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BOB'S BREW CYCLE
Bob's cycle follows the ideal cycle for making Actively Aerated Compost Tea.
Water at near 75F is de-chlorinated by Air. Bob's brewer unit is hung in position
in the tank. The aerator in place. A torrent of small bubbles rises from the
bottom of the chamber, aerates the water and circulates water thruout the tank.
The calibrated scoop is filled with a combination of the compost, the nutrients and
enough warm water to dampen - not wet - the mix. This mix can be made a day in
advance. After at least an hour aeration to reduce chlorine, with the air "on" the
mix is fed into the top of the brewer. Fit the cap on the brewer chamber.
It's loaded.
A screened area of the chamber allows water and air to circulate from the chamber in from
and out to the tank. This aeration causes the water in the tank to circulate
rapidly through the brewer to assure a well oxygenated brew yet is gentle enough to allow
for microbial propagation. After 5 to 12 hours remove the chamber. Reset the
aerator deep in the water and continue air for a total of 18 to 24 hours and until the
TEA is transferred for applications. It is best to use the tea as soon as possible
after the brew cycle is completed. Aeration can continue this way with some loss of
microbes for up to 5 days. There are no mechanical impellers or high velocity jets
in a Bob's system to destroy the microbial population.
Since all the essential working elements are contained in the chamber the Bob's system
adopts readily to many different size and shaped tanks. The amount of compost and
nutrients used are adjusted in the recipes to the volume of the tank. This makes
the Bob's system very flexible and economical. Each Bob's unit can handle a wide
range of common tank sizes.
Bob's Brewers
9616 Fauntleroy Way SW
Seattle, WA 98136
Phone: 206-937-2901
Email: bob@bobsbrewers.com
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