Compost and compost tea is not fertilizer, but an infrastructure for soil
Compost and compost tea is not fertilizer, but infrastructure for your soil. This is really good place to start with learning how the Ecology and Phenology in soil works. We start with what we know and branch out. Definition of fertilizer: Fertilizer is made of a salt consisting of Ammonium (NH4) & Nitrate (NO3). [...]
Inoculating store bought Chanterelle, Porcini and Morel Mushrooms with Oak, Elm and Ash
Inoculating store bought Chanterelle, Porcini and Morel Mushrooms are all difficult mycorrhizae mushrooms. They need a host tree or plant to evenly exchange nutrients for the mushroom to survive. If you want to grow these types of mushrooms, you need to inoculate your trees with the mushrooms. To this date there is no sure way to [...]
Using Dead Fish as Aquaponics Fertilizer – Decomposing Fish
This is an explanation of using dead fish as Aquaponics Fertilizer – Decomposing Fish. Throughout the year, I harvest my fish or they die on their own. For the ones that die on their own, I normally throw them in the compost bin; but I found a way to use the Aquaponics system as a [...]
Compost Tea Brewing Equipment
Compost Tea Brewing Equipment can be bought as a kit or made with some house hold items around the house. The description posted here are for the DIYers. Compost Teas are used for disease suppressions on leaves on trees or plants. Once the compost tea is made, it is placed on tree leaves to prevent bacterial [...]
Case study using companion planting, compost, cover crops, examples of locations and what type of soil to use for growing grapes.
Here is a case study where we are using companion planting, compost, cover crops, examples of locations and what type of soil to use for growing grapes. Location is everything! Traditionally, grapes are planted on a slope where the sun can shine on them all day. They are planted only 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down on a [...]
Fruit flies
There are four stages in this growth process; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Following is a (very) brief description of each of them. Stage 1: Egg – Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime of less than two weeks! They will only lay their eggs in the surface of moist, organic [...]
Dissolved Oxygen Meter RS232 Connection Cable and Data Collection (EXTECH 407510A) for use with Compost Tea Brewing
When brewing Compost teas, it is very important the whole brew does not go anaerobic. That means the dissolved Oxygen in the water/brew can not go below 5.5 mg/L of dissolved oxygen. This can be measured using a Dissolved Oxygen meter. If you are very serious about making good compost teas, you may want to [...]
Preparing Extract Samples
Preparing compost extract samples is the easiest sample to make. It is identical to makeing compost tea samples. You do not need to ratio water with the tea. The down side is you really can’t tell how much of each animal is in the tea. When testing for compost teas, you are really looking for [...]
Soil Test Equipment
Testing your won soil with a microscope is fun, but there is a large learning curve. It is simple to make the samples, but identifying the animals on the slides takes a lot of practice. Here is a list of items you need for basic microscope soil analysis. These items can be used for analyzing compost, [...]
Using Compost Tea for Pest and Disease Suppression Control
Compost Tea is the easiest and safest way to control blight, leave curl and most fungi problems in trees. The process is very simple. Spray compost tea on the leaves and tree branches. Yes, this does not go into the ground, but on the upper canopy of the tree. About 4 weeks before buds open [...]
Florakill Miticide (bifenazate)
Usefull for controlling Spider Mites – Two Spotted, Pacific, Strawberry, European Red, Citrus Red, Clover, Southern Red, Spruce and Bamboo – Use as directed: Spider Mites on all types of ornamental plants 4 oz – 8 oz per 100 gallons of water. Bifenazate has a solubility in water of 3.8 mg/L at 20°C, and [...]
Chinch
What to use to Control: Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA For more Information on Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA and how to use it, Click Here
Making Compost Teas – Video
Here are some simple How To Vidoes to Make Compost Teas. For more information on Compost Tea Application schedules for preventing diseases see, For more Information on applications schedules for Tea Applications, Click Here For more Information on Disease and Pest Suppression using Compost Teas, Click Here Compost Teas/Extracts Foods, Click Here Making Compost Teas [...]
Azotobacteraceae Nitrogen Cycle (Nitrogen Fixing Plants)
Azotobacteraceae’s purpose is to take food from the plant through the roots, eat it, change it to a protein. Once the protean is released, nitrifying bacteria covert it to a Nitrate. Nitrate is fixed nitrogen. It is the same thing as chemical fertilizer but made by the soil ecosystem. You can buy Azotobacter from any [...]
Cabbage worm
Cabbage worm Use: Bacillus thuringiensis, Kurstaki(This product is produced by: Biobit, Dipel, MVP, Steward, Thuricide) This can be purchased at any hydroponic store. Where to buy this, Click here Videos on Natural Ways to Control Insects. Click here if you want to learn more. More Insect Control. Click here if you want to see more.
Testing Confocal Microscope on Compost Tea
Here is an interesting test case of compost tea made this week. The tea was brewed with protists and fungi in mind. The tea was made in a 5 gallon bucket with 4 tablespoons of liquid kelp and 4 tablespoons of fish hydrogisate. It was bubbled for 48 hours at 68 degrees F. Below is [...]
Creating Soil with Mulches and Composts
This is a semi-cost method to create soil from really neglected soil or soil that had been buried for years and is used a planting bed. Advantages: totally organic (remember chemicals and fertilizers cost money), This gets things up and running in a short time. It is great for the first time gardener. Disadvantages: Costs [...]
Composting for Growing Soil, Compost Teas and Compost Extracts – Videos
Gardening Rhythms: Advanced Composting Part 2 (2010) (YouTube Part 1) Gardening Rhythms: Advanced Composting Part 2 (2010) (YouTube Part 2) Gardening Rhythms: Advanced Composting Part 2 (2010) (YouTube Part 3)
California Wild Lilac – Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’
Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’ This is a California native plant. It is best planted next to a Western Red bud for great Spring color. The bush needs to be trimmed back hard, yearly to prevent the bush looking woody and straggly. California Lilacs, or Ceanothus, are some of our most fragrant and colorful shrubs here in [...]
Paenibacillus durum (formaly Clostridium durum)
Paenibacillus durum (formaly Clostridium durum) was described by Smith and Cat as the dominant organism in a sediment core from the Black Sea. It digests it and produces NO2. Paenibacillus durum is important in established older gardens where there is a higher count of Protozoan and Nematodes. It fixes nitrogen from NH4 as part of [...]
Bacillus stearothermophilus
Bacillus stearothermophilus is a thermophile and is widely distributed in soil, hot springs, ocean sediment, and is a cause of spoilage in food products. It will grow within a temperature range of 30-75 degrees Celsius. It appears in compost piles at the hot part of the cycle.
Pump Batteries
The battery is the last thing people think about. In this case, I have used an 11 amp-hour 12 volt sealed lead-acid battery. It is strapped to the bottom of the applicator using Velcro bought from the local fabric store. It is recharged once a month. I used a cheap motorcycle battery charger. Any 12 [...]
Compost Extractor Attachements
I found a need to have three attachments to apply Teas and Extractions to everywhere. In the picture below, there is a normal chemical sprayer tip. Very thin Compost Tea will pass through it, but it normally gets plugged up with something. The center of the nozzle had to be clipped off with a pair [...]
Cavitaion Solutions
Cavitation is the formation of gas bubbles of a flowing liquid in a region where the pressure of the liquid falls below its vapor pressure or in this case (0 psi). When a pump creates cavitation, it destroys the micro-organism by allowing the internal pressure of single cell organism to explode the through the cell [...]