Gardening Rhythms

Using Compost Tea for Pest and Disease Suppression Control

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 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 in the Spring, spray a general with purpose Compost Tea weekly (This means a ratio of 1:1 for Fungi and Bacteria).  Do until the buds have broken open and leaves appear.  Keep doing every two weeks for the rest of the summer.  In the following year, do weekly for four weeks before bud breaks, than monthly after. You can not kill anything with too much Compost Tea.

For a video on how to make Compost Tea, Click here

For more information on soil micro-biology, Click here

When spraying, make sure to spray the trunk and branches as well.  Last, make sure to spray all of the ground around the tree; at least to the edge of the tree canopy.

For Videos on How to do Foliar Spraying with Compost Tea, Click Here

help improve tastes and control pests in tomatoes, spray every three weeks throughout the summer. 

 

 To change the colors of Hydrangeas to blue, instead of using Aluminum Sulfate, spray the leaves with Compost Tea when you do the trees.   Allow the tea to drop to the ground.  It will prevent Powderly Mildew and change the ph of the soil to allow the flowers to turn blue.

Here is an example of a leave problem on a peach tree two years ago.  Normally, this would have been dealt with by pulling off the leaves or using Horticultural Oils.

This is the same branch on the peach tree the following year using Compost Tea. Nothing else is done.

For more Information on Natural Pest Control, Click Here

How it works:

How Compost Tea suppression works is no secret.  On the leave surface, each leave cell has many ports where fungi and bacteria can connect to.  This is a normal process for plants.  Good and bad fungi can connect.  Good and bad bacteria can connect.  Each micro organism takes up a connecting  ”portal” on the leave cell.  About 70% of the leave needs to be covered with fungi or bacteria to sustain a healthy environment.  When a leave does not have most its “portals” taken up, pathogenic fungi and bacteria can take over.  Pathogenic means “disease causing”.  By spraying Compost Tea on the leaves, you are filling up most of the “portals” preventing pathogenic micro-organism from taking over.  That’s it!!  It’s very simple.

Because we use a lot of chemicals in our yard (include organic or inorganic federalizes) and don’t plant a diverse species of plants in our yards, most leaves only get about 10% of their leaves covered by bacteria and fungi naturally.  This leaves a lot of room for pathogens to take over, and they do. 

For more Information of Foliar Biology and Pictures of fungi and bacteria on leaves, Click Here

For Videos on How to do Foliar Spraying with Compost Tea, Click Here

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 at 5:58 pm. It is filed under Bacterium Control, Beginning Composting, Creating Compost Teas, Pest Control and tagged with Bacillus, bacteria, bacteria/protists, blight, CA Native Plants, Compost, Compost Extrations, control, disease, extracted organisms, Foliar, Fungi to Bacteria, gardening, Grape Compost Extractions, hydroponic, leave, leave curl, leaves, micro-organisms, monthly applications, mostly bacteria, nitrogen, pathogens, perennial, pest, photos, Plant, soil, spray, spraying, supplements, Suppression, tea, technique, using, Using Compost Tea for Pest and Disease Suppression, video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.