Beneficial fungi & bacteria for palms

[PalmatierMeg]

I've been trying to find more organic ways of feeding and maintaining my palms during growing season - more so since my area prohibits use of fertilizers with Nitrogen & Phosphorous from June to Oct. I'm moving toward using fish hydrosilate and seaweed extract. In the course of my research I've read about the merits of beneficial fungi and bacteria and ways they can be added to gardens to improve plant health. My interest is piqued because where I live the substrate is awful, alkaline, sandy, calcareous fill (did I mention my soil stinks?).

So, do any palm enthusiasts here add theses "beneficials"? If you do, when and how often? And do they work for you? If these microbes will help my palms get through another winter, I'm game to try.

[Ken Johnson]

I don't like what I'v heard from the PHD's about switching from man made to organic for palms in poor soil in Florida.

One thing I do like is one year time release fertilizer. Put it down after the ban and it will still be there during the ban!

[Kumar]

Forgive me for deviating off-topic but my larger palms have large lizard populations in the crown and nests of red ants within their exposed roots and between the two the local area is kept clear of those obnoxious garden snails, moth larvae and beetles. The red ants do pose a problem to my flowering shrubs though (by cultivating aphids) and I'm in a fix as to whether to carpet bomb their nests, given that my palms have always shown excellent growth.

[Tyrone]

I've been trying to find more organic ways of feeding and maintaining my palms during growing season - more so since my area prohibits use of fertilizers with Nitrogen & Phosphorous from June to Oct. I'm moving toward using fish hydrosilate and seaweed extract. In the course of my research I've read about the merits of beneficial fungi and bacteria and ways they can be added to gardens to improve plant health. My interest is piqued because where I live the substrate is awful, alkaline, sandy, calcareous fill (did I mention my soil stinks?).

So, do any palm enthusiasts here add theses "beneficials"? If you do, when and how often? And do they work for you? If these microbes will help my palms get through another winter, I'm game to try.

I've once innoculated my garden with nitrogen fixing bacteria. The garden took off, but I also did lots of other stuff, so it's hard to pin it down to just that. Basically soil microbes are what you get by having a well mulched and organically infused soil. Fish and seaweeds are great to improve soil structure and have many plant beneficial hormones and also feed microorganisms.

Basically with your alkaline, sandy, calcareous soil, it will be absolutely impossible to overfeed it with organics, and acidifiers. I would be applying peat by the truckload, and giving everything a good lashing of sulfur. If you can bring the pH down in the root zone (not easy, and it takes time) you'll unleash any locked up elements already in your soil but unavailable to the plants.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazon exotics]

I like the way Ken thinks!

[trioderob]

the Kelp really works well.

at first I thought it was a gimmick but having tried it first hand can tell you

that it is great stuff.

Edited July 6, 2010 by trioderob

[Ken Johnson]

I've been trying to find more organic ways of feeding and maintaining my palms during growing season - more so since my area prohibits use of fertilizers with Nitrogen & Phosphorous from June to Oct. I'm moving toward using fish hydrosilate and seaweed extract. In the course of my research I've read about the merits of beneficial fungi and bacteria and ways they can be added to gardens to improve plant health. My interest is piqued because where I live the substrate is awful, alkaline, sandy, calcareous fill (did I mention my soil stinks?).

So, do any palm enthusiasts here add theses "beneficials"? If you do, when and how often? And do they work for you? If these microbes will help my palms get through another winter, I'm game to try.

I've once innoculated my garden with nitrogen fixing bacteria. The garden took off, but I also did lots of other stuff, so it's hard to pin it down to just that. Basically soil microbes are what you get by having a well mulched and organically infused soil. Fish and seaweeds are great to improve soil structure and have many plant beneficial hormones and also feed microorganisms.

Basically with your alkaline, sandy, calcareous soil, it will be absolutely impossible to overfeed it with organics, and acidifiers. I would be applying peat by the truckload, and giving everything a good lashing of sulfur. If you can bring the pH down in the root zone (not easy, and it takes time) you'll unleash any locked up elements already in your soil but unavailable to the plants.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

You can pore straight hydrocloric acid on our soil and it will not change the pH. It will just "melt" the calcium and leave a hole.

It is true that you can create an artificial layer of soil for the highest tips of the roots to find but that is also where roaches and thier friends live, in the mulchy loam, eating root tips! It's a tough battle here and in some places only basic soil lovers will survive and just barely at that.

In the Keys we have native palms that find homes in pockets of rock where detritis collects. These are often skinny and bear few seeds compaired to "farmed" palms of the same type.

Slow released fertilizers do help in that you can clear the ground around the palm, kill the insects and give the root tips a chance. If you build soil and kill the insects you will have an advantage and some of the acid lovers can be coaxed to grow but don't let up on the fertilizer as they are quick to decline.

I never seem to have enough fertilizer, that stuff is expensive with all its chelated minors and all, but I do what I can. I keep after the insects. I can tell when I am doing a good job on the insects because the lizards leave looking for food.

[Tyrone]

Ken, you'd be right at home with hydroponics.

[Kumar]

Why not grow legumes / alfalfa / azolla / soyabeans as understory plants - these will increase nitrogen levels in the soil and are regularly found by coconut plantations.

[GTClover]

Edited July 8, 2010 by GTClover

[Tyrone]

Pea hay is used a lot over here.

There are many types of Rhizobium bacteria and they don't need to live in legume root nodules to work. They do require organic components in the soil and a sufficient iron level in the soil to work.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Jonathan]

Why not grow legumes / alfalfa / azolla / soyabeans as understory plants - these will increase nitrogen levels in the soil and are regularly found by coconut plantations.

Exactly, plant legumes!

If you follow Kens advice, you are basically growing hydroponic palms as Tyrone pointed out, which means constant and expensive applications of all elements, major and minor, and an endless struggle to keep them in balance.

A lot of tropical rainforest grows on a very thin layer of topsoil over heavily leached substrate (including limestone - in Australia, China, Borneo, etc). The constant and fast recycling of nutrients from fallen debris is often the only source of nutrients in these systems - no one goes out there and throws phosphates around.

I suspect the the key to plant health is diversity in soil flora and fauna in a stable, natural system - the modern mania for cleanliness creates sterile soils and a good income stream for fertilizer companies.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Tyrone]

Why not grow legumes / alfalfa / azolla / soyabeans as understory plants - these will increase nitrogen levels in the soil and are regularly found by coconut plantations.

Exactly, plant legumes!

If you follow Kens advice, you are basically growing hydroponic palms as Tyrone pointed out, which means constant and expensive applications of all elements, major and minor, and an endless struggle to keep them in balance.

A lot of tropical rainforest grows on a very thin layer of topsoil over heavily leached substrate (including limestone - in Australia, China, Borneo, etc). The constant and fast recycling of nutrients from fallen debris is often the only source of nutrients in these systems - no one goes out there and throws phosphates around.

I suspect the the key to plant health is diversity in soil flora and fauna in a stable, natural system - the modern mania for cleanliness creates sterile soils and a good income stream for fertilizer companies.

Cheers,

Jonathan

Agree with that Jonathan.

I case in point is with the local Xanthorea preislii that grow around Perth on our pathetic rubbish sands. I'm working on a garden where one was installed about 5 years ago, and it's going yellow. It needs some slow release macrocote that I will give it soon. It's growing in it's native soil, yet yellows. Just up the road in the bush, they're all green with no yellowing. The difference. Leaf litter. This garden doesn't have the leaf litter recycling regime that the wild bush has, so it yellows and needs human help. There's a lot we don't understand about soils and I bet a lot that fertiliser companies do not want us to know. Nature had it right all along to get this far, despite what we're doing to wild ecologies.

On the legume side of things, I've had some lupins come up in my front palm garden. I will let them grow and maybe let them seed. Then chop the parent plant off at the base and compost it. The palms will love the nutrients.

Best regards

Tyrone

[monkeyranch]

Meg your on the right track using fish fish hydrosilate and kelp extract. Of course you can apply directly to the soil but a newer approach is to not feed the plant but to "feed the soil"(i.e. the microbes/soil food web). This is the main principle of brewing compost tea. Healthy soil is composed of an aerobic food chain of organisms. Mycorrhizal fungi grow on the surface of roots (ecto) and between root cell spaces (endo). These symbiotically obtain nutrients for the plant through enzyme reactions and the plant provides food and habitat for the fungi. There are other fungi free dwelling within the soil such as saprophytes which decompose organic matter. Bacteria also decompose matter. Protozoa munch bacteria. There are nematodes both detrimental (root feeders) and beneficial (predators and fugal/bacteria feeders). There are arthropods of different sizes which shred matter into smaller components. Of course there are earthworms which do the same (utilizing bacteria within their guts). There are even large creatures such as insects( ex. potato bugs and earwigs) and mammals (ex. moles and gophers ggrrrr) all dwelling in this complicated ecosystem in the soil. The microbes also yield humic acid (humus) which is the "glue" of soil bonding mineral and organic into nice crumbly particles with porous spaces for air and water. Bird, bat, and other animal poop and plant detritus infuse nutrients into the system from above. This is a dynamic (not static) process. All of this activity produces healthy soil (hopefully) over time with these creatures all in balance. In compost tea you first culture the microorganism components (similar to a sourdough starter), then give them food to multiply them, and then apply them to the soil to give poor soil a "push in the right direction" towards this self sustaining system. Here is a summary of the tea process. 1) Soak 1/2 quart quality compost(bacteria, nematode, and fungi inocula source), 1 qt. high quality worm castings (bacteria) and 1 qt. quality dry granulated humus (protozoa and humic acid) (Baseline is a good brand) in a 5 gallon bucket just covered with water for 2 hours. 2) Over a 55 gallon food-grade plastic barrel put bucket contents into large mesh tea bag (look online) letting water strain into barrel. Put 1/2 quart wood chips/leaf matter with obvious mycorrhizal filaments into tea bag. I usually get this from a wood chip pile that has been decomposing (try tree trimmer companies) or from under a local large healthy tree. This is for a healthy fungi inocula source. 3) Close up tea bag and hang in barrel filled to 40 gallon mark with water. Bubble (air pump) for four hours. This extacts the "starter" of creatures. 4) Fill barrel to 55 gallon mark blasting water through tea bag and kneading/massaging the bag to flush particles through the mesh. Don't worry about this being perfect. Set aside/discard tea bag full of materials( you can put into garden as top mulch). 5) Add 2 cups fish hydrosilate and 1/2 cup Maxicrop(kelp) to barrel to feed/grow the creatures, and put lid on and bubble for around 24 hours( longer when air temp is cool). The bubbling assures plenty of oxygenation and selection of the aerobic(good) over the anaerobic creatures. 6) Brew will smell fishy for this time until it is done when it will change to a "foresty" smell. This indicates the critters have used up the food and have multiplied to a peak. The tea is now ready. 7) Apply to soil within 24 hours or the critters begin to die off without food. I dilute with 1-2 parts water. For the initial applications some like to add additional mycorrhizal powder inoculant which can be bought commercially( if used only needed once). This makes a large batch but it is cheap to make and useful for all landscaping. After using tea for two years I'm finding the soil in the ground and in containers is vastly improved and plants come out of winter season needing little to no food. The critters are doing soil building on there own and I have used no nutrient this year. You can eliminate tea applications as the soil reaches a productive balance. I've even had micronutrient deficient plants improve in less than a week as the microfauna bring adsorbable molecules to the roots. A top dressing of compost/detritus/mulch is added once a year to continue feeding the soil building process. This even works in hot climates in which soil processes consume organic matter quickly (ex. tropics and Australia). This is a very simplified synopsis and I recommend all horticulturalists explore this topic further. "Teaming With Microbes" from Timber Press is the best intro to the topic. Doctor Elaine Ingham formerly of Oregon State is one of the main proponents of these ideas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Ingham . This page has a great diagram explaining this topic http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html . Also search youtube for Doctor Ingham and other compost tea brewing videos. A common grocery store brand Driscols Berries out of California is using this method and converting their operations to organics. And strawberries are very prone to fungal problems and traditionally heavily sprayed with chemicals. The tea will not produce nutrient runoff (chemical or organic) into lakes, etc. associated with other feeding methods. Earlier post WWII chemical ag. skipped right past this understanding of soil biology and went strait for "nuclear" solutions such as methyl bromide, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Yes these produce fast results but in the long run they actually destroy soil life requiring more inputs (great i.f you're the chemical company). They also contain concentrated heavy metals. Most are now aware that conventional fertilizers salinize the soil even requiring extensive tile drainage flushing in arid climates (Imperial Valley). Let's embrace these "new" organic methods which work with an understanding of the natural systems rather than against it.

Edited July 11, 2010 by monkeyranch

[Tyrone]

Meg your on the right track using fish fish hydrosilate and kelp extract. Of course you can apply directly to the soil but a newer approach is to not feed the plant but to "feed the soil"(i.e. the microbes/soil food web). This is the main principle of brewing compost tea. Healthy soil is composed of an aerobic food chain of organisms. Mycorrhizal fungi grow on the surface of roots (ecto) and between root cell spaces (endo). These symbiotically obtain nutrients for the plant through enzyme reactions and the plant provides food and habitat for the fungi. There are other fungi free dwelling within the soil such as saprophytes which decompose organic matter. Bacteria also decompose matter. Protozoa munch bacteria. There are nematodes both detrimental (root feeders) and beneficial (predators and fugal/bacteria feeders). There are arthropods of different sizes which shred matter into smaller components. Of course there are earthworms which do the same (utilizing bacteria within their guts). There are even large creatures such as insects( ex. potato bugs and earwigs) and mammals (ex. moles and gophers ggrrrr) all dwelling in this complicated ecosystem in the soil. The microbes also yield humic acid (humus) which is the "glue" of soil bonding mineral and organic into nice crumbly particles with porous spaces for air and water. Bird, bat, and other animal poop and plant detritus infuse nutrients into the system from above. This is a dynamic (not static) process. All of this activity produces healthy soil (hopefully) over time with these creatures all in balance. In compost tea you first culture the microorganism components (similar to a sourdough starter), then give them food to multiply them, and then apply them to the soil to give poor soil a "push in the right direction" towards this self sustaining system. Here is a summary of the tea process. 1) Soak 1/2 quart quality compost(bacteria, nematode, and fungi inocula source), 1 qt. high quality worm castings (bacteria) and 1 qt. quality dry granulated humus (protozoa and humic acid) (Baseline is a good brand) in a 5 gallon bucket just covered with water for 2 hours. 2) Over a 55 gallon food-grade plastic barrel put bucket contents into large mesh tea bag (look online) letting water strain into barrel. Put 1/2 quart wood chips/leaf matter with obvious mycorrhizal filaments into tea bag. I usually get this from a wood chip pile that has been decomposing (try tree trimmer companies) or from under a local large healthy tree. This is for a healthy fungi inocula source. 3) Close up tea bag and hang in barrel filled to 40 gallon mark with water. Bubble (air pump) for four hours. This extacts the "starter" of creatures. 4) Fill barrel to 55 gallon mark blasting water through tea bag and kneading/massaging the bag to flush particles through the mesh. Don't worry about this being perfect. Set aside/discard tea bag full of materials( you can put into garden as top mulch). 5) Add 2 cups fish hydrosilate and 1/2 cup Maxicrop(kelp) to barrel to feed/grow the creatures, and put lid on and bubble for around 24 hours( longer when air temp is cool). The bubbling assures plenty of oxygenation and selection of the aerobic(good) over the anaerobic creatures. 6) Brew will smell fishy for this time until it is done when it will change to a "foresty" smell. This indicates the critters have used up the food and have multiplied to a peak. The tea is now ready. 7) Apply to soil within 24 hours or the critters begin to die off without food. I dilute with 1-2 parts water. For the initial applications some like to add additional mycorrhizal powder inoculant which can be bought commercially( if used only needed once). This makes a large batch but it is cheap to make and useful for all landscaping. After using tea for two years I'm finding the soil in the ground and in containers is vastly improved and plants come out of winter season needing little to no food. The critters are doing soil building on there own and I have used no nutrient this year. You can eliminate tea applications as the soil reaches a productive balance. I've even had micronutrient deficient plants improve in less than a week as the microfauna bring adsorbable molecules to the roots. A top dressing of compost/detritus/mulch is added once a year to continue feeding the soil building process. This even works in hot climates in which soil processes consume organic matter quickly (ex. tropics and Australia). This is a very simplified synopsis and I recommend all horticulturalists explore this topic further. "Teaming With Microbes" from Timber Press is the best intro to the topic. Doctor Elaine Ingham formerly of Oregon State is one of the main proponents of these ideas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Ingham . This page has a great diagram explaining this topic http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html . Also search youtube for Doctor Ingham and other compost tea brewing videos. A common grocery store brand Driscols Berries out of California is using this method and converting their operations to organics. And strawberries are very prone to fungal problems and traditionally heavily sprayed with chemicals. The tea will not produce nutrient runoff (chemical or organic) into lakes, etc. associated with other feeding methods. Earlier post WWII chemical ag. skipped right past this understanding of soil biology and went strait for "nuclear" solutions such as methyl bromide, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Yes these produce fast results but in the long run they actually destroy soil life requiring more inputs (great i.f you're the chemical company). They also contain concentrated heavy metals. Most are now aware that conventional fertilizers salinize the soil even requiring extensive tile drainage flushing in arid climates (Imperial Valley). Let's embrace these "new" organic methods which work with an understanding of the natural systems rather than against it.

It took me a bit to read and digest, but well done for posting such a well thought out response. I've seen over the years ways of brewing your own soil organisms, but have never tried it myself. Instead I've just put tonnes of manures and composts and mulches onto my soil plus a few other things and sat back and let it do it's own thing. Now at least my top layers are thick black humus overlaying native sand. Before it was just water repellant sand. I used to be really hard on my garden soil until I started landscaping other peoples gardens and realised just how far I'd actually developed my garden soil. It's excellent now. But like you say you have to periodically input new organics to feed the process. After all, my palms will deplete the soil if I don't put anything back in. My garden has really rocketed considering it was first planted in Oct 2000 and now I have dense jungle 12m tall on average. I have used chemical ferts as well, but never on their own and I use next to no pesticides, only if I absolutely have no choice.

I think soil is a very complex symphony of living things that is largely going on unseen. It's more than just some dusty grubby matter that holds the plants up. Thanks for your post and I think you have highlighted the reality of the subject really well.

Best regards

Tyrone

[tjwalters]

Ken - better yet...put it down right before the ban.

Meg - I've often wondered about the beneficial fungi/bacteria for containerized palms. Usually they are potted up using a sterile peat-based medium, so would be sans beneficial microbes. Can these critters be obtained anywhere and used as an additive when potting up containerized palms?

[Jonathan]

Meg your on the right track using fish fish hydrosilate and kelp extract. Of course you can apply directly to the soil but a newer approach is to not feed the plant but to "feed the soil"(i.e. the microbes/soil food web). This is the main principle of brewing compost tea. Healthy soil is composed of an aerobic food chain of organisms. Mycorrhizal fungi grow on the surface of roots (ecto) and between root cell spaces (endo). These symbiotically obtain nutrients for the plant through enzyme reactions and the plant provides food and habitat for the fungi. There are other fungi free dwelling within the soil such as saprophytes which decompose organic matter. Bacteria also decompose matter. Protozoa munch bacteria. There are nematodes both detrimental (root feeders) and beneficial (predators and fugal/bacteria feeders). There are arthropods of different sizes which shred matter into smaller components. Of course there are earthworms which do the same (utilizing bacteria within their guts). There are even large creatures such as insects( ex. potato bugs and earwigs) and mammals (ex. moles and gophers ggrrrr) all dwelling in this complicated ecosystem in the soil. The microbes also yield humic acid (humus) which is the "glue" of soil bonding mineral and organic into nice crumbly particles with porous spaces for air and water. Bird, bat, and other animal poop and plant detritus infuse nutrients into the system from above. This is a dynamic (not static) process. All of this activity produces healthy soil (hopefully) over time with these creatures all in balance. In compost tea you first culture the microorganism components (similar to a sourdough starter), then give them food to multiply them, and then apply them to the soil to give poor soil a "push in the right direction" towards this self sustaining system. Here is a summary of the tea process. 1) Soak 1/2 quart quality compost(bacteria, nematode, and fungi inocula source), 1 qt. high quality worm castings (bacteria) and 1 qt. quality dry granulated humus (protozoa and humic acid) (Baseline is a good brand) in a 5 gallon bucket just covered with water for 2 hours. 2) Over a 55 gallon food-grade plastic barrel put bucket contents into large mesh tea bag (look online) letting water strain into barrel. Put 1/2 quart wood chips/leaf matter with obvious mycorrhizal filaments into tea bag. I usually get this from a wood chip pile that has been decomposing (try tree trimmer companies) or from under a local large healthy tree. This is for a healthy fungi inocula source. 3) Close up tea bag and hang in barrel filled to 40 gallon mark with water. Bubble (air pump) for four hours. This extacts the "starter" of creatures. 4) Fill barrel to 55 gallon mark blasting water through tea bag and kneading/massaging the bag to flush particles through the mesh. Don't worry about this being perfect. Set aside/discard tea bag full of materials( you can put into garden as top mulch). 5) Add 2 cups fish hydrosilate and 1/2 cup Maxicrop(kelp) to barrel to feed/grow the creatures, and put lid on and bubble for around 24 hours( longer when air temp is cool). The bubbling assures plenty of oxygenation and selection of the aerobic(good) over the anaerobic creatures. 6) Brew will smell fishy for this time until it is done when it will change to a "foresty" smell. This indicates the critters have used up the food and have multiplied to a peak. The tea is now ready. 7) Apply to soil within 24 hours or the critters begin to die off without food. I dilute with 1-2 parts water. For the initial applications some like to add additional mycorrhizal powder inoculant which can be bought commercially( if used only needed once). This makes a large batch but it is cheap to make and useful for all landscaping. After using tea for two years I'm finding the soil in the ground and in containers is vastly improved and plants come out of winter season needing little to no food. The critters are doing soil building on there own and I have used no nutrient this year. You can eliminate tea applications as the soil reaches a productive balance. I've even had micronutrient deficient plants improve in less than a week as the microfauna bring adsorbable molecules to the roots. A top dressing of compost/detritus/mulch is added once a year to continue feeding the soil building process. This even works in hot climates in which soil processes consume organic matter quickly (ex. tropics and Australia). This is a very simplified synopsis and I recommend all horticulturalists explore this topic further. "Teaming With Microbes" from Timber Press is the best intro to the topic. Doctor Elaine Ingham formerly of Oregon State is one of the main proponents of these ideas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Ingham . This page has a great diagram explaining this topic http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html . Also search youtube for Doctor Ingham and other compost tea brewing videos. A common grocery store brand Driscols Berries out of California is using this method and converting their operations to organics. And strawberries are very prone to fungal problems and traditionally heavily sprayed with chemicals. The tea will not produce nutrient runoff (chemical or organic) into lakes, etc. associated with other feeding methods. Earlier post WWII chemical ag. skipped right past this understanding of soil biology and went strait for "nuclear" solutions such as methyl bromide, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Yes these produce fast results but in the long run they actually destroy soil life requiring more inputs (great i.f you're the chemical company). They also contain concentrated heavy metals. Most are now aware that conventional fertilizers salinize the soil even requiring extensive tile drainage flushing in arid climates (Imperial Valley). Let's embrace these "new" organic methods which work with an understanding of the natural systems rather than against it.

Great info....I make and use compost and liquid manure regularly, but have only read about compost tea.

Its handy to have the process spelt out in such a clear manner, and it might just be the perfect booster in my crappy acid sand.

Thanks.

Jonathan

[PalmatierMeg]

Ken - better yet...put it down right before the ban.

Meg - I've often wondered about the beneficial fungi/bacteria for containerized palms. Usually they are potted up using a sterile peat-based medium, so would be sans beneficial microbes. Can these critters be obtained anywhere and used as an additive when potting up containerized palms?

Tom, I've started ordering fish hydrosilate and kelp extract from these people. They also have other "beneficials" that gave me the idea for this post. Sometimes they offer free shipping.

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Organic-Store

[monkeyranch]

A few more comments. The wood chip amount should be 1 quart not 1/2 quart as I mistakenly wrote. The tea can also be applied as a foliar spray (diluted 1 part tea/1-3 parts water). This establishes a population of beneficial fungi and bacteria on the leaf surfaces warding off bad fungi, etc. There are some microscope videos on Ellaine's site, youtube, and others showing just how many critters are living on/in the plants and in the soil. Even humans are mostly a collection of microbes (90% of cells). Check this out for the "what the heck?" value: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/02/25/of_microbes_and_men/ This book demonstrates the ubiquity and importance of fungi in the world: "Mycellium Running" by Paul Stamets. This company has prebuilt brewers and supplies: http://www.biologicsystemsusa.com/ I built mine using local parts. Peaceful Valley Farm Supply has one of the best catalogs of organic solutions including biological innoculents: http://groworganic.com/default.html?welcome=T&theses=7657761 Very clear, and concise and free. Almost a mini textbook. I suggest you get one as there is a lot of information. There are organic methods for all horticulture problems. I no longer believe there are situations in which there is no choice but to use chemicals.

Edited July 30, 2010 by monkeyranch

[ExperimentalGrower]

On 7/11/2010 at 3:09 PM, monkeyranch said:

Meg your on the right track using fish fish hydrosilate and kelp extract. Of course you can apply directly to the soil but a newer approach is to not feed the plant but to "feed the soil"(i.e. the microbes/soil food web). This is the main principle of brewing compost tea. Healthy soil is composed of an aerobic food chain of organisms. Mycorrhizal fungi grow on the surface of roots (ecto) and between root cell spaces (endo). These symbiotically obtain nutrients for the plant through enzyme reactions and the plant provides food and habitat for the fungi. There are other fungi free dwelling within the soil such as saprophytes which decompose organic matter. Bacteria also decompose matter. Protozoa munch bacteria. There are nematodes both detrimental (root feeders) and beneficial (predators and fugal/bacteria feeders). There are arthropods of different sizes which shred matter into smaller components. Of course there are earthworms which do the same (utilizing bacteria within their guts). There are even large creatures such as insects( ex. potato bugs and earwigs) and mammals (ex. moles and gophers ggrrrr) all dwelling in this complicated ecosystem in the soil. The microbes also yield humic acid (humus) which is the "glue" of soil bonding mineral and organic into nice crumbly particles with porous spaces for air and water. Bird, bat, and other animal poop and plant detritus infuse nutrients into the system from above. This is a dynamic (not static) process. All of this activity produces healthy soil (hopefully) over time with these creatures all in balance. In compost tea you first culture the microorganism components (similar to a sourdough starter), then give them food to multiply them, and then apply them to the soil to give poor soil a "push in the right direction" towards this self sustaining system. Here is a summary of the tea process. 1) Soak 1/2 quart quality compost(bacteria, nematode, and fungi inocula source), 1 qt. high quality worm castings (bacteria) and 1 qt. quality dry granulated humus (protozoa and humic acid) (Baseline is a good brand) in a 5 gallon bucket just covered with water for 2 hours. 2) Over a 55 gallon food-grade plastic barrel put bucket contents into large mesh tea bag (look online) letting water strain into barrel. Put 1/2 quart wood chips/leaf matter with obvious mycorrhizal filaments into tea bag. I usually get this from a wood chip pile that has been decomposing (try tree trimmer companies) or from under a local large healthy tree. This is for a healthy fungi inocula source. 3) Close up tea bag and hang in barrel filled to 40 gallon mark with water. Bubble (air pump) for four hours. This extacts the "starter" of creatures. 4) Fill barrel to 55 gallon mark blasting water through tea bag and kneading/massaging the bag to flush particles through the mesh. Don't worry about this being perfect. Set aside/discard tea bag full of materials( you can put into garden as top mulch). 5) Add 2 cups fish hydrosilate and 1/2 cup Maxicrop(kelp) to barrel to feed/grow the creatures, and put lid on and bubble for around 24 hours( longer when air temp is cool). The bubbling assures plenty of oxygenation and selection of the aerobic(good) over the anaerobic creatures. 6) Brew will smell fishy for this time until it is done when it will change to a "foresty" smell. This indicates the critters have used up the food and have multiplied to a peak. The tea is now ready. 7) Apply to soil within 24 hours or the critters begin to die off without food. I dilute with 1-2 parts water. For the initial applications some like to add additional mycorrhizal powder inoculant which can be bought commercially( if used only needed once). This makes a large batch but it is cheap to make and useful for all landscaping. After using tea for two years I'm finding the soil in the ground and in containers is vastly improved and plants come out of winter season needing little to no food. The critters are doing soil building on there own and I have used no nutrient this year. You can eliminate tea applications as the soil reaches a productive balance. I've even had micronutrient deficient plants improve in less than a week as the microfauna bring adsorbable molecules to the roots. A top dressing of compost/detritus/mulch is added once a year to continue feeding the soil building process. This even works in hot climates in which soil processes consume organic matter quickly (ex. tropics and Australia). This is a very simplified synopsis and I recommend all horticulturalists explore this topic further. "Teaming With Microbes" from Timber Press is the best intro to the topic. Doctor Elaine Ingham formerly of Oregon State is one of the main proponents of these ideas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Ingham . This page has a great diagram explaining this topic http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html . Also search youtube for Doctor Ingham and other compost tea brewing videos. A common grocery store brand Driscols Berries out of California is using this method and converting their operations to organics. And strawberries are very prone to fungal problems and traditionally heavily sprayed with chemicals. The tea will not produce nutrient runoff (chemical or organic) into lakes, etc. associated with other feeding methods. Earlier post WWII chemical ag. skipped right past this understanding of soil biology and went strait for "nuclear" solutions such as methyl bromide, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Yes these produce fast results but in the long run they actually destroy soil life requiring more inputs (great i.f you're the chemical company). They also contain concentrated heavy metals. Most are now aware that conventional fertilizers salinize the soil even requiring extensive tile drainage flushing in arid climates (Imperial Valley). Let's embrace these "new" organic methods which work with an understanding of the natural systems rather than against it.

This right here. I'm reading "Teaming with Microbes", definitely quite an education.