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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I have been reading a lot about soil life and the contribution it makes to the soil. The majority of sources believe that a fungal dominant soil is best. Spraying molasses on soil increases bacterial life. Fulvic and Humic Acid encourage the growth of fungi. Are any of you paying attention to this or doing anything to encourage fungi or bacteria to grow? If you are inoculating your soil, what are you using as an inoculant? Some of us are using aerated compost tea. Are you trying to add aerobic bacteria or fungi to your soil or both or which as the dominant one? And if you are using ACT do you have a special formula you are using that directs fungal or bacterial growth?

3/26/2020 11:59:26 AM

Grittyville, WA

I think all those little boogers steal nutrients from my plants... Really I dont have a clue marv but they can churn out some serious acidity especially when adding sugars to the mix & brewing... so watch out. Maybe watching the ph is the key?

3/26/2020 12:50:33 PM

Grittyville, WA

No ACT for me... A lot of work and unless you have a good ph tester dont bother with it...

3/26/2020 1:07:59 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I would like a balanced mixture when i brew. The shotgun approach makes sense to be. Put the beneficials in and let conditions decide which thrive. I think that mine are probably more bacterial. To get the best fungal tea,i think you need to prepare the starter base a few days before brewing.

3/26/2020 1:16:04 PM

Central NY

We use the Wallace Wow tea....all of the yum, none of the scum....

3/26/2020 1:59:12 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Check out this site for info on aerated compost tea.

http://www.gardeningwithmicrobes.com/aact.shtml

3/26/2020 2:00:43 PM

Team Canuckle Heads

Same site part 2
http://www.gardeningwithmicrobes.com/teaarticle2.shtml

3/26/2020 3:31:10 PM

Norfolk, UK

Like everything it depends - plant, soil or type of application (for ACT) might change what you are looking for.

Broad brush, i think trees like fungal, row crops generally like balanced, but brassicas if i remember tend to err on bacterial (?)

If applying a ACT, bacterial dominant compost tea is said to be preferable (p.53 of the below)

Some interesting blurb - also chips on on impact of soil on what you might add via ACT is on page 52 of Ingham's CTA manual:

https://www.academia.edu/31999318/The_Compost_Tea_Brewing_Manual_Fifth_Edition

In practical terms - if ACT, I'm looking for balanced and apply it both foliar and drench. I'm not fussed on trying to make a different specific recipe just for a quick foliar - maybe that's being lazy. A friend did a microscope check of my compost, and interestingly it came back heavily bacterial - so to get something balanced I opted to buy in (e.g WOW).

The recipes a little later talk about tweaking for one side for another. Key point tho - if it's not in the compost to start with, regardless of your recipe, it's not multiplying. I suspect many who use own compost in ACT are likely bacterial in nature, whatever recipe you use which mirrors what i found in my own compost.

I don't dig as a cultivation practice - tends to lend itself to high fungal than digging which encourages higher bacterial count from soil disturbance (i believe)

3/26/2020 3:32:06 PM

Norfolk, UK

sorry - line three - if applying a ACT **As a foliar**, bacterial dominant tea said to be preferable.

3/26/2020 3:33:37 PM

Norfolk, UK

As we're all on lockdown, should you find nothing on Netflix, you can always take a look at an old compost sample of mine being checked under the microscope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJPWl68aT_s I thought it would have some fungal in it, but no. Interesting to see the process of how it waschecked. No whizzy lightening bolt effects in the video tho! :)

3/26/2020 3:57:05 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Doug, I did not see any fungi at all. Were there some? What did you use to make that compost and how old was it? Did you buy a microscope?

3/26/2020 6:06:30 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

When I first started making compost tea, I bought a microscope that I thought should have had enough power to see what I was getting. It did not work. On Tad's website, he listed some microscopes that are sufficient. Unfortunately a few thousand dollars is not in my budget. I think most of us our brewing blind. Porkchop, I would be interested to know the diversity of species that you are getting from WOW. Tad, in some of the emails I exchanged with him, said that packaged compost tea mixtures are better than nothing, but still not optimum. He explained his reasonings, and I could think of nothing to dispute it.

I have to think that the best ratio of bacterial/fungal would depend on what the soil that you are applying to consists of. If it is slow decomposing, fungal should be better.

Marv...you are missing something...it is also possible to brew a nematode predominent tea.

3/26/2020 6:16:19 PM

Norfolk, UK

No fungi in it.

I didn’t buy a microscope, but a friend had one and did the analysis.

Compost was 1-2 years old, bedding of a hard brown straw type material together with chicken waste from my hens.

I thought the brown material though have been okay for fungi growth, but the learning was (taking to manufacturer after the microscope analysis) that source material was cut green.

Although brown and dry in appearance, in composting terms it was still “green” in the green / brown mix you should have. So leans to bacterial compost vs balanced due to the mix ratio.

3/26/2020 6:16:54 PM

Central NY

Which ones do the Wallace wow tea have?.....Domingos like those ones...meematoads?

3/26/2020 7:20:15 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Compost high in nitrogen usually grows bacteria and low in nitrogen tends toward fungi as I recall. Fungal compost never reaches high temperatures while bacterial because of high nitrogen really heats up all things considered. My compost pile is low on nitrogen, never gets over 110 degrees and is fungal.

3/26/2020 7:20:30 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

You are throwing a new variable into the process Marv, I most certainly could control brewing temps. I have plenty of hydroponic chillers to do it. Brewing blind is the hold-up...how do you know what to do if you can't see what you are getting.

Diversity of species is another area that can be really explored. Is one type of bacterial or one type of fungal more beneficial than the rest. This subject is giant growing...phd level.

3/26/2020 7:36:51 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I read somewhere that tomatoes grow best in soil that is dominated by fungi. That doesn't mean there are no bacteria. There are millions of them, just not as many as there are fungi. I don't know which inoculate is best. The best advice I have seen is to take some compost from the bottom of your pile and use that. One to two cups per 5 gallons of ACT brew. Any bacterial inoculate you use for seeds or whatever should have at least 50 different bacteria. No one has said exactly which ones, just lots of different ones. Also the fungi and bacteria should be aerobic, meaning they do best when there is lots of oxygen in the brewing mix or the soil. I could end up getting a microscope. I don't know anyone who has one. My farm agent might have one. I have become very interested in the soil and soil life but it is too late for me to get a PhD in anything.

3/26/2020 8:52:38 PM

Gone With The Win

I made ACT last year with my worm castings last year along with blackstrap molasses, yucca extract, humic and fulvic acid, liquid kelp and liquid fish fertilizer. I really couldnt tell a difference in my tomato plants other than when I splashed the last out of the 5 gal bucket onto the plant it burned the leaves? I think it should be diluted?

3/26/2020 10:07:37 PM

Gone With The Win

Are we talking about soil drench or foliar feeding?

3/26/2020 10:18:45 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

If you are burning leaves..you are not brewing correctly. Without a food source...the biology will die quickly. Burning leaves means you are putting on something that is already toxic. I would say, that the biology did not burn your leaves...more that the unbroken nutrient ratio did. Applying before the cooking is done. Pushing microbiology to the limit might not be for the faint hearted....biggest problem i have read about compost tea brewing...lack of oxygen.

3/26/2020 10:19:41 PM

Gone With The Win

yea I agree bnot I didnt think it was anerobic it could of been though. maybe I need to monitor the o2 level?

3/26/2020 10:26:19 PM

Gone With The Win

BNOT I use the ecoplus 793 GPH 3000 LPH That should of gave plenty of o2? you my use this one as well.?

3/26/2020 10:31:50 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

I have quite a few airpumps. My preferred pump is the AirForce Pro 80 Linear at 1363 gph. For my hydroponics, i use AirForce 15's. Unfortunately, the diaphram on the 80 went out last summer so I used an ecoplus. I have various sizes. The ecoplus pumps move a lot of air, but what I don't like...they are very noisy. Which pump you use depends on what volume you are brewing. I brew in a 55 gallon drum. The first year I tried it, I had my best results ever, and the plants that had the most tea were the biggest. I will continue to use compost tea. It is smelly, messy and otherwise not an enjoyable experience to make the tea, but I think it improves results.

3/27/2020 7:24:57 AM