reasons to add compost tea

in the past i have read here on RIU that people use compost teas to add microbes to the soil. today i read from a professor at washington state that microbes are not added to the soil when applying compost tea. He also said that adding air to the tea does not kill or prevent dangerous bacterias to grow. from what i understand he is saying that compost teas are somewhat pointless besides the nutrients that mix in with the water form the tea mix you use.
what are your guys thoughts on this?


https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/archive/2009/11/12/if-harvard-says-that-it-works-then-it-works-dammit.aspx

To me, if people must question/research whether or not compost tea even works, then the difference must not be significant enough to matter. I don't see the point in taking the time or $, supplies, etc. to mess with compost tea when there's no scientific evidence in it's favor... Yet, then again, I use SuperThrive (which also lacks scientific support) and I'm pretty sure it does what I mean for it to do, so I stick with it. If somebody tries a compost tea and so happen to have a great, successful grow then they're probably going to attribute much of their success to the compost tea (and all kinds of other things, depending on the situation of course.)

I prefer chemical nutrients in hydro, I've only recently began to play with soil and other mediums again so my answer may be a little biased though I don't mean for it to be.

Compost teas work. I use them. If I hadn't seen noticeable results, I wouldn't waste my time.

How do farmers grow world record sized veggies? Compost tea....

Ok, I actually read the article now, and I feel dumber for having done so. What a load of BS... No sources cited... Etc, etc...

The science is already out there, folks. The author of that article should read more.

ok after reading that all i want is links to controlled experiments of chemical vs compost tea grows

You can't really compare chemical and organic in a "controlled" experiment. They are two entirely different animals... Are you talking yield? Flavor? Aroma?

The article does not say that beneficial matter doesn't exist in compost tea, it says that there is NO evidence that the act of using compost tea does anything for the soil relationship. You don't need to cite anything, it just poses a challenge to present evidence that compost tea is needed to add soil microbes. The soil microbes are already in the soil. No 2 compost teas are ever exactly the same, so they seem uncontrollable to me. I'd prefer consistency. More importantly, you should feed the microbes & not try to 'create' more, IMO... but if it isn't broken- don't fix it! If you already get good results from something, then there is no reason to change it but that doesn't mean it will work for the masses.

|B3RNY| said:

The article does not say that beneficial matter doesn't exist in compost tea, it says that there is NO evidence that the act of using compost tea does anything for the soil relationship. You don't need to cite anything, it just poses a challenge to present evidence that compost tea is needed to add soil microbes. The soil microbes are already in the soil. No 2 compost teas are ever exactly the same, so they seem uncontrollable to me. I'd prefer consistency. More importantly, you should feed the microbes & not try to 'create' more, IMO... but if it isn't broken- don't fix it! If you already get good results from something, then there is no reason to change it but that doesn't mean it will work for the masses.

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this is what i was most intrested in. so the microbes in the compost tea would not survive the transfer? possibly get over taken or eaten by the ones in the soil?

that article was pointless. the only thing that guy wanted to do was bag on harvard. he must be mad cuz they wouldnt give him a job now hes stuck at washington state. he give no examples or links or anything to support his argument. sounds like a jilted professor.

If you want to learn from an actual scientist, read Teaming with Microbes.

Also, the biggest flaw in all these studies is, what is compost? what kind of compost was used?

For example, I make my own compost with food scraps, grass clippings, clover, alfalfa, raw chicken manure etc...

And run it through worms after it cooks. The result is a dark rich, alive, created earth.

When this type of fresh compost is used, the teas work wonders...

And the results are clear.

But if you use low quality, dead or otherwise not dynamic compost, the results will be such.

It's not peer reviewed. It's as valid as any advice you get from any RUI farmer in this forum.

compost teas are proven to work by gardeners. that's enough for me.

scroglodyte said:

compost teas are proven to work by gardeners. that's enough for me.

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Yup. My tomatoes, jalapenos, basil, and various lettuce and greens LOVE IT when I have extra tea left over.

Composting is one of my new hobbies and I love it!!!! I've been running my food scraps all the salmon scraps from filleting and I've been adding all my soil amendment to it as well. I thought to myself why add it to my soil when I can cook it for a few years first. I've been adding about a cup of my large mix of dry ingredients such as domalite lime, kelp meal, bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, rock sulphate, bat shit, oyster shells flower, and green sand every week or so. I don't even know if this is even a good idea but I guess I'll find out in two years when my first batch will be ready. I read a well composted compost is best so I'm doing a 4 year program. Every year I by a new plastic composter and in four years ill have a fresh batch ready to go every spring . Last years batch is beautiful but the worms aren't done there magic yet. So it's waiting game lol

Too much unnecessary work and skanky compost involved for me... especially when one can just buy chemical nutrients that work just as good & are consistent. ; compost has never/will never be the least bit consistent & consistency is key. 40 different organic nutrients/ingredients or 2-3 bottles of chemical nutrients to do 1 job? organics have guaranteed minimum analysis because you can't create the same exact organic mix twice. If your "compost" hasn't composted for 6-9 months or more then you aren't using it right anyways and it's technically just waste; it takes time before anything becomes actual compost. I mean organics provide a plant with everything it needs but I would rather know EXACTLY what my girls are eating, but then again my experimenting days are long gone- I've got my system down... to each his own, I say.

elduece said:

It's not peer reviewed. It's as valid as any advice you get from any RUI farmer in this forum.

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Hardly. Jeff is very respected in the horticultural scene and WSU Extenuation is a trust worthy source. It's like asking an opinion from a Dr or Lawyer on a subject they specialize in. Yes, it's an opinion, but a very respected one.

I'll be the first to admit here, I wasn't aware that oxygenation was designed to prevent ecoli. I had always believed it was designed to increase the beneficial microb population. I believe Jeff, because he doesn't make wild claims. He's a skeptic for sure, as are most scientist and researchers, but more importantly is that he follows science, not what's popular. I think him commenting on Harvard is more of a friendly jab, not a direct attack on them.

Here's a video so you can get a better feel for who Jeff is.

[video=youtube;0tOqlez6V7I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tOqlez6V7I&feature=player_embedded[/video]

Additional Information:

http://www.horticulture.umn.edu/Who_sWho/Faculty/JeffGillman/
http://www.jeffgillman.net/

Jeff Gillman holds more credibility than RIU posters. He doesn't just bash organics, he endorses the good ones, the ones that are proven to work. A successful grow isn't proof of anything, to prove something you need undeniable evidence or a controlled experiment where the variables can be isolated & the effects can be recorded.

Also try: compost tea making. Excellent read.