I should probably stand by and let the experts run this
one, but fools rush in....
Who said that the heat kills only the bad things? Truth
be told, I suspect that some of both survive and most of both are
cooked.
But that misses the bigger point. Dealing with root rot
is a matter of prevention. Keeping a healthy tree in coarse, well
draining soil with good aeration and nutrition are the way to go.
A really healthy tree is not going to have a problem with these
nasties in the first place. It's only when we ignore or neglect
what we know about good horticulture that we have to deal with
root rot in the first place.
I should know. I've been guilty often enough myself more
times than I'm comfortable acknowledging.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Trahan
"Compost tea uses a good deal of heat (in addition to the heat
generated in the making of good garden-type compost) in the
process of making it. It should be free of pathogens as a
result."
Jim, so how is it that heat kills the varmints but keeps the
critters? That
is, if both good and bad algae/fungi are exposed to heat, why is
it that
only the pathogenic forms are killed by this heat?
Well, I replied privately to the effect that in the process of
normal composting, it seems that the "baddies" are more
susceptible to heat than the "good guys." Of course, this won't
be 100%, but that's essentially why composting works and you
don't kill (via root rot or other disease) whatever you plant in
that "black gold" after you've made it.
I don't KNOW, but assume, that the additional heat required to
make useful compost tea -- and the stuff is barely useful at
that! -- has a similar effect.
Jim Lewis -
- Tallahassee, FL - When we see
land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it
with love and respect - Aldo Leopold - A Sand County Almanac
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