I filled a 5 gallon, Coleman insulated container half full with grass
clippings. Then I topped it off with pure water and put an air pump on
the bottom.

How soon can I use the contents as compost ?

This is either a troll or a seriously misguided idea!



On 24 Sep 2005 17:31:13 -0700, "Drew" wrote:

I filled a 5 gallon, Coleman insulated container half full with grass
clippings. Then I topped it off with pure water and put an air pump on
the bottom.

How soon can I use the contents as compost ?



Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

Drew wrote:
No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the
pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:18:01 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

Drew wrote:
No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the
pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deput...e/Tea/tea1.htm

In article , wrote:

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:18:01 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

Drew wrote:
No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the
pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deput...e/Tea/tea1.htm


Unfortunately the page cited uses no scientific source materials for its
recommendations. The one & only authority cited is a pop book by Elaine
Ingham, & the compost tea company belonging to the same author & a
vendor-- a vendor with lots of company propoganda to share but notoriously
lacking in science.

The main value of compost in the garden is to keep the organic component
of the soil optimal. Compost tea adds little to no organic component & it
is absolutely the poorest of all methods for improving soil.

But for those who wish to pursue this waning fad even so, here are a
couple things to bare in mind:

1) The science has pretty much concluded that in a "best case scenario"
all such alleged "benefits" of compost tea like increasing healthful
microorganism population or fighting off plant pathogens is no greater
than the effect of a regular watering schedule with plain water. Keep that
it mind -- even if there is some truth to the claims, the rest of the
truth is that it does not exceed the value of plain water. However, the
effects of compost tea as a tepid fertilizer is rather more measurably
real, though vastly inferior to using actual compost topcoatings in an
established garden or working compost into soil for a new garden.

2) The Pennsylvania website does show how to do it without buying $135 to
$800 or even much more money's worth of equipment which vendors would
prefer you to buy, so the site is good for avoiding being ripped off for
one's funds while pursuing an essentially superstitious fad. The website
does unfortunately link to some of this worthless equipment, but they at
least selected one of the cheaper outfits ($135. plus shipping). Never buy
any of this equipment; even imagining value to compost tea, it does not
take anything but a cheap washtub & 35-cent aeration stone hooked up to an
aquarium pump to aerate the stuff.

3) Aeration, however, is not actually necessary. It speeds up fermentation
but it is not safer, does not increase nutrient value, does not lesson
opportunity for harmful pathogens -- all false claims by vendors hoping to
sell cheaply made but expensively priced aeration equipment. Non-aerated
tea has the exact same value (or lack of value) as aerated, & some minor
data even indicates that the only pathogen lessoned by compost tea
(powdery mildew) is specifically shown for NON-aerated tea. So while the
Pennsylvania website is good for showing how to avoid buying worthless
equipment, it nevertheless recommends wasting electricity & aquarium
supplies for something that can be done passively without such waste.
Because its only authority was Elaine Ingham who wants people to believe
aeration eqipment is essential, the Pennsylvania website tragically fails
to outline the process done without wasting electricity & needless
aquarium supplies.

The alleged "benefits" list provided by the Pennsylvania site need some
corrections:

€ Increases plant growth
at the same rate as a regular watering schedule.

€ Provides nutrients to plants and soil
but at a very minor level inferior to actually fertilizing and/or
topcoating with whole compost

€ Provides beneficial organisms
at the same rate as a regular watering schedule, but does not repair poor
soils that have failed to support beneficial microorganisms due to reduced
organic component -- ACTUAL compost or humus restores the organic
component which support microorganisms; teas do not.

€ Helps to supress diseases
No study shows a predictable or reliable (hence horticulturally useful)
ability for compost teas to suppress plant pathogens, so this claim is in
the main false. The rare "exceptions" have proven irreprodicible or are
restricted to compost tea's ability to lessen but by no means control
powdery mildew (dilute milk spray on the other hand does control powdery
mildew). As a disease suppressor, the value of teas ranges from minimal to
totally absent, & in no case an inevitable or predictable benefit, in no
case superior to a regular watering schedule of soils with a good balance
of organic material.

€ Replaces toxic garden chemicals
Yes, compost tea is better than setting your garden on fire, burying it
under a foot of ground glass, or dumping toxic chemicals all over it. A
more effective soil treatment would be good for the garden in its own
right -- such as using whole organic compost or leafmold topcoatings with
good irrigation practices -- whereas the concluding claim for compost tea
is merely that it is better than poisoning everything. Well woop de do,
wooda guessed it.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he
http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:18:01 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

Drew wrote:
No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the
pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the
grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deput...e/Tea/tea1.htm

So? What does it do to improve the soil? It's better to add
compost to the soil.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

What do you call what I am making and when can I put all of it (grass
and all) in to my garden ?
Drew

The end goal is to get the grass on to the garden as mulch and worm
food as quick as possible. I thought the areation might speed up the
composting. Compost Tea was a bad choice of words. I did not know the
term had such a negative connotation.
drew

"Drew" wrote in message
oups.com...
What do you call what I am making and when can I put all of it (grass
and all) in to my garden ?
Drew

"Grass tea".......... Compost is what you would have if you poured what
you're making on some dried leaves and let it rot for a few months. I doubt
it's of much use otherwise. If you used alfalfa meal, you can get some
benefit as claimed he
http://www.nurserysite.com/clubs/peninsular/tea.html

Whether there's a benefit or not (and I respect paghat's opinion), it's
fun to make, although the aeration is inadequate from an aquarium bubbler,
in my experience. Use it after two or three days before it smells bad.

Drew -

You can refer to this as a plant extract, liquid plant manure, or grass
tea.

You can expect to get some soluble nutrients, and maybe some bioactive
substances.

How soon is uncertain, since you are doing some new and different based
on the unique volumes, ingredients, and aeration scheme you have
devised.

Typically plant extracts are made by a simple soaking method that is
non-aerated and are allowed to steep for 7-10 days.

In your situation, I think 3-7 days is a range to consider.

There was a farmer in Missouri who obtained a USDA-SARE grant and
made farm-scale quantities of grass tea in one of those kiddy swimming
pools. He called it green tea extract and used it as a soluble
liquid organic fertilizer for his market crops of vegetables and
berries on several acres. It was thoroughly documented through lab
tests, etc.

He presented his research at the Small Farm Today conference in
Jefferson City, MO, last November. He compared the green tea extract
with commercial soluble fertilizers. The organic treatment provided a
substantial amount of fertility, but was not sufficient as a complete
fertilizer "alone". He was pleased with the results. He expressed
interest in combining the extraction with a microbial inoculant such as
EM (Effective Microorganisms) to faciliate the bioprocess.

Liquid plant manures and plant-based pest control and fermented plant
extracts are *very* common in India, Africa, and Asia where poor
farmers use local resources instead of purchased inputs.

Good for you to give it a try (though I suggest you might
try smaller volumes of grass, and also use other local
plants such as clover and garden herbs like comfrey).

Steve Diver
Northwest Arkansas, Zone 6b

Thank you Steve for an answer that applies to the question. I am going
to go for 3 days per batch and see what happens.
But that "seeing" might not be complete until Spring.
drew

Drew wrote:
What do you call what I am making and when can I put all of it
(grass and all) in to my garden ?
Drew

I call it a waste of time. Put the grass on the compost pile or
put it in the garden and turn it under.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:43:49 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:18:01 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

Drew wrote:
No I am serious !
I got it running right now.
I got water, grass, oxygen and compost accelerator.
It has a "silage" smell but not bad.
I would like to pour it on to a garden area but I want the
pathogens
and seeds to be dead.
Why the scepticism ?
drew

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the
grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deput...e/Tea/tea1.htm

So? What does it do to improve the soil? It's better to add
compost to the soil.

It's apparent you can't read so I'll leave it at that.

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:18:01 GMT, "Travis"
wrote:

You should have saved yourself the bother and just put the grass
clippings in the compost pile.

Compost tea is hogwash.


Travis, you know nothing about it....one of your local extension
retired is about to finish an article where tomato production was
doubled with microbe injection and foliar feeding with compost tea. So
far all you've done is pop off one liners and jump on Jessica's
diatribe. You have no more than a flawed Chaulker Scott study...

compost tea is made with finished thermophilic compost, not green
waste. A smelly brew of grass clipping could well be a culture of
disease pathogens......



Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold