Some help needed - prairie compost extract application

[Jonathan Pineault]

Hello all!

We will be going with our first farmer client. We will be restoring the soil with compost extract in a 250gal GeoTea. We got few questions :

- What are the application rate of the total water spayed on 1 acre? We have hard time to find how much water to spray on 1 acre. Assume that the soil will be moist.
- How much compost we will need to extract in a 250 gal GeoTea to have a really potent extract?

Note that we will use the GeoTea for extract and application on the field. We will apply the extract undiluted. We will be using a 14 foot ramp.

Good day!

Jonathan Pineault
permaculture designer
Québec, Canada

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[Jonathan Pineault]

Ok, now do you have some minimums I should see in the extract? This is for prairies, so we should push the soil about 1:1 F:B ratio. But has I understand, compost tea and extracts don't have an awesome fungal biomass, but are more on an inoculum.

Of what Elaine gave us at the Rodale workshops, this would be a good compost tea or compost extract :

Total bacteria : 150-300 ug/ml
Total fungi : 5-20 ug/ml

Finaly, another question : what should be the minimum opening of the spayer (nozzles, filters)? 40um? 400um? We what to let nematodes pass through.

Thank you for the support!

Jonathan Pineault
permaculture designer
Québec, Canada

PS: perhaps it should be good to respond to the life in the soil group, so all members will benefit from your responses.

 Le 28/02/2013 13:49, Troy Hinke a écrit :

Hey Jonathan 

I know Elaine has a microscope class this week so they are busy with that at Rodale. To answer your questions-

Elaine recommends 5 gals per acre if the extract/tea has plenty of microorganisms. It is ok to use a higher rate though. 

The answer about how much compost to use in 250 gals depends on the quality of your compost (doing a quality assessment of microorganisms). Sometimes a few cups per gallon are needed, sometimes a pound per gallon. It is best to make an extract and check the biology as you go. Add more compost to the extract bag as needed and check with a microscope after every bag change. Stop when you see the numbers of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes that you want. It will most like be 25-50 pounds of compost at a minimum. 

Let me know if you have questions. 

Troy Hinke

Compost Production Specialist

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Le 28/02/2013 22:15, Fred a écrit :

Hey Jonathan,

I have been going with about 100 gallons per acre.  If its good compost than you want about 1 pound per 10 gallons of water.  Now I haven't used the Geo Tea brewer but I hear that it does good extract with really good compost of course.  I emailed Robert Posthuma (inventor of the geo tea brewer) about his brewer and what kind of extract it puts out.  He told me that he had Paul Wagner due some testing for him and it was putting out good extract.  I think it may have to run for 2 or 3 hours though.  I would recommend you contact Robert to be sure.  He is very forthcoming about his brewer. Hope this helps.

Fred Holdsworth
Frederick's Land. Corp.
Fredericksorganiclawn.com
484-540-LAWN

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Jonathan Pineault <jona...@ecomestible.com> wrote:

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[Edna Lora]

What specific plants make up this Prairie and what are the current issues with the soil?

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On Mar 1, 2013, at 10:33 AM, Jonathan Pineault <jona...@ecomestible.com> wrote:

Ok, now do you have some minimums I should see in the extract? This is for prairies, so we should push the soil about 1:1 F:B ratio. But has I understand, compost tea and extracts don't have an awesome fungal biomass, but are more on an inoculum.

Of what Elaine gave us at the Rodale workshops, this would be a good compost tea or compost extract :

Total bacteria : 150-300 ug/ml
Total fungi : 5-20 ug/ml

Finaly, another question : what should be the minimum opening of the spayer (nozzles, filters)? 40um? 400um? We what to let nematodes pass through.

Thank you for the support!


Jonathan Pineault
permaculture designer
Québec, Canada


PS: perhaps it should be good to respond to the life in the soil group, so all members will benefit from your responses.

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