First of all anytime you are doing anything with microbes (teas, worm poop etc.) you are in nut job territory.

You aren't a microbiologist. You don't have a ten thousand dollar microscope. Even if you did you couldn't ID the specific bacteria and fungi. Even if you could you wouldn't know what most of them actually were good for, if anything.

So, when it comes to teas and the like you do it because it makes you feel good. If it doesn't make you feel good, don't do it. Let's be real. You have no idea what is in the tea you put down. If it makes you feel good, do it. Otherwise spend your time on something that does make you feel good.

Will chlorine kill the good stuff? Who knows. Probably not.

When chlorine is put in the water supply it is only to get the water to you without harmful stuff in it. After that it disipates in the air rapidly. On another forum there is a vermiculture board. A current discussion is how the area where a swimming pool discharges the water is filled with worms. Since worms eat bacteria it would seem the chlorine isn't killing them.

But, again, you aren't a microbiologist and you don't have a 10,000 microscope to find out. So, don't worry about it. Nothing you can really do about it anyway.

OK, reseeding and fertilizing. There is no reason to lime unless your pH is really acidic (less than 6.2 for most lawns).

Put down a grain like soybean meal and cracked corn a couple weeks before the seed and you are all set for anything the soil may have lacked. If the soil didn't lack anything it is still OK, the meals won't overdose anything when applied 10-20lbs per 1,000 sq ft.

Blood meal is too fast acting to put down unless you know what you are doing. It can burn lawns just as fast as uncoated urea. Kelp meal is usually too expensive to justify for a lawn, but if the lawn is small (as you said yours is) or you find a steal of a deal on it then why not. It all but guarantees no micronutrient issues.

All in all though, don't overthink things. Do think and question, but don't overthink.

You really can't kill bacteria, all you can do is cause them to go inactive and be eaten by other bacteria. Life goes on.

You really can't ruin your lawn with grains either. All you can do is add more than the soil needs and have faster growing grass.

Just do what you enjoy and it will all work out. I mean it isn't like you are dosing everything with chemicals ;-)

Amen to that!

Happy Gardening!

Huh? You can't kill bacteria? Why do you think they chlorinate water in the first place?

If you don't know what is in your water, call the city and ask. The older systems tend to use chlorine. Chroline will escape from the water if exposed to air. If you let the water sit in an open bucket for a day before making tea, you will be fine. Many water systems have converted to chloramine. That does not disipate into the air nearly as quickly. If your city uses that, you might consider a rainbarrel or similar to collect water for your tea.

Username 5 I think thats a bit cynical, I am not a doctor but I still wash my hands to get germs off of them, we all make descisions abotu microbes based on information from other sources. I've personally seen some rpetty compelling evidence for compost tea (including a smiley face I made in my own back yard that lasted for a few months before I applied over the entire area). Leave the water in a bucket for 24 hours, 72 if you have chloramine in your water supply, , an airator would help remove the gas aswell. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your input. Will be using the ACT and I'll report in on how it works for me. I do tend to "over think" an issue, but want to learn from others' mistakes. BoB, I'm not worried by Username's post... it's his oponion, too.
Again, thanks.

smdmt From what I understand the clorine will kill of some of the microherd, but because you increase them so much that the tea is still beneficial.

username_5, the spot where the worms are at in high concentration is where it is backwashed, not discharged. When the pool is backwashed all the algea and other things are flushed out of the filter.

When I backwash the pool it bypasses the clorinator so there is not a "large" quantity of clorine in it just whatever the clorine level in the pool is.

Clorine will kill bacteria, that is why it is put in the pool. I was questioning if the amounts of algea that is being flushed out of the filter were compensating for the clorine.

Good luck

Carey

If nothing else add a whole house filter with one stage being carbon. This will help remove the chlorine. I added mine for around $25, doing the plumbing my self. I just have to change the filters every 2 or 3 months.

Lee

lee53011, Does the house filter remove things other than chlorine? I just recieved the latest water testing from the company and am not very happy.

Also, How hard was it and how long did it take you?

Carey

I put in two filter housings, the first one being a 5 micron sediment filter and the second being a 2 micron carbon filter. Basically the first filter takes out most particles including rust and the second removes much of the chlorine and remaining rust. It only took me about an hour or less to install, but I used to own rental properties so have quite a bit of practice at soldering copper, which is what is used for plumbing here. I spend about $5 every couple of months for filters which take about 5 minutes to change. Not sure what other filters are available or what they will remove. You could also use a reverse osmosis unit for drinking water, but they are not cheap, probably around $200 or so.

Lee