Book reviews- composting and SFW

17 years ago

The wife and I like going to Barnes and Noble, getting coffee at Starbucks there, and sitting with reading material. Anyhoo- I'm usually looking at tattoo magazines or gardening and woodworking books.

Last night was compost night, evidently, as I picked up 2 books on composting (one of which had a picture of a wheelbarrow full of leaves on the cover, the other had a shovel full of beautiful compost upon which I almost drooled) and one on the soil food web.

First compost book (don't remember the name or which cover)- I opened it randomly and disagreed with about 3 things on the first page. One thing was that one should always innoculate a new pile with finished compost. If you build a new pile in reasonable weather with the right moisture and the right green/brown ratio (or anything even close)- the pile will start cooking HOT in less than 12 hours. Finished compost is going to have more microbes associated with the cooling/cold phase of the process- so what would it do for you? Nothing is my guess. That's the sort of parroting of concepts without thought that makes a text completely undifferentiated from the many other books out there on the subject. Follow the book's advice- and you'll get compost anyway- I know- but annoying little things like that make me shy away.

Second compost book- looked pretty reasonable actually. I only poked as it seemed a good primer, but I wasn't going to learn much from it at the depth it went.

The soil food web book, however- was pretty cool. Some real work went into this book. I believe that it was "Teaming with microbes: a gardner's guide to the SFW".

Now I didn't do an extensive read of the book, and frankly don't know enough to make a serious judgement on their conclusions etc- but I was fascinated. They weren't afraid to attack the hard science topics, and were able to bring the descriptions down to a level where the casual reader could grasp the concepts.

My one criticism is that at least a method or two were recommended that I would liked to have seen more evidence about. One example (I know, I know- I always ask about this...) is aerated compost tea. It's addressed in the book as settled science, but I'd like to see direct pointers to research that proves it's effectiveness. It's possible that the research exists, and it's also possible that there just wasn't enough room in the book to expound upon it, but I've yet to see anything that I'd call conclusive.

I've used it and had a friend try it to "cure" certain foliage diseases on a couple of occasions, but there was no control run or repetition so that all I have is anecdote.

(if anyone can point me to a reference- I would really like to see it. I honestly say this out of curiosity rather than skepticism).

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Comments (8)

donn_
17 years ago
"tattoo magazines??"
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
17 years ago
pablo, the research is ongoing. As yet, very little definitive information has been published, most likely due to a lack of funding to support comprehensive scientific testing - there are no big bucks or deep pockets behind compost tea :-( If you do a search on "compost tea task force" you will turn up a .pdf report sponsored by NOSB that has a number of citations you could track down. Another good, supported presentation on the subject has been prepared by ATTRA - they have actually prepared a publication on compost tea and disease suppression.

Here is a link that might be useful: ATTRA - compost tea
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blutranes
17 years ago
Pablo,

There is a lot of old stuff out there; nothing new that comes to mind off hand. There is a lot of "It Don't Work" stuff out there (see 2005), as well as stuff from "Tea Machine Makers" that say it does. I have never used my tea to suppress diseases, only to foliar feed my plants. The ATTRA site has a lot of information you may be able to use, again some is dated. I trust this will be of some help...
gonefishin
17 years ago
And I have tried a little of most things, but never felt that I could really see any real, noticible difference in the plants that I used it on. To me it just does not seem to be worth the effort and building my soil seems to pay much better dividends, that are very visible. I did experiment some with a alfalfa/dry molasses/compost "soup" last year which showed enough promise to me to experiment further this coming year.
Just my .02
Bill P.
paulns
17 years ago
Great title, and attitude.

Here is a link that might be useful: Teaming with Microbes
pablo_nh
Original Author
17 years ago
The main claims about ACT seem to be about disease suppression. If true, then one may not expect a boost in their plants unless they have a recurring disease (as some have with tomatoes) each year, or if they run a control that is diseased.
blutranes
17 years ago
I have been thinking about your inquire for a couple days Pablo, and have a few thoughts to throw out in the ethers. These are my opinions and observations, for I have not read the book you have spoken of.

From all I have learned the best way to deal with soil borne diseases is to have a healthy soil. A healthy soil with adequate organic matter as well as a healthy microbe population with plenty of carbon/nitrogen (food/fuel) to maintain said "herd" balance. Since the microbe herd feeds on all organic matter, any disease organisms will be attacked and fed upon like everything else. In this way any disease is kept in check/minimized to my understanding.

The question then becomes what happens when a gardener injects/sprays a booming population of new organisms incorporated within ACT into said soil or on plants? IMO, the balance is completely wiped out through this addition of microbes. Until the balance is again reached, one that the soil can sustain without added amendments there will be chaos in said soil. All carbon/nitrogen will be immediately consumed by this migration of new tenants, thus there will be now a need for additional organic matter to maintain this new level of microbes. Any soil borne disease is given a "get outta jail free card" until such time as they are again seen as food for consumption. This has been my one issue with ACT, and I have yet to see any answer to the question; "How is this massive addition of micro-organisms good for the soil unless more organic matter is added as well"?

Air borne diseases are a different monster; and as I have said I deal with them for the most part with milk. For my observations ACT is very good for my plants, they grow larger and healthy when mixed with the proper amendments. Humic and Folic acids aid in dealing with insects and aid in the manufacture of nutritional food; and I have a "fire breathing dragon" to covenant with all other mammals that make the mistake of thinking I grow vegetables for them as well.

With well-cured compost my garden grows well. My neighbors testify with their complains of diseases/pests found here; I have no such problem with themÂ

Blutranes
pablo_nh
Original Author
17 years ago
Blutranes- there are a lot of well reasoned expectations of what ACT does, but theory (hypothesis) guides and experiment decides. I'm not sure why new organisms would necessarily wipe out ones that are established (and possibly optimized) fr their environment.

Book reviews- composting and SFW

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Book reviews- composting and SFW

Comments (8)

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