Probiotic Garden - Comparison of tomato plant experiment using compost tea

[Oufghan]

waow research is so easy these day it can be done in your backyard, i wonder why people spend millions of dollars to reach conclusions and generalise them.

[rolanded4]

Controlled, replicable experiments do not support compost tea as a powerful antimicrobial agent capable of combating pathogens associated with foliar diseases. (Litterick et al., 2004 and Scheuerell & Mahaffee, 2002)

A soil microbial boost, sure. A foliar pesticide, no.

[TeamingWithNature]

@rolanded4 I agree with your comment. Wouldn't you consider fusarium a soil based fungal issue?

[AOZXRAY]

Nice crop of leaves on those tomatoe plants. Might search

Kacper tomatoes

for an interesting and rare way to grow more fruit

[morriswil32]

did you notice a difference in fruit flavor?

[TeamingWithNature]

@morriswil32 Absolutely! That's what the refractometer measures. It measures the percent of sugars in plant juices. The theory is the mineral content parallels the sugar content. So, the higher the sugar, the higher the mineral content, therefore the higher the nutrition.

Fun stuff! Enjoy!



[TeamingWithNature]

@eyk71 While there wouldn't be a problem to water with compost tea with every watering because you can't over apply it, the benefit declines. In other words, there is no added benefit to watering with it every time compared to every couple weeks. You see, you are adding microbes to the soil and those microbes proliferate there. So, no need to reapply so frequently. I suppose if you had an acute imbalance there would be benefit in more frequent application. Try it and see!

To health!

[SwimCoachC]

Nice video. Compost tea is amazing stuff, I used it everywhere. Check out siberian tomatoes, they do better with cooler climates and often can be found growing all the way up into some parts of Alaska. Cheers!

[TeamingWithNature]

@SwimCoachC Thanks for the tip on Siberian tomatoes. Makes sense. That's teaming with Nature!

[marshallhenderson81]

Nice video man. Do you have a vid of how you brew your tea?

[TeamingWithNature]

@marshallhenderson81 Thanks for the kind words. I did shoot some raw footage of my tea brewing methods, but haven't put them into a video yet. If you subscribe to the channel you will get an update when I do post it!

To health!

Will

[YourGardenShow]

Great experiment. Nice to see the benefits of compost tea side by side with a control plant. Also love the idea to wrap the plant base to help retain moisture and heat while you were on vacation.

[TeamingWithNature]

@YourGardenShow Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, the wrap on the tomato plant to create a mini greenhouse is a good idea. Just make sure you still get air circulation or you'll increase your risk of fungal issues like I had.

To health!

Will

[HomeworkHelper1]

Compost tea, when prepared properly, has antifungal properties.

[TeamingWithNature]

Hello,

While I'm no expert in brewing compost teas, I'm not sure where you are coming from with this. If you are saying that a compost tea that has been prepared to be rich with fungal diversity has the ability to out compete pathogenic fungi in a root zone of an area you apply the tea, then I agree with you. However, I don't view compost tea as 'anti fungal' per se. Copper sulfate is anti fungal in that it kills fungi. I view compost tea more as a probiotic application rather than anti...

[HomeworkHelper1]

I believe that compost tea has antifungal properties because it contains bacteria and other microorganisms that feed on fungi. If the compost tea is brewed then the oxygen and sugars will rapidly increase the amount of microbes in the solution.

[ThanksgivingWalk]

Thanks for sharing your experiment.

[PacsyRay]

that was an excellent comparison and a very well done presentation

[loveguitars]

Thanks

[sk8forlife90]

compost tea is awsome!

[woodgear]

Very nice. Its good to see experiments like this with a side by side comparison. As always though it opens up more questions.Keep up the good work!

[rubbernecker13]

That's awesom! You're a stinking genius dude!