This is a theoretical paper about a theory with no science or even testing in it? And it's talking about compost teas for brown rot in cherry trees, and not compost teas used for fertilizing
Is foam in tea brewing "bro science"?
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Correct.This is a theoretical paper about a theory with no science or even testing in it? And it's talking about compost teas for brown rot in cherry trees, and not compost teas used for fertilizing
That article did not scientifically proven a thing.
It didn't outright deny the efficacy of tea brewing it "doubted" it.
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We are just going to ignore the parts about most of the info on this subject (tea as an inoculant and as a fertilizer) coming from sourceless dot-com sites? Most of these sites want to sell you something...
Lots of studies here:
Research & Development Blog
Compost teas provide reduciton of grey mold ( Botyrtis cinera Pers.) on tomato plants April 2024 European Journal of Plant Pathology Link Here Yes, we know we have posted about compost...
www.composttealab.com
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"And it's not just frass that stimulates a plant's defense system, it's also an 'insect's saliva, eggs, chewing, and even crawling.'
You can find insect frass here (Beetle Juice
Already trying to sell you something.
The research itself seemed to be about maize and caterpillar frass. Here is a quote:
"Furthermore, insect frass from various caterpillars modulated plant defenses differentially in diverse plant tissues and species (Ray et al. 2016b)" I don't see anything about cannabis.
The second item is about cotton and the interaction between its roots and bacteria and fungi when adding acid tea in calcareous soils, which is soil high in calcium carbonate. Pretty specific, doesn't seem to be about cannabis.
The third item is about olive trees... Using waste from milling the olives to make tea for the trees. Again not about cannabis.
The fourth item is about green beans grown in Nigeria.
The fifth item is about beans and potatoes, and whether tea or humic and fulvic acid applications are best. Also how best to administer them. The link to the paper for that one is broken, by the way.
The sixth is about acidic tea lowering the pH of calcareous soil for growing cotton in China.
The seventh item is about foliar applications on soy beans. Link is broken for that one as well.
The eighth item is about peppers and resistance to Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora capsica. Pretty specific.
The ninth is about using tea as a defence against micro organisms. Their tea was pretty specific, corn stave and cow manure. They did all their work on petri dishes.
The tenth item is about wheat and genetic expressions when using inorganic vs organic fertilizer.
I think I'm done reading for the night.
You can find insect frass here (Beetle Juice
Already trying to sell you something.
The research itself seemed to be about maize and caterpillar frass. Here is a quote:
"Furthermore, insect frass from various caterpillars modulated plant defenses differentially in diverse plant tissues and species (Ray et al. 2016b)" I don't see anything about cannabis.
The second item is about cotton and the interaction between its roots and bacteria and fungi when adding acid tea in calcareous soils, which is soil high in calcium carbonate. Pretty specific, doesn't seem to be about cannabis.
The third item is about olive trees... Using waste from milling the olives to make tea for the trees. Again not about cannabis.
The fourth item is about green beans grown in Nigeria.
The fifth item is about beans and potatoes, and whether tea or humic and fulvic acid applications are best. Also how best to administer them. The link to the paper for that one is broken, by the way.
The sixth is about acidic tea lowering the pH of calcareous soil for growing cotton in China.
The seventh item is about foliar applications on soy beans. Link is broken for that one as well.
The eighth item is about peppers and resistance to Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora capsica. Pretty specific.
The ninth is about using tea as a defence against micro organisms. Their tea was pretty specific, corn stave and cow manure. They did all their work on petri dishes.
The tenth item is about wheat and genetic expressions when using inorganic vs organic fertilizer.
I think I'm done reading for the night.
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Been there, done that.
The concentrated microbial growth/metabolism/fermentation with brewing teas likely results in more water soluble and bioavailable nutrients. For ex., some vitamin supplements claim bioavailability benefits from fermented nutrient (say vs. other purified natural or synthetic) sources.
Also brewed teas contain high levels of live microbes, presumably beneficial ones (which increase nutrient levels and/or bioavailability.
Linda Chalker Scott has made a career out of bashing compost teas. She will never change her mind because her academic standing depends on it. That being said, she's not totally wrong, but she is certainly not right.
Brew a batch of compost tea and look at it under the microscope. It's undeniable that it increasing microbial activity and biomass. That's not even worth trying to argue.
The challenge with compost tea studies is that every batch is different. How do you control for a variable that will change every batch? You can't. I can use the same inputs and change just the brewing length or temperature or elevation, or shoot even brew two brews side by side identical and they will end up different. And yes, I did all this using a phase contrast microscope for years.
Luke at Compost Tea Lab has gathered a bunch of trials using compost tea. I have issues with these results showing positive results as much as I do with the ones that showed no difference vs control. I just don't believe you can make any assumptions or determinations from the trials.
So if you want to be an armchair warrior then I'd say stick with what the WSU extension service has to say. I know at one point DDT was considered safe and we still can go buy glyphosate at our local garden centers. In those cases, it was a matter of science catching up with agronomic practices, but in this instance I don't think we will ever get there due to the issues with compost tea I listed above.
If you're genuinely curious and want to see if it works or not, I would suggest getting or making a good brewer. Tim Wilson has an air lift design that is both cheap and effective. Add good inputs and then run a trial in your garden. If you get a good result, then we can conclude that compost tea worked in your garden and it may be a useful tool for you. If nothing happens, then you can ditch it and never look back.
Hope that helps.
