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Compost Tea in the Tropics

February 20, 2015 by Growing Solutions

Tea Time In The Tropics
A Handbook for Compost Tea Production and Use

Tea Time in the Tropics: A Handbook for Compost Tea Production and Use explores compost tea from the perspective of growers, researchers and industry. The free downloadable handbook was produced as an output of a Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant project entitled Enhancing Phytonutrient Content, Yield and Quality of Vegetables with Compost Tea in the Tropics. Growing Solutions’ founder and CEO Michael Alms was a project participant and co-author of the handbook. The publication is co-edited by Theodore Radovich, PhD and Norman Arancon, PhD.

Radovich, a longtime proponent of compost tea, is Assistant Extension Specialist in the Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR). Arancon is Assistant Professor of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawaii in Hilo. Dr. Arancon is a pioneer in researching the use of vermicomposts to increase the growth, flowering and yields of plants such as marigolds, petunias, bell peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and grapes. His research has also revealed that vermicompost teas can potentially have the same effects on plant growth and the suppression of pests and diseases.

The project explored compost tea through on-farm trials and educational activities in a variety of tropical island environments. The objectives of the SARE project were to:

  • Quantify the independent and interactive effects of compost quality extraction method and crop management on yield and phytonutrient content of model root, fruit and leaf vegetables.
  • Determine, at the whole-farm level, the effect of compost tea applications on yield, phytonutrient content, and profitability with commercial vegetable operations on three islands in Hawai’i.
  • Build and enhance the capacity of at least 300 growers to effectively employ compost tea to increase vegetable yield and phytonutrient content on their farms.

The project team cited as a basis of its pursuits a poor understanding of the interactions between compost type, crop, and environmental factors as they relate to plant yield and quality, particularly under tropical conditions. This lack of understanding restricts widespread adoption of compost tea technology to conventional farms that want to improve the sustainability of their operations.

The project was made available with support from the SARE program and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Filed Under: Education, How-To, News, Products, Science Tagged With: compost, compost tea, Hawaii, organic production, SARE, tropics, vermicompost, vermicompost tea

Vermicompost Tea Production and Plant Growth Impacts

February 1, 2015 by Growing Solutions

Vermicompost Tea Production and Plant Growth Impacts
By Norman Q. Arancon, Clive A. Edwards, Richard Dick and Linda Dick, BioCycle
November 2007

Part I: Research Highlights

Use of vermicomposts, produced through interactions between earthworms and microorganisms, promote the germination growth, flowering and yields of a range of greenhouse and field horticultural crops, including tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, marigolds and petunias. Vermicompost use has become a well-established practice over the last 10 years, in part due to the work of scientists at The Ohio State University.

Filed Under: Education, Science

Effects of Vermicompost Teas on Plant Growth and Plant Diseases

February 1, 2015 by Growing Solutions

Effects of Vermicompost Teas on Plant Growth and Plant Diseases
By Clive A. Edwards, Norman Q. Arancon and Scott Greytak, BioCycle
May 2006

This article highlights recent findings of a Soil Ecology Laboratory research team at Ohio State University in Columbus. The team previously investigated the effects of solid vermicomposts on plant germination and growth, and the suppression of plant disease. More recently, their research extended into the effects of aqueous vermicompost extracts (vermicompost teas) on plant growth and diseases.
“In preliminary research, we have demonstrated clearly that ‘teas’ produced with aeration are much more stable and effective than those produced without aeration.”

The research tested the effects of a range of concentration of teas produced from cattle waste vermicomposts on the germination and growth of tomatoes. All tea concentrations (as low as 0.5%) increased the germination and growth signficantly over a soilless bedding medium without tea.

The research team identified microorganisms and plant growth regulators such as hormones, humic acids and fulvic acids (present in the vermicompost tea) as the most probable mechanisms for growth increases in tomatoes.

Further work by the team involved applying a range of dilutions of vermicompost teas to tomato plants infected with Verticillium wilt, finding after 14 days that all application rates suppressed this plant disease significantly.

Filed Under: Education, Science

Suppressing Plant Parasitic Nematodes and Arthropod Pests with Vermicompost Teas

October 10, 2014 by Growing Solutions

Greenhouse trials confirm that the sooner a tea is used after it is brewed, the more effective it is in influencing plant growth and suppressing diseases. Read the full article:

Suppressing Plant Parasitic Nematodes and Arthropod Pests with Vermicompost Teas

By Clive A Edwards, Norman Q. Arancon, Eric Emerson and Ryan Pulliam, BioCycle
December 2007

Filed Under: Science

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