R
Relik
The general consensus regarding actively aerated compost teas is that the more foam, the better. We usually link the presence of foam to microbes breeding, and tend to see this as a favorable event, but is it really the case?
These last days I've been helping an aquaculturist in his research, part of which was about filtration systems for tanks meant to function in recirculating networks, and which are supposed to hold living animals (fish, shrimp...) for long periods of time (weeks). Thus, quality of water is one of the most important factors, along with nutrition. Since they're using recirculating water networks (provides much more control over all variables linked to water such as pH, temperatures, organic matter content), we were working on protein skimmers.
Protein skimmers, unlike what we would think, do not only remove proteins from the water, they also remove heavy metals and contaminants, as well as nitrous wastes. To make it short, it is a water purification system often used in aquaculture, and it works by recirculating the (dirty) water in a tall column in which it is bubbled. There is a dwell time, during which the (dirty) water is in contact with the bubbles, and after this dwell time the water is fresh and ready to be recirculated again. The purpose of bubbling the water is to "trap" undesirable compounds and bring them to the surface, where their accumulation creates foam, which is then separated and eliminated.
In a living soil, fungi and bacteria produce enzymes which break down organic material such as cellulose (action of cellulase), sugars (amylase) or proteins (protease), amongst others, in forms that plants can reuse. So I was wondering if, by bubbling our teas, we were reducing the protein (and N in general) content in considerable amounts or just minute amounts. Given the results, I would be tempted to think that bubbled foaming teas do their work quite well, but wouldn't a non-foaming tea (unskimmed) be more nutritional than a foaming tea? "Feed the soil not the plant" is the motto, so are we underfeeding our microherd when letting our teas foam?
Most manufacturers of organic bottled nutes include vitamins (vital amino acids) and proteins (chains of amino acids) in their products, and when we brew our own tea, we try to include them too (I do, and I know many others do), so I'd think it would be somewhat counterproductive to let our teas foam, but this is just a theory. In practice, we know that foaming teas give the desired effect, and unless we can measure different factors (protein content and their breakdown rate, soil mircoherd activity), this will remain a theory. After all, as I said above, maybe the removed protein content is unsignificant when we're bubbling our teas at home. But too much foam can make a tea go anaerobic by preventing the escape of gases... many things to think about, in fact, any input?
These last days I've been helping an aquaculturist in his research, part of which was about filtration systems for tanks meant to function in recirculating networks, and which are supposed to hold living animals (fish, shrimp...) for long periods of time (weeks). Thus, quality of water is one of the most important factors, along with nutrition. Since they're using recirculating water networks (provides much more control over all variables linked to water such as pH, temperatures, organic matter content), we were working on protein skimmers.
Protein skimmers, unlike what we would think, do not only remove proteins from the water, they also remove heavy metals and contaminants, as well as nitrous wastes. To make it short, it is a water purification system often used in aquaculture, and it works by recirculating the (dirty) water in a tall column in which it is bubbled. There is a dwell time, during which the (dirty) water is in contact with the bubbles, and after this dwell time the water is fresh and ready to be recirculated again. The purpose of bubbling the water is to "trap" undesirable compounds and bring them to the surface, where their accumulation creates foam, which is then separated and eliminated.
In a living soil, fungi and bacteria produce enzymes which break down organic material such as cellulose (action of cellulase), sugars (amylase) or proteins (protease), amongst others, in forms that plants can reuse. So I was wondering if, by bubbling our teas, we were reducing the protein (and N in general) content in considerable amounts or just minute amounts. Given the results, I would be tempted to think that bubbled foaming teas do their work quite well, but wouldn't a non-foaming tea (unskimmed) be more nutritional than a foaming tea? "Feed the soil not the plant" is the motto, so are we underfeeding our microherd when letting our teas foam?
Most manufacturers of organic bottled nutes include vitamins (vital amino acids) and proteins (chains of amino acids) in their products, and when we brew our own tea, we try to include them too (I do, and I know many others do), so I'd think it would be somewhat counterproductive to let our teas foam, but this is just a theory. In practice, we know that foaming teas give the desired effect, and unless we can measure different factors (protein content and their breakdown rate, soil mircoherd activity), this will remain a theory. After all, as I said above, maybe the removed protein content is unsignificant when we're bubbling our teas at home. But too much foam can make a tea go anaerobic by preventing the escape of gases... many things to think about, in fact, any input?
First of all I’d like to thank you guys for your replies, which all bring up good points.
sorry Relik lol
