refractometer to measure brix

[VortexPower420]

Fatherearth- that is the same one I have, Seems like a good product, It is what the Bionuitrient Organization give when you join as a supporting member

Timbuktu

 

[c-ray]

from the Summer 1990 issue of 21st Century Science & Technology magazine..

Bioenergetics: 'Tuning' the Soil to Be Healthy and Productive

A "crop doctor" prescribes a bioenergetic approach for sick soils and crops, showing that insects "tune out" healthy plants and home in on the sick ones.

by Arden B. Andersen

Producing more nutritious food at less cost is the goal of a pioneering group of agricultural consultants whose tools of the trade are electromagnetic — they apply advanced biophysics to solve problems of soil and crops. "Sick" soil is not a small problem: Over the past 50 years, the United States has lost 50 percent of its productive top soil, and soil loss in the 1980s dwarfed that lost during the great dust bowl of the 1930s.

The application of biophysics to agriculture starts with the electromagnetic anatomy and physiology of soil, plants, and fertilizers and then extrapolates that to the physical aspects of each. It is well established that energy precedes matter. In other words, the energy fields of organisms and chemicals interact first. This interaction results in the chemical/physical phenomena we observe. Consequently we can evaluate these energy fields to arrive at a truer picture of what is actually happening. When we combine these data with the chemical test data, we can solve almost every problem we face in soil and plant nutrition.

Remote sensing instruments like those aboard the Land-sat spacecraft map the growth and health of plants by measuring the frequency and intensity of the radiation they reflect. Recently, scientists have found that the biophoton emission frequencies of plants differ not only from one crop to another and according to the general health of the plants, but also according to the nutritional content and other conditions of the soil the plants depend upon. Consequently the plant's electromagnetic signature can be changed by altering fertilizer and nutritional additives to the soil. This is quite important because it has been shown by entomologist Philip S. Callahan, a bioenergetic pioneer, that insect pests recognize their crop prey by its electromagnetic signal (Callahan 1985). If the signal emitted by a plant can be changed, the insect will not "recognize" it and, therefore, will not be able to prey on it.

The application of bioenergetics to agriculture is a scientific procedure that enables us to see beneath the surface of chemical phenomena to the fundamental biological processes of plant growth. It allows agricultural specialists and farmers to scientifically intervene in the life and health of plants.

The Energy of Living Processes

As long ago as the late 1800s and early 1900s, Albert Abrams, Geoges Lakhovsky, and Nikola Tesla showed that all material things and particularly living systems have electromagnetic signatures. All three showed that altering these electro nagnetic signatures would alter the living systems themselves (Andersen 1989).

In the 1960s, Soviet scientists V.P. Kaznocheev proved that cellular disease could be induced, as well as reversed, electromagnetically (Bearden 1988). In 1976, Kaznocheev reported tha cell cultures could be altered and killed — without physical contact — by simple transmission of the altered electromagnetic pattern from one culture to another, and he reported more than 5,000 successful experiments demonstratirg this (Bearden 1980). Then in 1979, Kaznocheev showed, using monkey cell cultures, that viral transmission was possible via ultraviolet photons (Grauerholz 1988).

Further evidence has been provided by West German biophysicist Fritz-Albert Popp, who has shown that the interaction of c lemicals in living systems is initially energetic and secondarily physical/chemical; that is, the energetic interaction causes the physical reaction (Lillge 1988). Robert Becker and Gary Selden argued in The Body Electric that all biological systems function energetically, manifesting physically according to the energetic patterning. This understanding produced advances in agriculture prior to the development of the field of biophysics, which we discuss a bit later. First ve review a few basics concerning agricultural pests.

Tuning Out Insects

Observing and understanding the energetics of agricultural matter - soil and plants - enable scientists and farmers to optimally fertilize and manage crops making use of the knowledge that healthy plants and soils have different physical characteristics and correspondingly different energetic characteristics from sick plants and soils.

More than 25 years ago, Philip Callahan proved that insects home in on crops, like airplanes equipped with omnidirectional radar devices, by picking up the infrared radiations emanating from the crops. Callahan further proved that insect behavior could be altered by simply jamming, altering, or cverriding these infrared emissions, thereby effectively protecting entire crops from insect infestation electromagnt tically, without the use of insecticides (Callahan 1975).

We also know from Callahan's work, as well as that of other researchers around the world, that insects and diseases infest only nutritionally imbalanced plants, although for many years experts believed that "healthy plants make healthy insects." In other words, insects are tuned in to aberrant electromagnetic spectrums. Healthy plants can also better resist pests and disease through their primitive immune systems. Thus if a pest-infested area is investigated for nutritional imbalances and those can be corrected, it should be possible to eliminate rather than temporarily ameliorate the problem by making the healthy plants "unattractive" (unrecognizable) to the insects. For example:

• We know that aphid infestation is linked to nitrogen fertilization; the more excess nitrogen, the greater the aphid population.
• Nematodes are correlated to salt concentration and biological activity in the soil, and especially to carbohydrate levels; the lower the biological activity, the greater the salt build-up, the lower the carbohydrate level, and the greater the parasitic nematode populations.
• Fungus problems correlate with copper and calcium deficiencies.
• Infestations of Colorado potato beetles are indicative of calcium, phosphate, vitamin C, copper, and manganese deficiencies.
• Adult corn root worms will not eat the ear silks that receive the pollen, if the carbohydrate content of the sap in the corn stalk is sufficiently high. In other words, the plant's level of sugar is a "marker" for the overall health of the plant. If the sugar level falls below a critical point, silk damage will occur and get progressively worse as the reading declines. That critical point is measured with a refractometer that measures the refractive index of the sap, calibrated in brix units.

The accompanying table lists the threshold brix levels of various food crops below which disease will take over. Existing chemical standards don't reveal these correlations, yet when these nutrients are supplied the problem disappears. Only biophysics can explain these phenomena.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Case in point: A university chemical analysis showed that a western soil exhibited magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese deficiencies. When the biophoton activity of the soil was evaluated with a photometer - described more fully below - it was found that calcium, copper, sugar, and vitamin B12 were actually deficient, causing the magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese symptoms. Subsequent application of the calcium, copper, sugar, and vitamin B12 not only relieved the magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese deficiencies, but also reduced the weed and disease pressures on the growing crop. These results make sense when one understands that soil is a dynamic biological system, not a test tube of mineral and dirt. Living organisms must therefore be considered in any soil evaluation. In fact, there is an integral symbiotic relationship between the plant and soil microorganisms (Krasil'nikov 1958). If purely chemical methods are used to determine whether nutrient levels are deficient, this symbiotic relationship is not considered.

Further, calcium is of the utmost importance for microorganism growth as well as for plant growth. This has been well researched and proven by many scientists, including William Albrecht at the University of Missouri (Albrecht 1975). Rigorously, the addition of calcium will release potassium from the colloidal exchange sites, making it available for microorganism and plant use.

Copper is important for cellular and tissue elasticity, fungal disease inhibition, and the plant's use of other trace elements. In this particular soil, as sometimes is the case, copper was the major limiting factor connected to the iron and manganese problems.

Sugar is a basic sustenance for every living organism.

Three months after strawberries were planted in this field using bioenergetically designed fertilizer, the treated section has successfully suppressed the growth of weeds (foreground) without tillage, herbicide, or mulch, while weeds grow wildly in the control section (background).

Experience has shown that almost every soil in the United States is deficient in sugar as a result of more than a half century of salt and acid/caustic fertilization. Deficient soils and plants indicate insufficient microorganism activity. The addition of sugar provides the microorganisms with energy - food - to do their job.

Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient for both plants and soil microorganisms. Under proper conditions, vitamin B12 will be produced by soil microorganisms, particularly actinomycetes (Krasil'nikov 1958). However, if these microbes have been suppressed because of imbalanced nutrition or adverse conditions, vitamin B12 will be deficient. The addition of vitamin B12 primarily stimulates bacterial growth, which in turn leads to overall nutrient availability and stabilization in the plant-soil system.

Traditional chemical analysis simply cannot provide this type of problem-solving capability because it gives only a static picture of the symptoms, while energetic evaluation gives a dynamic picture of causal interaction between soil, plants, and microorganisms. Traditional soil and plant analyses simply provide too narrow a picture to solve the problem
completely.

The Limits of Chemical Analysis

Traditionally, fertilization and plant-feeding recommendations have been based on chemical analysis of soil and plant samples, performed by taking the samples out of the field and into the laboratory. There, chemicals that extract the nutrients are applied to the samples and the nutrient content of the soil is measured.

For various reasons, this method can produce a fictitious reading. First, by removing the sample to the laboratory, the material is examined in vitro rather than in vivo, and the effects of the things living in the soil, like the plants themselves and microbes, are eliminated.

Second, just because a mineral is present in the soil does not mean it is available to the plant. Energetic analysis as well as insec , disease, and weed symptoms have shown this to be the case. It is also likely that the magnetic field of the Earth influences the growth of plants, which is not considered by this or any other chemical evaluation.

In general, although chemical soil sample tests produce valuable data, they measure only effects, not causes. In addition, the standards established for these tests, classifying soils and plants as normal or deficient were formulated under the incorrect assumption that healthy, nutritionally balanced plants and soils are attacked by insects and diseases just as imbalanced ones are. This created standards that were suboptimal and perpetuated the production of more of the sime because plants that required insecticides to rescue then were considered healthy and nutritionally balanced and, therefore, were subsequently used as standards.

This point is easily impressed upon us when we consider the following: A chemical test may indicate that our soil and plants have deficiencies in magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese. The traditional recommendation would be to add magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese. Follow-up tests would usually show an increase of these nutrients in the soil and success would be assumed. However, the problem arises that this soil continues to have increasing weed infestation and compaction. The crop continues to have insect infestation, but it "looks okay." The weeds are sprayed with more herbicide, the soil is tilled with bigger equipment, and the crop is sprayed with more insecticide. The following year is a repetition of the previous one.

Common sense tells us that recurring problems are only symptoms shrouding a deeper cause. Refractometer readings and some chemical analyses, together with insects, diseases, and weeds provide us the status of a crop, but none of them tells us how we can proceed to formulate a fertilizer and management program that will accomplish the nutritional integrity necessary to avoid insect and disease infestation. Energetic evaluation does. Because insects and diseases operate in the energetic realm, we must perform energetic analyses to observe not only the empirical problems but also the causal circumstances.

One chemical soil test method has been found to be of great value, however, especially when augmented with energetic testing. This test evolved out of the work of the late Dr. Carey Reams, using a basic La Motte soil testing kit. It was streamlined and standardized by Robert Pike and Dan Skow, D.V.M., for its present commercial use. Its uniqueness lies in its remarkably close correlations to actual soil, plant, and microorganism status. This is primarily due to Reams's understanding of soil fertility and his correlations of the latter to soil test values using this procedure.

Reams's minimum "perfect" soil numbers look quite different from any other agronomic system, except William Albrecht's. The proportions in pounds per acre are: calcium 2000#, phosphate 400#, potash 200#, sulfate 200#, magnesium 300#, ammoniacal nitrogen 40#, nitrate nitrogen 40#, pH 6.4-6.8. Unique to this system is the 2:1 phosphate to potash ratio. Once this ratio is achieved using this test, broad leaf weeds like lambs quarter and pigweed cease being a major problem, eliminating the need for broad leaf herbicides. With this ratio and the 2000# or higher calcium level, "sour" grass weeds like foxtail, quackgrass, and dandelion cease being a major problem, eliminating the need for grass herbicides. A narrower than 7:1 calcium to magnesium ratio indicates soil compaction.

"No number is perfect until all numbers are perfect," said Reams. All will not be perfect until the microorganisms are in their necessary balance. Like all other chemical soil analyses, this system is static and only indicates what the present nutrient status is relative to the extraction reagents. It indicates where a field is, but does not tell the farmer or consultant how to get where he wants to go. This is a key point. It shatters an old paradigm that says, if a chemical analysis or symptom shows potash to be deficient, the problem is addressed by the addition of potash.

The new paradigm reveals that this potash deficiency probably is not caused by a quantitative lack of potash, but rather by a missing link in the biological cycle of nutrient availability and assimilation. This secret is readily revealed - and in some cases only revealed - by energetic evaluation. The chemical test establishes one's status and starting point, but an energetic evaluation plots the course of action.

 

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part II

Magnetic Susceptibility and Soil Fertility

Soil fertility is generally thought of in terms of cation exchange capacity and macronutrient content. Research is revealing that electromagnetic properties may be of greater significance to soil fertility.

Highly fertile soils have positive magnetic susceptibility values and are called paramagnetic. Sterile soils have a negative value and are called diamagnetic. The fact that a soil is highly paramagnetic does not guarantee high fertility, but it does indicate high potential fertility. The key to translating high potential fertility into actual productivity is the development of a fully functional and balanced soil biology.

There are two factors that affect soil magnetic susceptibility: the presence of certain minerals (such as the rare earths, some limestones, iron, and copper) and the shape of the soil particles and nutrient complexes. This latter factor is clearly demonstrated in the case of nitrogen sources.

Urea, for example, has a flat triangular shape with a "handle" on it, nitrite nitrogen has a simple plane triangular shape, and ammonia has a tetrahedral shape (see illustration). Although the different compounds may supply the soil with the same or similar chemical species, apparently the shape of the compound itself as an antenna makes a significant difference in the nitrogen's availability to the plant.

The structuring of soil is largely done by microorganisms. Once proper structure is achieved, the soil is made more fertile and less susceptible to erosion because the magnetic forces holding the soil particles together are stronger.

Energetic Analysis

There are currently two methods to evaluate the energetics of soil. First, there is the magnetic susceptibility meter. This instrument is traditionally used by paleontologists and archaeologists in the study of ancient remains and artifacts as well as fossils. For agriculture, the instrument has provided some interesting data. Magnetic susceptibility is the ability of something - in this case soil - to function as an antenna for magnetic energy or fields. It is measured as the ratio of the magnetic field strength induced in a substance to the strength of the inducing field.

Callahan was the first to show that soil magnetic susceptibility was related to soil fertility. Fertile soils are paramagnetic - they have positive magnetic susceptibility values. Infertile soils are not necessarily diamagnetic - having negative magnetic susceptibility values - but diamagnetic soils are always infertile. The soil's ability to receive magnetic energy is very mportant to microbial and plant growth; in fact, it is essential. It is however only half of the system. The ability to receive magnetic energy is only valuable when there is something to translate this energy into useful form. It is like having a radio antenna without the radio.

That something is the biological system of the soil - the humus and microorganisms. This system is analogous to the radio, and the antenna is analogous to the mineral system. Without both the system as a whole is mute. Continuous 24-hour runs on three different soils using a model MS2 Bartington magnetic susceptibility meter are shown on page 42. The bottom soil is an Indiana soil of low fertility. The middle is an Indiana soil of good fertility and the top is a California soil of good fertility. Both the poor Indiana and the good California soils showed marked magnetic susceptibility decline during the hottest part of the day while the good Indiana soil remained fairly stable. The decline in magnetic susceptibility correlates with a reduced ability to deal with solar energy necessary for plant growth.

The poor Indiana soil actually exemplified a total inability to deal with solar energy. The factor common to these latter two soils is very low humus levels, while the good Indiana soil was relatively high in humus. Further study has shown that both the Magnetic susceptibility and the humus level vary directly with the fertilization practices employed. As both decline, the susceptibility of the soil to erosion increases. Additionally, it has been observed that anhydrous ammonia and potassium chloride (the two most widely used fertilizer in the United States, and both widely imported) decrease the magnetic susceptibility of the soil.

Energetic analysis, which includes measurements of magnetic susceptibility, has led to the discovery of the value and importance of many nontraditional fertilizer materials, including vitamins like B-12 and C; sugars like molasses, sucrose, and dextrose; trace elements like silicon and iodine; and ever color dyes.

Since magnetic susceptibility, like plant growth, is an electromagnetic phenomenon, chemical soil analysis falls short in evaluating potential fertilizer programs that raise or regenerate the electromagnetic and, consequently, the productive properties of the soil. This obstacle appears to be overcome by an electronic scanner (a highly sensitive light meter) patented as a mineral assay instrument by T. Galen Hieronymus in 1949. Although the meaning of its readings for nonliving materials is not actually understood, some modifications have made it very useful for evaluation and prescription of bioregenerative fertilizer programs. The instrument evaluates mitogenic radiation in the 200-1,000 nanometer range (the range from near-ultraviolet to and including infrared). Its uniqueness lies in its ability to evaluate the biophoton interaction between soils or plants and selected fertilizers when the former and the latter are brought in close proximity to each other without actually mixing them physically, bearing out Kaznocheev's findings in 1979. The procedure is as follows:

The existing energy level is measured. Then, based on chemical analysis reports, history, and experience, fertilizer materials are selected and put with the sample. Energy readings are again taken. If they increase, the material is beneficial and another material is checked. Eventually, a combination of several fertilizer constituents is obtained and checked collectively to determine its effect on the sample. The prescription is then formulated.

This system allows the consultant or farmer to perform his trial-and-error routine with an instrument and a soil sample, rather than by using expensive fertilizers on crops in the field. In this way, he goes to the field with a predetermined success. Every season is different from the last. Every lot of seed is different. Repeating the same fertilizer program year after year is feasible only with an unlimited soil reserve.

Impressive results have been obtained in increasing the quality of crops and reducing or eliminating pests and disease, where farmers have used the fruits of energetic analysis. The old adage, "healthy soils make healthy weeds," has been proven a myth. By electronic scanner evaluation, fertility programs have been formulated that increase the calcium availability sufficiently to eliminate sour grass weed problems, balance the phosphate-to-potash ratio sufficiently to eliminate broad leaf weed problems, and raise plant refractometer levels sufficiently to eliminate insect pest problems.

It is also possible to improve the quality of crops by scientifically balancing nutrition. An Illinois farm management firm has demonstrated in numerous tests over many farms (comprising 14,000 to 20,000 acres) that the amount of protein in grains can be increased by applying bioenergetics. Using conventional fertilizer programs the average protein content of the grain was 7.55 percent, compared to 8.9 percent with a bioenergetic program. This translates to an increase of .76 pounds of protein per bushel, which means that less feed grain is required per animal fed.

Similarly, lambs fed with corn grown with a bioenergetically determined fertilizer regimen required a 27 percent lower feed intake because of the higher mineral content of the feed. Extensive, large-scale tests show that after three years on such a fertilizing program, average drying requirements on corn decline from 7 percentage points to between 3 and 4 points, while test weights increase 1 to 1-1/2 pounds per bushel. Additionally, as the figure on page 40 shows, a biologically balanced soil is much more temperature-stable than a conventionally fertilized soil. This translates to more stable microbial populations, more stable nutrient reserves, and a less stressed crop.

Imperative to this technology is the integration of all fields of science, from biomedicine to biochemistry, physics to petroleum engineering, nutrition to microbiology. Consultants and farmers who understand the close symbiotic relationship between plants and soil microorganisms, as well as nutrient interactions and interrelationships, can be reasonably successful in their fertilization practices through experience, good observation, and recognition of insect, disease, and weed meanings. Energetic analysis allows them to go a step further than being reasonably successful—to being very successful. Using this technology, farmers are able to produce equal or better yielding harvests, at equal or less cost per unit of production, with little or no pesticides, and, most important, with higher
nutritional values.

Arden B. Andersen, a private consultant for several agribusinesses, has a B.S. degree in agricultural education and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Clayton University in St. Louis, with specialties in soil and plant nutrition, product development, and regenerative management. He has written two books, Applied Body Electronics, and The Anatomy of Life and Energy in Agriculture, and is active in several electrobiological research projects.

References

• William Albrecht, The Albrecht Papers, Vols. I and II, Ed. Charles Walters, Jr. (Kansas City: Acres, USA, 1975).
• Arden B. Andersen, Biophysics: An Ancient Art, A Modern Science. Doctoral dissertation (St. Louis: Clayton University, Jan. 1989).
• The Anatomy of Life and Energy in Agriculture (Kansas City: Acres, USA. 1989).
• Thomas E. Bearden, "Soviet Phase Conjugate Weapons," CRC Bulletin (Jan. 1988).
• Excalibur Briefing (San Francisco: Strawberry Hill Press, 1980).
• Robert O. Becker and Gary Selden, The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life (William Morrow, 1987).
• Philip S. Callahan, Tuning Into Nature (Old Greenwich: Devin-Adair, 1975). , "Insects and the Battle of the Beams," Fusion (Sept.-Oct. 1985) p. 27.
• John Grauerholz, M.D., "Optical Biophysics and Viruses," 21st Century (July-Aug. 1988) p. 44.
• N.A. Krasil'nikov, Soil Microorganisms and Higher Plants (Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1958), Transl. Y. Halperin, The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations, 1961. Transl. Y. Halperin, The Israeli Program for Scientific Translations, 1961.
• Wolfgang Lillge, M.D., "New Technologies Hold Clue to Curing Cancer," 21st Century (July-Aug. 1988), p. 34.

 

[S4703W]

Interesting read, would be nice to have a second opinion to my senses. I saw a page back or so YosimeteSam say that the brix readings fluctuate during different points during the day. I am wondering if any of you have used this instrument to try and guage a "best" time to harvest when the brix readings are highest in the buds. I'm going to get one of these things soon, but i'm curious til then.

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Looking at getting a meter, and wondered if anyone has any experience with this style
http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Ref...TF8&qid=1361805571&sr=8-8&keywords=brix+meter

I have seen the cheaper ones for about $30, but I like the idea of having an exact number read out on a digital display.
Thanks for the help.

 

[c-ray]

from http://www.koanga.org.nz/articles/brix-levels-and-using-refractometer

When you look through the lens you will see a scale from 0 upwards. If the line between the white and blue is very fuzzy, that is a sign that you have good available calcium levels. You can easily read the brix levels in the eye piece.

Either use our spreadsheet (overleaf) or design your own to keep a track of collected data. It takes a series of data collections to begin seeing patterns, don’t jump to conclusions after one test!

Understand that your brix readings will be affected by the time of day so try to always take them at a regular time each week. The best time is between 11:00am and 4:00pm. The readings at the end of the day will be higher because plants collect sugars in their leaves as they photosynthesis during sunlight. As the sun goes down around half of the sugars (containing the minerals) are sent back down to the roots to attract and feed the micro organisms in the soil.

High water levels in the soil affects brix readings, unless the brix is very high and very stable. Make a note of the month and if it has been very sunny or wet etc so you can see these patterns.

If you are getting very high and very low readings on the same plant at different times of the day it could be that the brix is unstable meaning you are getting there, but not quite there yet with your soil health. Consistent readings over 12-14 (leaf tests, not fruit ) means you are growing food capable of nourishing the cells of your body, and if the readings stay up after picking for a day or two then you have pretty stable brix which means the food holds it’s quality, and “shelf life” after picking, for longer.

Use the sheet included inside the refractometer case to see what are generally regarded as low, medium and high readings for individual crops. It tells you if it is a leaf or fruit test that you need to do.

I prefer to take readings on the day I do my foliar feeding so that I can retest an hour after foliar feeding to see if the foliar spray I used was beneficial to the plant. If it is, the brix goes up. Whatever makes the brix go up is what is missing, the limiting factor...very often calcium. After trialling a foliar spray on a few plants, then I may spray that over the entire crop or garden.

 

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from http://crossroads.ws/Q&A/BrixQ&A2.htm

Question: I've paid close attention to the "fuzzy" line effect, which does seem to really matter, i.e., if two items have the same brix reading, the fuzzy line item will taste better than the one with a sharp line. Why is that?

Answer: First, simple sugar mixed in distilled water will give a razor-sharp demarcation line, whereas high-quality amino, proteins, oils, and other life goodies tend to widely refract.

Dr. Reams and his associates, after countless tests, insisted that the brix of the biological mineral-rich crops they supervised was always in the range of "50% sugar." It has been my experience that "organic" produce, whether poor or good, tends to fall in the biological category. On the other hand, the Florida Department of Agriculture insists that the sugar component of commercially grown citrus is 75%. This is a huge difference.

Now you must understand that the plant creates simple sugars as it's basic building blocks. It then combines those sugars with various essential minerals to create vitamins, hormones, amino acids, complete proteins, taste factors, and those various other goodies. I call those the factors of *life* versus the simple sugar building blocks.

It is very important to understand that this is a dynamic process. I.e., the plant is making sugar and then making the conversion to life factors all in the same day.

So, if the plant's ability to convert sugar into life factors is hampered by a lack of needed mineral (mostly the case with commercial produce) then the sugar tends to "back up," both in the leaf and in the fruit. That rather easily explains how you can have two items of identical brix with one being "fuzzy" and the other being "sharp." The former is because the instrument is reporting a large and varied atomic distribution richly composed of those aforementioned "life factors." The latter, sharper brix, of course, is a visual validation that much simple sugar is present.

Our taste buds are incredibly accurate registers---they well know the difference between simple sugar and large amounts of the substances needed to sustain life.

 

[c-ray]

from http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ae50d3e0df14a189976c67144&id=8004d46e04

A recent event has caused us to re-evaluate how we use the information a refractometer provides. The event was a foliar application of SP-1™, fish, and micronutrients on annual ryegrass that yielded only a one point rise in brix after four days. And this was on a field where soil levels of fertilizer were high, and the grass had been planted following a row crop.

This inexplicable and disappointing scenario impelled us to collect samples of both the untreated and treated grass and send them to Analab in Fulton, IL, for testing. When the test results came back they showed that we had actually made a very big improvement in forage quality.

• Protein came down from 29% to 23%.
• More importantly the percent soluble protein dropped from 65 to 43.
• Nitrate nitrogen came down from 1267ppm to 317ppm.
• Also, keeping in line with the 100% rule in forages, the NFC, or sugars, went from 24% to 29%.

We had in fact made a VERY big improvement in forage quality. The University of Wisconsin calculator indicated that one foliar application was likely to gross the grower an extra $80 per acre at an applied cost of about $25 per acre. Not to mention the long-term benefits.

So why didn’t the brix show the improvement?

After much discussion, and recollection of similar cases, we concluded that the moisture content of the grass was a big factor. For instance, when you take a brix reading on a sunny day, but a day which followed rain and the soil is wet, brix readings are lower. Wait a few days for that ground to dry out and brix readings go up.

No mystery there. After all, wine grape growers often cut off the irrigation water to low-brix grapes for the express purpose of increasing fruit brix. Since brix is a measure of dissolved nutrients, removing water from the nutrient solution (plant sap) will increase the nutrient concentration, hence increase brix.

The recent case of improved forage but low brix was on ryegrass that had a lot of moisture in it. Moisture in excess of 80%. So even though we induced the plant to put significantly more nutrients into solution, it was still a very dilute solution with a low brix reading.

Brix testing remains very useful as a quick indicator of status. But keep in mind a few things:

• Brix readings have limitations and do not always tell good from bad, especially when there is a lot of moisture in the plant.
• You can have poor forages that are high brix, and good forages that are low brix.
• Thus brix does not replace testing by a lab or by a cow as an indicator of quality

 

[YosemiteSam]

Interesting read, would be nice to have a second opinion to my senses. I saw a page back or so YosimeteSam say that the brix readings fluctuate during different points during the day. I am wondering if any of you have used this instrument to try and guage a "best" time to harvest when the brix readings are highest in the buds. I'm going to get one of these things soon, but i'm curious til then.

I have given it considerable thought. The best time to harvest veggies is clearly latish afternoon, when brix is highest. Most sugar/minerals in the plant.

But that goes against the concept of flushing...flushing is used to eliminate that stuff. So if you are a flusher lights out gives you the lowest sugar level.

But...I find if your sap pH is right and your brix is high then lights on equals better taste.

Flushing...imo...is only needed when your pH is low (that bitter taste is acid) and possibly you have overloaded nitrates in the plant. Lots of SO4 helps prevent that.

Anyways...pure antidotal evidence on my part. Not exactly conclusive.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The best time to harvest veggies is clearly latish afternoon, when brix is highest

That's when you harvest tree-fruits for the reason you noted and others as well

 

[c-ray]

from an herb cultivation manual I have:

plants for the flower: harvest in the afternoon due to the increased presence of active ingredients.

 

[c-ray]

composting with the pros:

http://www.slideshare.net/ffbroadwell/making-compost-in-50-ton-increments

 

[c-ray]

from http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/blog/2011/11/art-and-science-of-composting/

The Art and Science of Composting

Decomposition is a microbial process critical to life on this planet. Minerals are recycled, carbon is sequestered in the soil as humus and soils are constantly regenerated in a cyclical fashion. This natural decomposition involves the same processes found in composting. However, composting involves the fast-tracking of these natural processes through human intervention. Here, the efficiency of decomposition is maximised through a fusion of science and art. Composting has been an integral part of agriculture for centuries but the science has greatly expanded in the last ten decades. During that same period, extractive agriculture has seriously depleted the mineral and microbial base in our food producing soils, so the need for informed composting has never been greater. In this article I will highlight the multiple benefits of compost, discuss the most effective strategies to produce your own compost and I will also share some of the cutting-edge strategies to enrich your compost.


The Beauty of Compost

Water is rapidly becoming our most precious resource. Countries will wage war to secure supply (if that is not already happening). The use of compost is a premium water saving strategy. It contains around 25% humus and it also promotes the humus-building organisms in the soil (many of whom are desperately in need of some help). Humus can store more than its weight in water (Podolinski (1985) and Kay (1997)) and the building of organic matter levels on your farm, or even in your garden, can make a tremendous difference to your soil’s utilisation of irrigation water or a rainfall event. In fact, the difference is staggering! If you can build your soil humus levels by just 1% then your soil can store 170,000 litres per hectare that it could not previously store. That equates to 17 litres per square meter! Remember that this is water that the plant can access at will. There is no energy required to deliver that water and there is no evaporation factor involved (like dam storage). It really is the ultimate in water storage and efficient water delivery system. In addition, any carbon that we store in the soil, as humus, is not returned to the atmosphere (as part of the carbon cycle), where it is causing so many problems. Building 1% humus in the soil actually binds up 50 tonnes of CO2 per hectare that would otherwise be thickening the greenhouse blanket. Growers will soon be paid for this stored carbon and this will prove a remarkable win/win situation. In fact, there are so many benefits associated with humus building, it is a shining example of a bountiful universe that responds in kind – it is a thing of true beauty.


The Compost Bounty

Humus does not just store moisture more efficiently than any other technology; it is also the best tool to retain nutrients in your soil and to deliver those nutrients to the plant. Humus is the only soil colloid that is equipped with sites to store both negatively charged minerals (anions) and positively charged minerals (cations). This is particularly important in relation to the storage of highly leachable anions like nitrate nitrogen, sulfates and boron, because the humus colloid is the only storage mechanism in the soil for these minerals. Notoriously unstable minerals like phosphorus, which lock up in the soil at an astounding rate (an estimated 73% of your soluble phosphate fertiliser investment becomes insoluble) can be stabilised with the formation of a phosphate/ humus bond.

The delivery of minerals to the plant is largely a biological process and the higher your humus levels, the more active your soil biology and the more nutrient-dense your produce. Food can become a feast of forgotten flavours and these flavours are directly related to the medicinal value of the food.

Improved soil structure is a well-researched benefit of compost application. Soil aeration, porosity and crumb structure are all enhanced. Compost is food for soil life. Earthworms return to composted soils, as do the less visible creatures. I recently applied a healthy dose of compost to just one half of a large flowerbed at my home acreage. Six months later the difference is outstanding. Plant growth is more vibrant, the soil is more friable and there is double the number of earthworms in the treated half!


Microbes and Minerals from Compost

Compost also serves as a microbial inoculum to restore your workforce. A teaspoon of good compost can contain as many as 5 billion organisms and thousands of different species. These beneficial microbes restore biodiversity and the balance that comes with it. This balance can create a disease-suppressive soil. These beneficials neutralise pathogens through competition for nutrients and space, the consumption of competitors, the production of inhibitory compounds and induced disease resistance (via a plant immune boosting phenomenon called systemic acquired resistance). Compost has also been shown to promote the development of mycorrhizal fungi (AMF).

Minerals complexed with humus in compost will not leach like water-soluble fertilisers. African research has demonstrated that when minerals are included with compost they were much more efficient than the uncomposted fertiliser (up to ten times more efficient). Microbe exudates can also prompt the plant to uptake minerals. There is an additional benefit when combining compost with fertilisers. The stable, slow release minerals in compost can help to avoid the plant overloads that sponsor pest pressure (nitrate-packed, low brix plants are a good example).


Raw Materials – What To Embrace

The recipe for successful composting always involves one critical factor. The balance between carbon and nitrogen (the carbon to nitrogen ratio) determines the speed and efficiency of the composting process. The best form of nitrogen is animal manure as it also offers a rich microbial inoculum. Each form of animal manure offers a different range of organisms but it is generally considered that cow manure is the best. The rumen is something of a biological masterpiece in itself and the poo contains a comprehensive representation of this remarkable internal workforce. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of biodynamic agriculture, believed that a farm was not a farm without the presence of cattle. The most famous of the biodynamic preparations involves cow manure deposited in a cow’s horn and buried until it is composted (and infused with other energies).

The carbon component of the compost recipe can be sourced from whatever is closest to hand and least expensive. This may involve spoiled hay, orchard litter, feathers, stable straw, sawdust, municipal mulch or spoiled fruit and vegetables.

There are two other components that have proven particularly productive if they can be readily sourced. Soft rock adds calcium, phosphorus, silica and clay. The clay component greatly extends the life of the compost. Basalt crusher dust can contribute broad-spectrum minerals, if it is finely crushed, but more importantly it supplies paramagnetic stimulation to the compost.


What is Paramagnetism?

Professor Phil Callahan is a highly accomplished scientist and writer responsible for multiple published papers and books covering diverse subject matter. He was able to identify paramagnetism as the reason that volcanic soils always outperform non-volcanic soils. These soils can attract store and convert atmospheric energy (Extra Long Frequency (ELF) radio waves originally created from lightning) into tiny light particles called photons. Photons effectively deliver a light source to the roots and the creatures living around the roots (the rhizosphere). Paramagnetic stimulation can treble the activity of beneficial microbes (hence the enhanced performance of volcanic soils). There is a proven synergy between compost and paramagnetic crusher dust. During my original interview with Prof. Callahan in ‘Nutrition Rules!”, he cited a visit to the German laboratories of Professor Fritz Popp, a leader in the field of light energy research. He arrived from the US with a sample of basalt and asked that it be tested using the cutting-edge equipment available at the lab. To the amazement of Prof. Popp the sample had a reading of 4000, demonstrating that the rock was steadily releasing light particles. However, the next day Prof. Callahan returned to the lab with a sample that involved a combination of the same crushed rock combined with compost. The photon reading had increased 100 fold to 400,000! You can really get your compost cooking and increase the efficacy of the end product with the simple addition of crusher dust and it need not involve a great expense. You will need between 6% and 10% crusher dust in the mix for optimal results and this can be sourced locally, if the paramagnetic reading is high enough. NTS offers a free service where you can send us a 100 gram sample of your local crusher dust and we can test it using a PCSM meter designed by Professor Callahan. The dust should have a minimum reading of 1600 CGS to justify its use. There is a trap for young players here. The PCSM meter can not differentiate between ferro-magnetism and paramagnetism and this means that if your local crusher dust features a particularly high iron content, then you have no way of knowing if the sample is actually paramagnetic. The solution here is to take a couple of buckets of the dust home and apply it to a section of your home garden. You will see an obvious response if it is truly paramagnetic but there will be very little response if the iron content was confusing the reading.


Raw Materials – What to Avoid

There are several raw ingredients that can reduce compost quality and/or contaminate the end product. Chemically treated wood products cannot be used, as the arsenic involved can be a serious pollutant. Meat, bones and fatty foods tend to attract pests (like rats) and they can also stink during their breakdown. Weeds should be avoided. The seeds can be killed with the heat of composting but it is not worth taking the risk. Similarly, it is not a good idea to try to compost diseased plants in case some of the disease organisms escape sterilisation during the heating phase. Cooch and nut grass should be avoided, as the rhizomes will often survive the composting process. Pet litter can harbour human parasites and disease (particularly used kitty litter) and large quantities of pine needles can have an inhibitory effect due to the extreme acidity of this material.


Composting Techniques – What works Best?

There are several popular composting strategies and each of them has merits. Your choice will depend upon your access to raw materials and the maturation speed you are seeking. The level of management involved is a key differentiation between approaches. The maturation time can vary from eight weeks to two years depending on how much time you choose to invest. Here is a brief overview of the most popular composting techniques:


Static Pile Composting

This technique, popularised by US compost guru, Malcolm Beck (The Secret Life of Compost), takes twice the time to produce (compared to windrowing) but there are several pronounced benefits. Here, the all-important aeration comes from air spaces in the mixture determined by particle size. This technique will not be an option for you if you only have access to cow manure as a standalone input because there will be no air spaces and undesirable anaerobic conditions will prevail. However, if you also had access to orchard prunings or Council green waste you would have the perfect material to layer the manure with, producing a well functioning static pile. These large, three-meter high piles are only disturbed three or four times during the 6 month composting process and this non-disruptive approach has several advantages. There are much lower energy, machinery and fuel costs involved and there is also less labour required. One wonders whether more actively managed piles actually result in a net carbon gain, when so much energy is involved in their production. Static pile composting can produce excellent compost with more humus, more nutritional value and higher counts of beneficial fungi. This quality improvement is related to reduced fungal disruption and a lower loss of CO2 (from turning). There is also less leaching of minerals (due to a lower water requirement).

There is still an option for you to use the static pile technique if you have a mountain of cow manure and no material available to produce air spaces. Static piles can be aerated by either blowing or sucking air through the stack. It has been found that alternating air movement can promote a similar temperature and moisture throughout the pile. A caged blower fan can be used to push air through a perforated, 4 inch, plastic drain pipe. The pile height should always be less than three meters to maintain uniform aeration.


Small-Scale Static Piles for the Home Gardener

The compost experts often sell the concept that there is no likelihood of producing a good compost unless some level of active management is involved. This is not the case. Non-energetic home gardeners can pile up their lawn clippings and fallen leaves and recycle these organics without the effort of regular turning. The key here is to avoid the addition of a nitrogen-based accelerant. The materials can sit undisturbed and decompose for up to two years and can still result in an acceptable compost. The piles should be covered by black plastic, sacking, or an old carpet and they may still need watering if they begin to dry out.


Actively Managed Compost

This technique involves commitment and considerable energy to achieve a high quality compost. For example, the pile may require turning every day, during the first ten to fourteen days. The pre-sourced green and brown materials are usually pre-shredded and added in layers to form long narrow windrows between 1 to 2 meters high and 2 to 3 meters wide. Large, compost-turning machines are typically used in windrow composting. CO2 is the gas released as the microbes breathe, so it is a good strategy to monitor this gas with a meter as an indication of microbial activity. These windrows are bacterial dominated because the fungi are repeatedly sliced and diced during the turning process. Moisture must also be monitored and there is much more applied water involved due to the reduced insulation in smaller piles. The compost is produced in just 10 to 12 weeks and this has become the favoured approach amongst commercial compost producers looking for rapid turnaround.


Vermi-Composting – Worms Do the Work

The worms involved in vermi-composting are not the same earthworms found on your farm. They are special, purpose-bred composting worms. Here, the worms do the turning and the aerating and the worm poo is loaded with minerals and unique micro-organisms that make this a truly champagne compost. There is always a downside, however, and here it relates to the lack of a heating stage during composting. Weed seeds and stable pathogenic spores can become an issue depending upon the feedstock that is utilised. Raw feedstock can be pre-composted to overcome this problem, if it cannot be eliminated with the choice of raw materials. The “worm juice” (residual liquid from watering the pile) can be collected and used as a potent liquid fertiliser/bio-inoculum.

Vermi compost is the most effective compost available. It can be highly productive at just two tonnes per hectare. In fact, comparative research at the now defunct, Gatton Field Days, revealed that vermi-compost was around twenty times more potent than composted cow manure (one tonne of vermi-compost was equivalent in performance to twenty tonnes of composted cow manure). Part of this enhanced performance is linked to the inoculum effect when using this product. The micro-organisms incubated in the worms gut are unique to these creatures and they offer an invaluable contribution to a soil lacking earthworms (most conventionally farmed soils).

If you can’t access vermicast or it is not a cost-effective alternative, it is always beneficial to build the number of native earthworms on your farm and there is a good strategy to achieve this goal.


Expanding Earthworms on Your Farm

Earthworms are little fertiliser machines that also aerate and improve soil structure. Earthworm counts in your soil are intimately linked to productivity and profitability and so there is great benefit in building their numbers. A great on-farm strategy involves allocating a paddock to earthworm production. This area should ideally contain a combination of legumes, grasses and cereals that should be slashed regularly to feed the worms. Ideally it should be irrigated and treated with humates and fish on a regular basis along with protozoa tea made from lucerne (protozoa are a favourite food for earthworms and Lucerne is jam-packed with these creatures). Earthworms can be easily transported from this haven to any areas on your farm that need rehabilitation.


The Work of the Masters

Beyond the broad definition of “active” and “passive”, there are several popular and proven composting techniques that warrant mention. Each of them originates from the work of some of the founding fathers of biological agriculture and they include:

• CMC composting – Controlled Microbial Composting is based upon Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s work but was developed by Austrian, Ziegfried Luebke.
• Biodynamic composting – based upon Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy.
• Howard/Higgins composting – based on Sir Albert Howard’s work last century, which has recently been re-invented by UK consultant, Richard Higgins.

Guided Decomposition – CMC Success

Controlled Microbial Composting has become the industry standard for windrow composting in Europe and much of the US. This compost is heavily managed and monitored throughout the eight-week decomposition process and it has some unique features including the following:

• Clay or a clay-based soil is added at 5% to 10% to encourage the formation of a clay/humus crumb during the composting process. This is one of Luebke’s greatest contributions to the art and science of compost making, as it generates humus with a much greater longevity. A clay/humus crumb has a potential life of more than thirty years in the soil.
• The compost is inoculated with a special microbe blend on the second day and a previous compost is used as a starter, at a rate of 10%.
• Daily monitoring of moisture, temperature and CO2 is involved.
• When temperature is higher than 65 degrees celsius or CO2 exceeds 10%, the compost is turned to reduce both temperature and CO2.
• A moisture level of 50% to 55% is maintained throughout.

Steiner’s Master Work

Biodynamic composting is a centerpiece of the BD approach and, as with most of Steiner’s concepts, it has several unique features. The most unusual of these is the required shape of the heap. The pile must be trapezoidal when constructed, which means it should have four unequal sides. The compost is activated with special biodynamic presentations made from herbs, including chamomile, stinging nettle, yarrow, dandelion and horsetail. Dung slurry is watered onto the carbon layer (the brown material) during the layering process. Hydrated lime is dusted on each protein layer (the layer of green vegetation).


The Howard/Higgins System

Sir Albert Howard is widely regarded as the father of organic agriculture. While working in India early last century he developed the Indore approach. This approach, which is also appears to have inspired Steiner’s BD compost, involves a five foot (1.6 meter) layered stack, alternating greens, browns and animal manure. Soil and lime were sprinkled between each layer. Sometimes the pile was started inside a one-meter deep pit. The compost was only turned twice.

U.K consultant, Richard Higgins, is popularising the addition of wood ash, urine soil and clay to the original Howard recipe. Wood ash is a great source of potassium and the composting process stabilises this highly leachable nutrient. Potassium is so easily leached that a single rainfall event can remove the potassium from bonfire ash and return it to the soil. The key here is to keep your ash covered until it is added to the compost heap.

Urine soil involves adding urine to a pile of soil beside the compost heap and adding that to the compost. Urine contains more nitrogen than poo and it would be a great resource for dairy farmers if they could utilise it in composting.


The All-Important Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio

The single most important factor in the composting process is to try to achieve the ideal balance between carbon and nitrogen within the pile. If this balance is not addressed, decomposition will be compromised because the organisms involved require a certain, minimum amount of nitrogen to enable the breakdown of carbon. The ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio for your compost heap is 30:1 and a nitrogen source may often be required to achieve this goal. A very simple starting point is to try to achieve two parts brown (carbon) to one part green (nitrogen). The raw ingredients you can source will determine your need for extra nitrogen. For example, sawdust has a C: N ratio of 500:1, so considerable nitrogen will be required to compost this material. Easy to use C: N calculators are available on the web to simplify your decision making. Grass clippings and animal manure have a similar C: N ratio of around 20:1, so they will help in the decomposition of inputs higher in carbon.


The Two Heat Stages and Getting Them Right

The first stage of composting (the first one to two weeks) is called the thermophilic stage. This is where high temperatures are reached and organic matter is broken down by heat loving organisms producing gums, waxes, lignins, sugars and amino acids. Temperature should be monitored during this stage to ensure best results. The temperature must exceed 57 degrees C for at least three days to kill weed seeds and pathogens. The temperature should not, however, rise beyond 65 degrees C as carbon can be ashed and beneficial microbes will die.

The second phase is called the mesophilic stage and here we see temperatures reduce and oxygen increase. New groups of micro-organisms now move in and colonise the compost and bind the lignins, sugars and aminos into stable humic substances.


Bacterial or Fungal Dominance

Some crops are fungal dominated and they will prefer a fungi-dense compost. Orchards, vines and timber plantations are examples of these fungi-loving crops, and berries (including strawberries) also fall into this category. A simple recipe for a fungal compost involves 5% manure, 50% green and 45% brown.

Pastures, vegetables and most other crops prefer bacterial domination. This involves 25% manure, 50% green and 25% brown. If you compare these recipes you will recognise the fact that bacteria love nitrogen. This is because their bodies have the lowest C: N ratios of any creature on the planet. Bacteria have a C: N ratio of just 5:1 (their bodies comprise 17% N) while fungi have a C: N ratio of 20:1.


Moisture Content

Moisture content is critical to microbial action. Moisture can be added when the pile or windrow is being built or during turning. It is essential to monitor moisture levels. Ensure that handfuls are taken from around and within the piles to identify and avoid wet or dry spots. A lack of consistent moisture throughout the heap can often be related to how the water was applied and how well the compost was mixed. The goal is to achieve a mix that, when squeezed, will only drip a couple of drops (like a wrung sponge). This represents less than 60% moisture. It is a good strategy to test the moisture content of any compost product before purchase to avoid the additional transport charges involved in carting wet compost.


Enriching Your Compost

There are several ingredients that will boost the fertilising and supportive power of your compost and they include the following:

• Zeolite – This natural mineral has a remarkable honeycomb structure which can serve to store minerals and moisture while housing beneficial microbes. It lasts indefinitely in your soil and effectively provides a third storage system (beyond humus and clay). Zeolite is typically added to compost at a rate of 6%.
• Raw humates – Brown coal is a tremendous compost additive as the composting process can release the humic and fulvic acids so densely present within this natural material. Do not exceed 20% brown coal or you may encounter problems with achieving the ideal C: N ratio in your compost (brown coal can contain as much as 60% organic carbon).
• Soft rock – If P is required in your soils this can be a good option. Some of the phosphate, calcium and silica in this product can be released during composting and the clay component of this material is ideal to encourage the complexing of clay with humus. This complex greatly extends the longevity of the compost.
• Seaweed – This sea plant is brilliant if you can access the material, as it provides a wealth of trace minerals and some powerful growth promoters.
• Bone meal and cottonseed meal – These materials can be a good source of nitrogen to balance out your C: N ratio.
• Wood ash – This is a good source of potassium but, as mentioned earlier, it must be collected and stored (or covered) to prevent K losses through leaching.

Problems of Poor Compost

If you get it wrong or buy product from someone who got it wrong, there is a risk of introducing a number of problems onto your property. For example, if pathogens or weed seeds were not effectively killed off during the thermophilic stage, you may be introducing some unwanted intruders. If the C: N ratio of the end product is unbalanced, then there is a risk of nutrient tie-ups or drawdowns. Nitrogen drawdown can be an expensive oversight. Depending upon the choice of raw materials and the efficiency of the composting there may also be issues with nuisance odours, toxic leachates and heavy metal contamination. These are not common problems and they are all overcome with good management. However, it is a good idea to ask for a full analysis of any compost product you are considering to ensure that heavy metals, antibiotics and herbicides are not present. This is sometimes a problem with composts made from municipal waste. There are also some simple tools you can use to help determine compost quality.


Compost Quality

Your nose and eyes are handy tools when deciding if a pile is fully mature. Financial considerations can sometimes drive commercial producers to market compost that is not fully completed. If you are producing your own compost there are no hard fast rules for maturation time. The length of composting can vary based on water, microbes, oxygen, temperature and composition. Here is what you can do to help you decide if your compost is ready:

• Take a sample from deep within the pile with one hand only.
• The material should be dark brown in colour rather than black (a black colour can suggest that the compost was overcooked).
• If the compost stinks, it is not ready and may require turning or you may need to modify your recipe for improved aeration.
• A slight ammonia smell may still be evident in finished compost but this may also indicate the need for more browns (carbon). It is always a good idea to check the temperature as a final guide if there is still a question mark concerning completion.
• The compost is ready when temperatures inside the pile are steadily dropping (less than 40 degrees C) and plant matter is mostly humified (amorphous). The compost should exude a strong, earthy, forest floor smell.

How Much Is Enough?

500 kg to 5 tonnes of compost per hectare serves as a powerful inoculum and promotant, but you can apply as much as 30 tonnes of compost if it is cost-effective to use it for nutrient replacement and fertilising. If possible, the compost should be banded to maximise the response in the root zone and cost effectiveness.

Compost tea is one way to get maximum bang for your buck but this only supplies microbes rather than stable nutrients and humus.


In Conclusion

Composting, and the associated building of humus, is arguably the most important thing that any of us can do to help reverse climate change. Storing carbon in the soil is simply the most effective way to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere. Building humus levels with compost is also the single, most effective way to build fertility and profitability and farmers may soon be paid to provide this service (via carbon credits). This is the ultimate win/win situation and I believe that we may be at the dawn of a golden era of agriculture.

 

[c-ray]

from http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/compost_tea/message/17298

Clay-amended compost develops structure. The Controlled Microbial Composting process developed by the Luebke family is geared to consistent premium-grade humified compost. It uses 10% clay by volume.

They employ soil and compost testing methods to verify biological activity, humification, etc. They use direct look microscopy to observe clay-humus formation. Pike Agri-Lab duplicated this method in the U.S.

Selman Waksman the famous soil microbiologist from Rutgers University wrote about the importance of clay-humus formation as a stable complex in soils.

There are several benefits of amending compost windrows with clay.

It forms clay-humus which is an organo-mineral complex. This complex has tremendous surface area and cation exchange capacity. It is microbially enhanced. When added to soil it provides habitat for microbes.

Rock dust has a broad spectrum of secondary, trace, and rare earth elements. As Tim Wilson noted, the trace elements function as metalic catalysts for microbially-generated enzymatic reactions. Siegfried Luebke compiled a database that catalogs 3,600 different enzymatic reactions that take place in the composting process.

The terra preta that results from charcoal / bio-char and organic matter amendments is likewise an organo-mineral complex with tremendous surface area, CEC, and microbial habitat.

Clay-amended compost and terra preta are anthropogenic soil-builing practices that are at the cutting edge of soil biology and humus management.

The bottomline is that farmers and gardeners can employ these methods and enhance microbial habitat, soil biology functions, and stable organo-mineral complexes in soils with concomitant increases in soil organic matter.

Steve Diver

 

[c-ray]

from http://tnfarchives.nofa.org/?q=article/farming-health

Farming for Health
by Dr. Arden Andersen

As the 21st century begins, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's have become household names, affecting over 50 percent of the American and Americanized population. Crime, deviant behavior, cultish communities, fear, hatred, suicide, depression and anti-social behavior have become so common that much of society is completely desensitized to such behavior.

Rudolf Steiner nailed it well in 1922 when questioned by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer as to why, in spite of all the teachings, seminars and lectures espousing a holistic approach to life and health, so few people grasped these concepts. Steiner's response was succinct: food today does not contain sufficient nutrition to allow the brain to work with a more spiritual/holistic awareness. Dr. Charles Northern, a gastroenterologist, read into the Congressional Record in 1936 that the nutritional value of our food correlated to nutritional decline in the soils and to the disease states experienced by the consumer. In fact, nutrition in our food has steadily declined since 1922, as evidenced by USDA food-testing data. The total number of calories consumed by Americans has increased significantly, but the actual nutrition consumed has declined. Americans are eating hollow calories.

The organizations Beyond Organix and Real Food Campaign are working to evaluate food for actual nutritional quality. This means having your food product tested by any lab of your choice, the same test done on a standard tissue or petiole analysis, but in this case performed on the food itself, whether fruit, nut, grain, milk, meat, egg, vegetable or fish. Compare these results with the 1940 or earlier USDA nutrient analysis data on that crop. The short list for testing may include calcium, magnesium, selenium, iron and perhaps copper, manganese and zinc. (Yes, you can add omega oils, vitamin C, A, D and other traces to the test, but then that gets more expensive and is beyond the standard "tissue test.")

Regardless of the year we use as a standard, 1940 or 1970, it will be better than today's values and a goal for which the farm should strive. Unfortunately, testing costs money, time and labor, but a very simple and inexpensive field test for nutrient value of a crop is the brix reading of the sap or juice measured with a refractometer. This is a test that can be done daily and correlates well to crop nutritional quality. Every farmer should have a refractometer and use it regularly, know what his/her crops are running, and if the brix values are not improving, then change the fertility program.

There are those, including some consultants, who do not understand what the sap/juice brix reading means or how to feed a crop to get brix to increase. They tend to believe that the soil test prevails over all else and seek to find the perfect soil test report. As a result they cannot seem to grasp the brix principles. Brix measurements using a refractometer for sap/juice is about fundamental biochemistry, fundamental photosynthesis unique to plants. Only plants take in carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight to manufacture sugar.

Everything the farmer harvests comes from this sugar — every bushel, ton, box or carton of yield. This is basic, elementary botany. The farmer's task as a health promoter largely rests on raising crop brix values to the good or excellent range as defined by Dr. Carey Reams.

Moving from a standard chemical system to a biological system can initially be as simple as following a universal recipe to establish some base fertility — but to move from this base to superior quality, yield and profitability, the "art" of farming must be employed to raise crop brix values (12 or above for the growing crop). This means mid-season soil and crop testing, field assessment and prescription nutrition specific to crop needs, growth, and physiology.

Farming For Health

Growers who think foliar applications are not valuable are missing a huge opportunity for crop improvement. Plants in nature are not limited to root feeding. The poorer the soil nutritional balance, functionally, the less efficient will be the foliars. The better the soil nutritional balance, functionally, the more efficient will be the foliars. Therefore if foliars aren't working for you, either change your soil program or change the formulation/timing of your foliars. Specifically, foliars don't work well if the functional calcium is insufficient and the foliar product isn't the right mix. Researchers at Michigan State University in the early 1960s using radio-labeled nutrients demonstrated that foliar applications of nutrients are up to 10 times as efficient as soil application of these same nutrients on a pound-for-pound, kilogram-for-kilogram basis.

I am ever amazed to observe experienced vets such as Dan Skow, Paul Dettloff, Hugh Karreman and Ed Sheaffer walk into a barn and, without any lab testing, make skillful, extensive assessments and recommendations for improving animal health and production. Generally, only when they are stumped do they turn to laboratory testing. In medicine it is the same situation. The history and physical exam are 90 percent of the diagnosis.

It is critical to one's success to understand that we get no kudos or style points for fertilizing just to make the soil test report look good. We need to fertilize to make the crop look good, to raise its brix and nutrient value. Remember, the point is that we are growing food for people, not soil test reports for the archives. So often I have had blood tests, X-rays and MRIs on patients that were read as normal, yet the patient was sick or in pain. As a patient, do you prefer the doctor treat the lab tests or treat you, the patient? The same holds for soil tests and crop performance.

Brix readings of a crop sap or juice is part of the field observation package. It is part of evaluating the "patient." One could taste the juice or sap, and if well trained and aware, nail the brix reading without a refractometer. Taste and palatability are key indicators of crop nutritional quality. Most of us aren't at that skill level in all crops, of course, so we use a refractometer to measure the brix. Regardless of one's preference in soil testing, follow whatever fertility practices are necessary to raise the crop brix readings. The brix will correlate to crop health and nutritional quality.

When we get into the discussion of growing 100 bushels of soybeans per acre, the "100 Bushel Club," farmers and consultants wonder how it can be done — because it has already been done, they know it is possible. Functional nutrient levels/balance in the soil are the key to this accomplishment, which parallels microbial activity and humus levels. Under a functional system of agronomy, a holistic system, 200-bushel soybeans, I predict, will be a reality within three years in the Midwest. Crop brix, the measure of the sap sugar, correlates significantly to yield.

Yes, we have a lot of human health and environmental challenges before us in the 21st century. Every one of them is directly or indirectly connected to food quality, which really means nutritional value of the food — and this nutritional value is a changeable, correctable challenge. Crop brix is an earmark for how well the farmer is improving the nutritional value of the crop. Use it and change your management accordingly to raise crop brix. Those who say it cannot be done had better get out of the way of those who are doing it!

 

[ghostmade]

ta for reading

 

[c-ray]

more composting with the pros:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnveFnP-jZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sR1xUlvIMI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnu0UQmsR1A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olqlJJS1u6w

 

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from http://www.agphysics.com/2009/04/05/composting-explained/

Composting Explained
April 5, 2009
By Hugh Lovel

On a recent trip to Japan where I visited several organic farms as well as a golf course I noted that no matter how good their other practices none were composting well enough. All omitted clay from their compost mixtures. The same is commonly true on organic farms elsewhere, though I know of cases—most of them biodynamic operations—in Europe, India, the USA, Australia and New Zealand where composting is excellent.My research shows that organic farming pioneer, Sir Albert Howard, (1873-1947), advocated soil, a good source of clay, as part of his compost mix. In my own case, one of the oldest and most experienced compost makers I’ve known is Fletcher Sims, who started composting on the Texas High Plains shortly after World War II—in which this pint sized Texan was a B-17 tail gunner in the old Army Air Corps. One of the secrets of excellent compost Fletcher shared with me was the incorporation of somewhere in the vicinity of 10% clay, either as soil or as rock powders that would make good clays. Fletcher also used compost inoculants either made with biodynamic preparations or using microbes derived from biodynamic preparations. And he developed world class compost turning machinery for aeration and moisture control.

Background

I realize most growers think of compost as a means of recycling nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK) and they tend to measure compost quality in terms of its NPK analysis—which would be diluted if clay were added. Since organic agriculture was a reaction against the simple minded abuses of chemical agriculture, it adopted a natural and far more complex approach to the NPK mind-set, nevertheless retaining the belief that soluble N, P and K were essential to robust growth and high production. The difference was they replaced the miracle grow mentality—that the soil was there to hold the plant up and nutrients should be supplied in soluble form—with the use of crop rotations, lime, gypsum and other rock dusts along with microbial inoculants, composts, trace minerals, and organic carbon concentrates such as kelp, fulvic and humic acids.

On the other hand, Brazilian soil scientist, Ana Primavesi, pointed out in her brilliant rebuttal of the NPK mindset—which she called the Nutrient Quantity Concept or NQC—that basic agricultural research went awry back in the mid nineteenth century by analysing plants for their chemical components and then analysing poorly performing soils to determine their deficiencies, which then could be addressed with soluble inputs. She suggested we should all along have examined thriving untouched natural soils, such as found in rain forest or grassland ecosystems, in order to determine what goes on in a naturally thriving soil. Interestingly these soils often show up on soluble soil analyses as being deficient in soluble N, P or K even though total soil analysis using strong acids shows these elements present in what are thought to be unavailable forms. Thus she argued a new approach—which she termed the Nutrient Access Concept or NAC—was required. The question she asked is what is so different about thriving natural ecosystems versus farmed soils?

NPK vs. Micro-organisms

The first thing that comes to mind is the tremendous diversity of species, and as far as the soil is concerned this boils down to extremely diverse, high populations of micro-organisms in the soil—fed, of course, by the recycling of vegetative matter from above. The most immediate way this occurs is from the nightly cycling of a wide array of carbon compounds by root exudation from a diversity of plant species, each feeding a different community of micro-organisms in its root zone. Of course, mono-cropping defeats this since large plantings of single species causes microbial diversity to crash, which is why multi-cropping and multi-species cover cropping are sorely needed. Diversity of crop species, however, is a topic for another day.

What comes to light out of all this is that composts should be thought of as a means of restoring micro-organism diversity to soils. In other words, composts are micro-organism inputs, not NPK inputs. The well-known soil microbiologist, Dr. Elaine Ingham, has been arguing this for years, and has set up laboratories in a number of countries for testing the levels and diversity of micro-organisms in soils and composts. And since truly good compost is such a rarity she has popularized the concept of compost tea brewing, which—when done successfully—can brew high populations of diverse soil microbes to be applied in liquid form repeatedly throughout a crop cycle for a fraction of the cost of applying mediocre composts at high enough rates to assure the numbers and diversity for sufficient release of a full array of nutrients.

Time after time it has been shown that repeated applications of well-brewed compost teas can shift the availability of nutrients in soils as long as these nutrients were present in the total test—or in the case of nitrogen if the right mix of nutrients is present for nitrogen fixation and microbial release. Aside from equipment design and microbial food source issues, the difficulty usually is finding a reliably robust and diverse starter culture for successful compost tea brewing. Essentially one must start with a good compost culture.

Where This Leads

Let’s step back a moment and review. Although organic farmers often think of composts as NPK inputs, composts should really be thought of as soil micro-organism boosters. Unfortunately, most composts are rather mediocre at doing this, although there are good ones which often enough are biodynamic. Why do biodynamic composts sometimes hit the bull’s eye? Is it just due to the biodynamic preparations? From my 30+ years experience with biodynamics I’d have to say no. Biodynamic preparations may help considerably, but I believe the real reason is that biodynamic growers have a greater tendency to understand that lime and silica stand at the poles of the mineral kingdom while clay mediates between the two. Remember, all the most successful compost makers—whether biodynamic or not—use some form of clay to make compost. Most biodynamic compost workshop leaders I’ve known emphasize the importance of clay in composting. Otherwise lime and silica do not have enough middle ground where interaction between these two polarities can occur. This seriously limits both the mineral and the microbial activity of the compost pile and tends to ensure the compost goes off toward one or the other extreme.

Biochemical Sequence

Let’s look at this from the viewpoint of the biochemical sequence in plants, since this is also the basic requirement for good soil microbial activity. Clay, by definition, is aluminium silicate—which means that clay is the soil’s silica reservoir. But because aluminium doesn’t turn loose of silica all that readily, nature boosts silica release with a trace of boron—which is chemically akin to aluminium but far more reactive.

[Aluminium silicates come in a wide variety of forms from the simple Al2Si2O5∙OH4 of kaolin (the basis for porcelain) to a much more complex montmorillonite such as (Na,Ca)0.33(Al,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2∙nH2O as would be found in rich black cracking soils with a cation exchange capacity of over 50.]

As far as plants are concerned silicon is the mineral basis for cell walls and connective tissues. Thus silicon provides containment and transport for all sap nutrients and protoplasm. In other words boron provides sap pressure and silicon provides the transport and containment system. Now we can we consider calcium, which American farm guru Gary Zimmer calls the trucker of all minerals. He’s right, of course, but let’s not forget that calcium trucks down a silicon highway. Calcium, assisted by molybdenum, is the basis of nitrogen fixation and amino acid chemistry. Nitrogen, allied with calcium in the form of amino acids, reacts with every other nutrient element, the most important being magnesium, which is the basis for chlorophyll and photosynthesis. Chlorophyll traps energy and shunts it via phosphorous into carbon structures, which go where potassium, the main electrolyte, carries them.

Thus the biochemical sequence for plants is B, Si, Ca, N, Mg, P, C, K. If, in making compost, we focus on N, P and K we leave out the beginning of this sequence. If we refuse to dilute the NPK content of our compost by adding clay we will make poverty compost that never gets its biochemistry rolling with B, Si and Ca. Thus the micro-organism content will not be up to the task of eating into the soil and fixing nitrogen—which tends to escape during the composting process.

When we look at compost as a micro-organism booster for digesting the soil so that sap pressure, transport, nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis and growth occur and our plants have plenty of root exudates to keep ramping up the microbial activity around their roots—then we need to put about 10% rich clay in our compost. This breeds high populations of the micro-organisms that eat soil. By putting clay—or a rock powder that makes a good clay—in our compost we can breed soil eating microbes in abundance.

Fletcher Sims reckons that 2 to 3 tons per acre (5 to 7.5 tonnes per hectare) of this sort of well-made compost should be sufficient to boost the microbial activity of a decent soil enough for a robust crop of corn or potatoes—even though we are talking mono-crop farming. Contrast this with 10 to 20 tons per acre (25 to 50 tonnes per hectare) of mediocre compost being barely adequate—a five to one difference in application rates.

The rest of the story can be worked out—keeping the pile aerated and moist, getting carbon to nitrogen ratios somewhere between 15 and 30 to 1, supplying major and minor nutrients to meet specific soil needs in appropriate forms and amounts, and using biodynamic preparations and/or compost inoculants. But understanding the importance of clay as the appropriate medium for culturing the micro-organisms most needed in turning soil into plant food can take a little more understanding than currently prevails—since this is non-existent in the NPK school of agriculture.

Some Pointers

If the larger size earthworms are lacking in your piles, keep in mind that earthworms don’t have teeth, they have gizzards and they need grit. If your soil is lacking in grit, try freshly crushed rock powders that contain some coarser particles. An earthworm’s digestive tract is one of the best microbial culture vessels in the soil, and earthworms spread micro-organisms around pretty well, so it pays to give them what they need. Moreover, if your compost heap is too dry for earthworms, it’s too dry for the micro-organisms you need in your soil. Once earthworm activity slows down your compost is ready to spread, which makes them good indicators. Another indicator animal is ants. When they produce that formic acid smell that seems fresher than lemon they are doing their job of clearing toxicity from your compost.

ILLUSTRATIONS:

This picture was taken at a model organic farm in Japan, but there was no clay in the compost. The concrete pad and covered sheds were necessary because of high rainfall, which is not usually a problem in Australia, but of course, it kept clay from getting into the compost.

In many ways the diversity and management of this farm was admirable, but the emphasis of nitrogen over silica due to the lack of clay in the compost shows in this patch of aquatic weeds in the rice. This particular weed can be symbiotic with rice, as it was where I saw it last year on a Japanese biodynamic farm. There growth was subdued, and its leaves were small, narrow and quite pointed—a sure sign of high silica in the soil.

This scene, taken behind the composting shed, shows a paddock freshly sown in buckwheat—so called because it often takes only 8 weeks from planting to harvest and can follow wheat. Buckwheat rushes to flower by its third week, showing a particularly close relationship with phosphorous—as its roots host phosphorous solubilizing bacteria. This can be very helpful since wheat removes soluble phosphorous from the soil. Attention to good crop rotations was one of the admirable features of this farm. Also note the border areas with their lush diversity of species. The Japanese countryside can be spectacularly beautiful.

 

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...continued

Here we see the turning of a small compost pile in Tolga, FNQ. The field broadcaster in the foreground (sometimes called a biodynamic tower) broadcasts the archetypal patterns of all the biodynamic preparations into the ethers around the clock and around the seasons. Biodynamic preparations are organizational in their action, and organization is the basis of life. Contrary to the belief of some, this is an organizational (etheric) device rather than a disorganizational device hooked up to the electric mains.

Here is adding a little fresh green matter from the garden to an otherwise slow pile.

Moisture is maintained by watering each layer as the compost is turned.

Finally, the finished pile, the tools used and a pile of finished compost that filtered through the pitchfork as the pile was turned. Tolga has heavy red clays so leached of their calcium that the magnesium left behind makes them extremely sticky when wet. Two years of gardening with the addition of soft rock phosphate, gypsum, boron humates and cover crops of maize with soybeans has changed this situation dramatically. The rich chocolate colour of the finished compost shows how the clay has absorbed the digested organic matter forming clay/humus complexes which are ideal for rich microbial diversity. The finished compost between the wheelbarrow and the stack will go on two beds being replanted, while the vegetation ripped out will return to the compost site with quite a bit of clay still sticking to its roots. The fresh material will be incorporated into a newly turned pile in thin layers.

 

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from http://biofarmassist.com/?p=486

Why You Should Be Using Compost On Your Farm

Here are sixteen reasons you should be using good quality compost on your farm.

Good quality compost can help you on your farm in the following ways:

1. It can restore soil fertility and soil life to unfertile, dead soils. A wide range of fungi and bacteria grows within compost. Its nature’s way to restore soil fertility. Harness biological energy in fungi and bacteria to do the work for you by feeding the plant.

2. It adds organic matter. Using compost adds to organic matter in the soil, which increases the amount of microbes present. This fascilitates further breakdown of the organic matter. It feeds other soil life present in the soil.

3. Compost is a great way to increase Potassium and Phosphate levels.

4. It restores micronutrients in your soil. In areas in Europe where compost have been used for hundreds of years, there is virtually no deficiency of micronutrients.

5. The temperature build-up in compost destroys weed seeds in organic matter.

6. Compost contains Humic and Fulvic acids

7. In the long term compost will add to the build up of humus levels in the soil.

8. Molecular chelating takes place in which mineral complexes are formed with biochemical molecules (e.g. sugars or amino acids).

9. Improve the soil’s water holding capacity

10. Minerals like lime and rock phosphate can be added to compost acid and microbes will solubilize the material faster

11. Nutrients and fertilizer can be added to compost to ensure a slow release of nutrients when the plant needs it. Some chemical fertilizers can be harmful to biology in compost in the short term, some biological life forms die off but other multiplies again. Start of with small amounts and increase gradually. Monitor biology in compost.

12. Increase in soil life due to compost will assist in the break down of minerals in the soil, for easier absorption.

13. Improve soil structure. Soil will become softer, more workable and plant roots will have less resistance.

14. A good composting process will get rid of unwanted pathogenic micro-organisms and toxic compounds.

15. Compost has 10 times the value of manure.

16. The benefits of compost are still being researched. There seem to be more unidentified benefits that researchers are still trying to uncover.