Compost Extracts vs Teas

Through commercial extraction units, we are able to agitate and solubilize the vermicompost biology, microbial metabolites, and carbon compounds into a liquid solution. We can use this extract very beneficially as a soil drench, foliar spray or deep root injections. The bacterial and fungal population in quality compost is about 1 billion per teaspoon. In an extraction, the biology remains dormant as we do not add any “food stuffs” to the brew that would trigger them to multiply. This retains the broad spectrum, beneficial diversity of species that is originally present in our vermicompost - aerobes and anaerobes. In soil, we functionally need all of the member of the soil food web society. We can’t have the street cleaners and the semi-truck drivers without the asphalt layers to build the roads in the first place.

In a tea brewing process, “food stuffs” such as liquid fish, kelp, or molasses are added during the process which causes population multiplication. The caveat is that every microbial species has a specific preferred food source, so each input will only grow certain populations. On top of that, when the presence of carbonaceous food wakes the microbes out of dormancy, they now have other needs such as oxygen for aerobes and a lack-of-oxygen for anaerobes. Thus, you lose the beneficial anaerobes in a tea and those pesky aerobes need different levels of oxygenation, so your air bubbler will incidentally select for a certain portion of aerobic species.

The takeaway is that an aerated compost tea can exponentially grow a narrow spectrum of microbial species, but a pure extraction will preserve the extraordinarily complex and functionally-intertwined species diversity of our vermicompost. Additionally, compost extracts have the characteristic advantage of having a moderate shelf life, so there is not a rat race to get the liquid into the field as there is with a tea. This goes back to the microbes being dormant in the extract (ready to explosively multiply in your field) and the microbes being active in a tea (populations will drastically decline once the brewer is turned off or the “food stuffs” runs out).

Vermicompost Extract for Agriculture

$3.25/gal base pricing. 100 gallon order minimum. Contact us for flexible pricing on high volume and pick-up vs delivery. Extract is made fresh to order.

It is imperative that we establish a desirable working environment for soil microbiology. To survive, they need to eat carbon and breathe oxygen. For the latter, we can establish an aerobic soil environment with proper mineral management, building organic matter, and overall farming practices. As for the former, besides building carbon into our soils over time, we see the best results from applied microbiology when the tiny workers are sent to the jobsite with a carbon lunchbox.

Bacteria typically prefer simple carbons and fungi go for the complex carbons. We recommend that our vermicompost extract is applied with a combination of short, medium, and long-chain carbons. An example would be injecting the vermicompost extract with molasses and liquid fish, or pairing sugar and humic acid. A seawater concentrate or seawater product are also essential in providing the wide array of trace minerals that are needed for microbial proliferation.

We can procure or help source the carbon inputs for blending with the vermicompost extract, depending on the context of the order. We are not a fertilizer company or storehouse, so any need for carbon inputs from us will need to be discussed well in advance of application.

WHY USE Black DIAMOND LIQUID EXTRACT?

Liquid Extracts can be vital to healthy soil and beneficial to your plants.

QUALITIES OF A WELL-PRODUCED LIQUID VERMICOMPOST PRODUCT INCLUDE:

• Nutrient cycling to increase nutrient and mineral uptake of roots

• Disease prevention and control

• Soil building as aggregates form and humus is developed

• Plant health, growth and production, as well as deeper color, enhanced flowering, increased aroma and more nutrient and mineral density.

• Increase runners in grass or root size in plants

• Improve water holding capacity of soil as beneficial microbial communities are established

The two key reasons to use it:

• Infuse microbial life into the soil or onto the foliage of plants

• Add soluble nutrients to the foliage or to the soil to feed the organisms and plants.

The use of a liquid extract is recommended whenever the organisms in the soil or on the plants are not at optimum levels.

A professional lab can analyze your soil and leaf samples for an overview as to whether the organisms in your soil/plant leaves are at optimum levels or not. 

Chemical-based pesticides, fumigants, herbicides and some synthetic fertilizers kill a range of the beneficial micro-organisms that encourage plant growth.  On the other hand, compost teas improve the life in the soil and on plant surfaces.  High quality compost tea will treat the leaf surface and soil with beneficial micro-organisms instead of destroying them.

The benefits of using a liquid biological product:

• Improved plant growth as a result of using beneficial organisms to protect the plant surfaces.  The organisms occupy infection sites and can also prevent disease-causing organisms from finding the plant. 

• Improves the nutrient retention of the soil thus stimulating plant growth.  If your soil can retain its nutrients it helps minimize the need to use fertilizer.  A healthy soil is less likely to leach its nutrients into ground and surface waters. 

• Increasing the nutrients available to the root system leads to a stronger healthier plant.  The predator-prey interactions increase the available nutrients required by the plant and enables it to absorb them in the correct dosage at the time the nutrients are required.

• Assists in reducing the negative impact that chemical-based pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers have on beneficial micro-organisms in the ecosystem.

• Improves the intake of nutrients by increasing foliar uptake.  The beneficial micro-organisms increase the time the stomata stay open, while at the same time reducing evaporative loss from the leaf surface. 

• Reduces water loss and improves the water retention of the soil thereby reducing the need for frequent watering. 

• Improves tilth by building better soil structure.  Soil with vigor must contain not only bacteria but also fungi, protozoa, nematodes and micro arthropods.