Ooh I'm only a couple minutes into the webinar and this seems like a great resource, thanks so much for sharing! I'm going to add your note with the link to the office hours thread too :) https://soilissexy.substack.com/p/office-hours-monthly-recap
Love the information on humates, something I knew nothing about until recently. I have developed a process that produces humates from composting kitchen and garden waste in an aerated liquid and would love if you could send me back a few comments? I have been applying the liquid to my plants for the past 6 months with good results - you can see my progress on X @rainsurfers
Hi Peter! I tried to access your X page, but it seems I can't view without making an account unfortunately 😅 Would you mind describing your process a bit more here? Glad to hear you're having great results, plant response is the best kind of feedback :)
No problem. The idea is simple - recycle nutrients from kitchen and garden waste materials by allowing them to decompose in an aerated liquid (water). The materials (grass, garden clippings, potato peel, waste vegetables etc.) are placed in a mesh bag which is then submerged in a small tank of water. The water is then circulated and aerated several times per day, constantly ensuring the dissolved oxygen content of the water does not drop to zero.
The first liquid that is produced is well known to gardeners as aerated compost tea. This is high in nutrients and also aerobic bacteria which can then be applied to your garden. The interesting part however, happens around the three week mark when the liquid turns much darker. This is when the decomposition of materials in the mesh bag (greens) are almost completely broken down and humates are released into the liquid. Importantly, as the liquid is never anaerobic, the process is odorless and the liquid harmless.
I use approximately 40 pints (20 litres) daily and top-up the mesh bags and water regularly. This is what I have been applying to my plants and soil and I recently posted several pictures of soil samples showing a definite color difference in the soil after six months usage. The process itself can be manually operated so no electricity is required.
Peter, this is very intriguing! Thank you so much for sharing (and my apologies for being a couple days delayed in my reply). It's almost like an aquatic compost if you will... there is a lot in common between the biology of aerobic water systems and aerobic terrestrial systems, so I don't see why this wouldn't yield a useful soil amendment.
Thanks Andie, we're just at the beginning of our process and we hope to develop things further and sell a copy of the cheap system we have produced. Appreciate the feedback.
Thank you for sharing all this great info!
https://youtu.be/TP-_Rb8DYLQ?feature=shared
If you or anyone else is interested, I found this John Kempf/AEA Webinar on humic substances to be super informative!
Ooh I'm only a couple minutes into the webinar and this seems like a great resource, thanks so much for sharing! I'm going to add your note with the link to the office hours thread too :) https://soilissexy.substack.com/p/office-hours-monthly-recap
Hi Andie,
Love the information on humates, something I knew nothing about until recently. I have developed a process that produces humates from composting kitchen and garden waste in an aerated liquid and would love if you could send me back a few comments? I have been applying the liquid to my plants for the past 6 months with good results - you can see my progress on X @rainsurfers
Hi Peter! I tried to access your X page, but it seems I can't view without making an account unfortunately 😅 Would you mind describing your process a bit more here? Glad to hear you're having great results, plant response is the best kind of feedback :)
Hi Andie,
No problem. The idea is simple - recycle nutrients from kitchen and garden waste materials by allowing them to decompose in an aerated liquid (water). The materials (grass, garden clippings, potato peel, waste vegetables etc.) are placed in a mesh bag which is then submerged in a small tank of water. The water is then circulated and aerated several times per day, constantly ensuring the dissolved oxygen content of the water does not drop to zero.
The first liquid that is produced is well known to gardeners as aerated compost tea. This is high in nutrients and also aerobic bacteria which can then be applied to your garden. The interesting part however, happens around the three week mark when the liquid turns much darker. This is when the decomposition of materials in the mesh bag (greens) are almost completely broken down and humates are released into the liquid. Importantly, as the liquid is never anaerobic, the process is odorless and the liquid harmless.
I use approximately 40 pints (20 litres) daily and top-up the mesh bags and water regularly. This is what I have been applying to my plants and soil and I recently posted several pictures of soil samples showing a definite color difference in the soil after six months usage. The process itself can be manually operated so no electricity is required.
Peter, this is very intriguing! Thank you so much for sharing (and my apologies for being a couple days delayed in my reply). It's almost like an aquatic compost if you will... there is a lot in common between the biology of aerobic water systems and aerobic terrestrial systems, so I don't see why this wouldn't yield a useful soil amendment.
Thanks again for sharing your process, I will copy and paste what you wrote above into our office hours threads too! https://soilissexy.substack.com/p/office-hours-monthly-recap
Thanks Andie, we're just at the beginning of our process and we hope to develop things further and sell a copy of the cheap system we have produced. Appreciate the feedback.