<div>Dear Wayne,</div>
<div>the microbes in the soil multiply their numbers whenever they are provided with food. It can be pure sugar, starch, cellulose or a complex substance like green leaves. The microbes need the same minerals that the plants and animals need, and when they multiply, they take the minerals from the soil. Normally, the soil minerals have very low solubility. They form solutions having mineral concentration that can be measured in PPM or PPB units. But the microbes can absorb them even from such dilute solutions. Another property of the soil solution is that the concentration of the minerals dissolved in it is always constant. Molecules absorbed by the microbes from the solution are replaced by molecules entering the solution from the undissolved pool of minerals in the soil. This is called dynamic equilibrium. Now suppose your soil is deficient in Nitrogen. Then, only the N2-fixing bacteria would survive in that soil. When the organic food provided to the microbes is consumed by them, they die of starvation. In that process, they release their biochemicals into the soil. So now the soil that was poor in nitrogen, would appear to have more nitrogen. So, when you talk to the farmers, give them this example. The microbes must multiply. When they multiply, they take either from the soil or from the air, whatever they need for their growth. When they die, they release these compounds into the soil, and these elements are then taken up by the plants. </div>
<div>Soil analysis actually analyses only the water soluble compounds in the soil, whereas the microbes can extract minerals that are "insoluble" (i.e. having so low solubility, that the elements go undetected in soil analysis). When these so called absent elements are then detected in plants, people start talking of transmutation of elements by soil microbes. </div>
<div>Yours</div>
<div>A.D.Karve<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 1:58 PM, Jim McNelly <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jim@composter.com">jim@composter.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote"><br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Wayne Zschech <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:waynezschech@calvarychapel.com" target="_blank">waynezschech@calvarychapel.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">G'day All!<br><br>I know that the quality of the liquid digestate as a fertiliser depends on the type of feedstock ingredients. However, as a generalisation (or with specifics) how does our liquid digestate compare to liquid worm castings? Is the digestate even close to the 'potency' of the worm castings? Also when comparing the standard NPK values of inorganic fertiliser is there a rule of thumb that allows digestate to 'compete' with them even though the NPK values are much higher in the inorganic fertiliser? This will help me in talking to farmers when talk about the benefits of our product as instead of fresh manure or chemicals.<br>
<br>Blessings,<br>Wayne<br><br>___</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">Have you actually tried to take the filtrate or digestate and feed it directly to earthworms? I have. It kills them within hours. You can analyze it all you want, but just do this one thing. Actually feed it to earthworms and see for yourself what happens.</blockquote>
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<br>for more information about digestion, see<br>Beginner's Guide to Biogas<br><a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/" target="_blank">http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/</a><br>and the Biogas Wiki <a href="http://biogas.wikispaces.com/" target="_blank">http://biogas.wikispaces.com/</a><br>
<br><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>***<br>Dr. A.D. Karve<br>Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)<br><br><br>