lar, we focused on th e impor tance of aer ation during t he tea -brewing p rocess and the extent of transm ission

of mi crobial activity , nutrients , and enzym atic act ivity from t he ve rmicomp osts to the aqueou s extracts. Our t eas wer e prepared from food waste v ermicom post, p roduced in automated continuou s flow reactor system s by O regon Soil Corp oration, which has been ma rketing food waste Fig ure 2 . A c o m p a rin o f th e e ff o f so cts vermicomposts s ince 1990. 5 A range o f concent rations ofve rmicom - a erated a nd n o na e ra te d % vermic om po st te as o n to m g ro w th in M M 3 6 it all ato (w 0h posts and vermi compost teas were added n e e d n u trie n ts u p p lie d ) ed s to soils and the microbia l activity in the variou s mixtures was a ssessed. The solid treatments we re 5 percent, 50 per cent, and 100 percent vermicompost to soi l ratios. The teas added to th e soils were 5 pe rcent and 50 pe rcent verm icompos t to water ratios (vo lume:volume) add ed to soi l. Microb ial activity wa s assessed 0 , 16, 32 and 6 4 days after the treatments had been ap plied to soil. The compo sition, diversity and activity of the soil micro bial communitie s was rated wi th a fatty acid methy l ester (FAME) techni que, which used the diversit y and quantities of f atty acids as biolog ical fingerprints of micro F ig u re .3 c o m p a ris o n oef g ro w th o f A th bial communitie s and activity . Obvious c uc u m b r s tr ate d w 2 0 aerate d e e ith % ly, with dec reasing concentrations of 'vermpo a n % n o e te 0 micomposts and vermi compost teas there was vermicoo m pstt tea sarod 2n iM M n a ra (wd a ll v erm ic so t g w n e 3 6 0 ith less microbi al activity in the teas. n ee d e n u tr n ts s u p p lie d ) d ie Neve rtheless , the teas had about onethird o f the m icrobial acti vity and diversity o f the so lid vermicomp osts, volume to vo lume , and the re was little diminuti on of mic robial activity and diver sity ov er the 64-day cou rse of the experiment s. This research was followed by a study of the effects of aeration in tea brewin g on key chemical and biologica l paramete rs of the te as produced, and thei r effects on p lant g rowth. The vo lume:volume ratios of vermi compost to water used were 1:5 (20%) , 1:10

(10%) and 1:20 (5%); ha lf of the treat ments tested we re aerated and ha lf were not. Paramete rs studied we re: pH, nitrateN, dehyd rogenase enzyme activ ity and microbial biomass (Figu re 1). All of these parameters were signifi cantly low er in the nonae rated teas co mpared with those in the ae rated o nes, p robably be cause dissolve d oxygen supp orts micro bial activity. Probably the most important pa rameter, whi ch was not eas y to assess, was the presence of plan t growth regulators in the t eas, which can influence plant growth significan tly indepen dent o f nutrient availabil ity. Clearly , all of the evidence obtained indicates t hat aeration is critical to the product ion of effective vermicompost teas. Finally, the e ffects of a range of di lutions of vermicompost te as - ranging from 0 percent (wate r control), 5 percent, 10 percent and 20 pe rcent either aer ated or non aerated - on the germinat ion and earl y growth of tomatoes and cucumbe rs were studied in th e greenhouse. Ge rmination rates , heights and leaf a reas of tom ato plants we re sign ificantly gre ater in response to treatment s with aerated vermi compost teas, th an those of p lants treat ed with nonaera ted vermicompost teas (Fig ure 2) . There we re significant growth response s to aerat ed vermicompost teas , even at the lowest concentr ation t ested (0.5%). S imilar responses occu rred in germi nation , heights and leaf a reas o f cucumber s in respon se to aerated and nonae rated teas (Figure 3). No practical p roblems such as adve rse growth effects in the use ofverm icompost teas were found a t any o f the dilution s tested.
Norman Arancon, C live Edw ards, Richard Dick and Lin da Dick are wi th the Soil Eco logy Laborator y at The Oh io State Un iversity in Columbus , Ohio .

.PATH O G ENS AND CO M PO ST TEAS

N 2004, the Compost Tea Task Force was charged by the National Organic Standards Board to review the potential for contamination of teas by human pathogens. Vermicompost teas were included in this review. Members of the Task Force concluded that when additives such as carbon substrates like molasses or sugars were added to teas to encourage the growth of beneficial nonpathogenic microorganisms, the populations could also increase the growth of bacterial human pathogens from undetectable to harmful numbers in some investigations. This would be a particular hazard if compost teas prepared from composts produced from animal wastes were sprayed on food crops close to

harvesting. The Task Force concluded that if thermophilic composts were prepared according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, with temperatures maintained above 55C for more than 72 hours before using them for tea production, this risk would be greatly decreased. Similarly, there is increasing evidence in scientific literature and from research by the authors of this article and their colleagues, that human pathogens are eliminated from organic wastes by vermicomposting for more than 50 days. Clearly there are good reasons for caution about this aspect of preparing and using compost and vermicompost teas. Further reading on this topic can be

found in the literature. Below are several literature citations: Eastman, B.R., Kane, P.N. Edwards, CA, Trytek, L., Gunadi, B. 2001: The effectiveness of vermiculture in human pathogen reduction for USEPA Class A Stabilization. Compost Science and Utilization 9, (1). 38-49. NOSB. (2004). "National Organic Standards Board: Compost Tea Task Force Final Report." Retrieved July 8, 2004, from http://www.ams.usda.gov/ nosb/meetings/CompostT eaT askForceFinalReport.pdf Ingram, D.T., Millner, P.D. 2007. Factors affecting compost tea as a potential source of Escherichia coli and Salmonella on fresh produce. J. Food Protection 70: 828-834.

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BIOCYCLE

NOVEMBER 2001.