Make Your Own Biological Inputs

Vincent Poncini posted an update in the group Make Your Own Biological Inputs
9 months ago

Good evening. Vince Poncini here. I have joined Lower Blackwood LCDC recently. However I have listened to the LCDC podcasts at least twice, not to mention other podcasts from Dr Christine Jones, Joel Williams, Nicole Masters and Mark Tupman.

I have a question –
has anyone compared the results from the Johnson Su bioreactor and from compost
worm farms. I was checking the output from one of my Johnson Su bioreactors(8
months old) and compost worm farms (approximately 12 months old) and the compost
(?) looks similar. I have no scientific knowledge re the outputs but I was
wondering whether anyone has tested the outputs from these different methods.

6 Comments
- Peter Murphy
  
  Hi Vince,
  
  A reliable metric can be to view samples under the microscope and identify/count biology viewed. We have a microscope here at TAFE you could use. You can email me at [email protected]
  
  9 months ago
  - Vincent Poncini
    
    Peter,
    
    Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I have two problems.
    
    1. I have yet to learn how to use a microscope properly.
    
    2. I live in Brisbane and my wife is unlikely to let me fly over to WA to test some samples unless I take her as well. We will get back over to WA but it may not be in the foreseeable future.
    
    Hopefully I might be able to find someone in Brisbane who can check the samples.
    
    Thanks
    
    Vince
    
    9 months ago
- Steve Slape
  
  G’day Vince
  
  You may find this useful and relevant specifically the maturity pattern of compost. Personally I use vermi compost products because a constant flow through bin seems to work for me tending and interacting with it.
  
  https://youtu.be/VOvrFGJfpvM?si=okTjxpaNhxDjnJHu
  
  9 months ago
  - Vincent Poncini
    
    Steve, thanks for the link. I have listened to a number of webinars presented by Terry McCoster. However I had not listened to the 2018 The Future of Beef. It was quite interesting. Likewise I listened to Charles Massy’s presentation at the same RCS get together.
    
    On a separate note, I also use vermicasts in our gardens to improve the soil. However, I have only started using vermicast recently so I am yet to see the benefits. Could you please advise how you use it (ie drenching the soil or foliar spray) and what proportion of vermicast to water you use. Unfortunately I am yet to find much discussion on this topic in Brisbane.
    
    Thanks, Vince
    
    9 months ago
    - Steve Slape
      
      I use a lot of vermi leachate in my garden at 10:1 on the farm as a bio stimulant 1L per ha in a synergistic stack with other bio stimulants and foliar nutrition. I also use it as the starter culture for lab serum for ferments instead of doing rice capture. I’ve done a little bit of extracting 1-4kg castings per ha but need to set filtration/screening up to do more.
      
      9 months ago
      
      Vincent Poncini
      
      Thanks for that information. I am using 1:10 for the garden for a liquid vermicast extract but I was not sure whether that ratio was too diluted . I also add a small quantity of vermicast mixed with biochar
      
      when planting natives. It seems to help with the initial growth of the natives.
      
      9 months ago