Artistic Arborist, Inc. - Complete Tree Health Management
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Artistic Arborist, Inc. - Complete Tree Health Management |
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(602) 263-8889 |
• Jeff Frank's "Biological Soil and Plant Management" Seminar Jeff Frank's "Biological Soil and Plant Management" seminar held on Feb. 19, 2003 was a great experience. About 35 people were in attendance from all walks of the horticulture industry. Many were from municipal and public use facilities where alternative plant health care using safer methods were their greatest concern. The audience learned how the "new" agricultural methods using chemical fertilizers was an extension of the war effort following WWI when there was an abundance of explosives and people were trying to figure out what to do with the excess ammonium nitrate. That's what lead to the real "explosion " in agriculture when it was discovered that crop yields could be quadrupled if upwards of 200 lbs of fixed nitrogen were applied per acre of land. After that traditional methods of fertilization, using composts and manures and bone meal and wood ashes, fell by the wayside. They soon became old fashioned because they didn't give as high a yield as ammonium nitrate. Nowadays, things are starting to turn around. After 80 years of gorging on chemical fertilizers and pesticides people are coming to find that the modern methods aren't always the answer. Jeff Frank, who started The Nature Lyceum about 10 years ago, had spent nearly a decade using the synthetics for his professional gardening needs and was slowly turned around when he was turned on to the use of humic acid at a large estate garden he managed in the late 1970's. He discovered that using humic acid on flower beds produced more blooms and water use dropped by half. More experimentation with compost, compost teas and rock dust led to better plant nutrition at lower cost with less work. That's where mycorrhizae entered the picture. Living microbes added to roots increase the roots ability to take up nutrients. He also learned new ways of insect control that were safer than the conventional insecticides. He discovered alternatives like garlic barrier, orange guard, milky spore and neem oil to treat various insect pests. For weed control he experimented with vinegar and lemon oil as a safe contact herbicide and corn gluten as a pre-emergent herbicide that also served as a slow release fertilizer. For plant diseases? He tested compost teas which served as a fungal inoculant that suppresses pathogenic fungi. These aer applied as a soil root drench or as a liquid foliar application. Another effective organic treatment for fungal leaf diseases is neem oil, which works great against powdery mildew. It also kills mites, so it has multiple uses. Organics can actually be viewed as "modern" and they make a lot of sense. Nature has used these methods for millions of years, so try using what nature provides. This was the genius of Louis Pasteur who systematically studied the nature of of the microbe world when he made his great discoveries in the 1800's. He exploited the whole new world of microorganisms, how they lived unseen among us and he explored this universe and discovered how it was responsible for much of the disease and infection that were killing people. It was also the key to beer and champagne and wine and bread making, so it had a lot of commercial value. Pasteur was the real pioneer of Organics and he was not a crack pot. The same principals he used a century and a half ago are still the same today. Using living microorganisms to do the work for us is something that needs to be further explored. The best thing about these microbes, unlike synthetic chemicals, is that they continue to reproduce long after they've been introduced to the system. Our job is to use good scientific methods to verify and repeat the conditions that lead to reproducible results for all of us. Once this is done, everyone will embrace these methods, because they make so much sense. The seminar group ate a great lunch provided by Whole Foods. In addition, lots of free samples of organic products were provided for everyone to take home and test. Now it's time for people to try these items out and to send their feedback back on what works and what doesn't. Once people's knowledge and awareness increase the use of organics should take hold and become a new way to deal with old problems. I look forward to Jeff Frank's next presentation which will be with the Green Guerrilla Organics Course that he will offer with a host of other speakers on June 25-26, 2003 in Glendale, AZ at ASU West. I to see you there. Call Artistic Arborist for more details.
Andrew Backhaus, Ph. D. © 2003-2004 Artistic-arborist.com, Inc. All rights reserved. |
