Compost tea------a pesticide too?????????

[Chuck]

Yesterday afternoon I witnessed something that I just don't understand. I was sitting under my tree watching the garden grow when I saw a big bug flying around. This bug landed on the lip of one of my compost tea buckets. At first I thought it was a wheel bug but it turned out to be a large leaf footed stink bug. I didn't want to give it a chance to get away nor did I want the stink on my fingers so I flicked him into the compost tea which had been brewing for over 24 hours. As soon as he touched the water he let loose with all of his disgusting stink and started swimming like crazy. I didn't want him messing up my compost tea so I raced to my garden shed about 10 feet away and grabbed a colander to scoop him up with and then step on him. I took my eyes of of him for maybe 15 seconds and when I got back he was DRT, not even a twitch. My question is, what could compost tea have in it that could kill a stink bug that fast when even the nastiest of chemical pesticides have a problem killing them at all?

 

[marlingardener]

Chuck, you may be onto something here! If you want to do a controlled experiment, I can send you all the stink bugs you'll need, and if you want to include grasshoppers, we have a goodly supply of those, also. Let me know, and a box of bugs will be on the way. I won't even charge shipping!

 

[Chuck]

Chuck, you may be onto something here! If you want to do a controlled experiment, I can send you all the stink bugs you'll need, and if you want to include grasshoppers, we have a goodly supply of those, also. Let me know, and a box of bugs will be on the way. I won't even charge shipping!

I appreciate that. The one that took the swim was one of the last. The rest of the hordes have left and the last I saw of them they were heading your way.

Most of the grasshoppers have left but I am going to try to catch one and see if compost tea will do the same thing to him. Have you any idea about why this happened? I know Spinosad is made from a soil bacteria and I did have a little garden soil in the bucket. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

 

[marlingardener]

Chuck, I have no idea, but I do have a contact at Texas A&M. I'll forward your post to him and see what he has to say. If he's on a field trip, we may not hear from him for quite a while.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck, I have no idea, but I do have a contact at Texas A&M. I'll forward your post to him and see what he has to say. If he's on a field trip, we may not hear from him for quite a while.

It was really strange. The instant he touched the water you could literally see what looked like a tiny puff of steam, like it was some kind of chemical reaction with the water and then the stink hit. The water wasn't all that cold probably in the mid 50's but maybe the sudden temp change gave him a heart attack or something

 

[zigs]

Possibly a layer of methane above the tea? Bugs don't have lungs, they absorb Oxygen thru their skin so getting wet might have compromised him too?

Interesting

 

[Chuck]

Possibly a layer of methane above the tea? Bugs don't have lungs, they absorb Oxygen thru their skin so getting wet might have compromised him too?

Interesting

Couldn't have been methane because there was quite a breeze blowing. Zigs, this thing was dead in less than half a minute so I don't think it could have been a lack of 02

 

[zigs]

Very interesting then

 

[R.R.]

Very interesting!

 

[Chuck]

Very interesting then

If I could figure out a way to spray the tea without it stopping up my sprayers I could give it a test. I have tried all kinds of things to strain it with but nothing has worked so far. Everything from coffee strainers to panty hose and still enough of the particles get through to stop it up

 

[marlingardener]

Chuck, have you tried using unbleaced muslin to strain your compost tea? I use it to clarify stock, and it takes a while, but nothing gets through.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck, have you tried using unbleaced muslin to strain your compost tea? I use it to clarify stock, and it takes a while, but nothing gets through.

No, I haven't even heard of it before. Where would I find it?

 

[marlingardener]

Almost any fabric store (Hancock's, JoAnn Fabrics, even the Walmarts that still have fabric) will carry unbleached muslin. I wash mine before use, but that's because it's used for food. You wouldn't need to do that, except there is a certain "filler" used to give the fabric more heft. Bleached muslin will work also, but it is more expensive.

 

[headfullofbees]

Trouble is, as soon as you stop aerating the tea, the bacteria start to die.
How long to filter a litre of tea?

 

[zigs]

Maybe it's not the bacteria, could try a distilate?