There is a company which claims, on their website, that their compost tea can replace all fertilizer, forever, even in greenhouses using soiless mixes or hydroponics, where a plants access to macro and micro-nutrients is through solution.
I have requested some data which can verify this claim, and I was given a testimony which is claimed to be written by a person with a PhD. This is what I received;
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Experience with using Compost Tea Product [CTP Name Censored]
By NAME CENSORED PhD in Plant and Soil Science
Today soil farmers use too much fertilizer at a rate of approximately a ton an acre on the land for years. The farmer has been polluting the environment for year…s. Today Hydroponic farmers have the same mentality, as the soil farmers, add more nutrients the plants need and you will get a better response from the plant growth. In most cases that is not true, but this is the practice that has been used for decades and no organization wants to challenge what has been done in the past. This type of farming practices has polluted our land and water for decades.
CTP is one solution to stop over fertilizing of row crops and hydroponic crops. CTP is low in nutrient concentration so it will not hurt the soil or plants grown in a Hydroponic environment. CTP is an excellent micronutrient plant stimulant that helps the growth process from seed to mature plant. CTP is not like the traditional micronutrient stimulants, the concentration of the nutrients does not fit the normal fertilizer amount of NPK present. The low percentage NPK and all natural ingredients that make up CTP are revolutionary to the conventional plant food industry.
How is CTP capable of replacing fertilizer?
The way CTP can replace fertilizer is this: at the seed state the plant is at its most vulnerable state. It has everything it needs to grow in the outer covering of the seed. Its cover is degraded over time by the soil or water to break down this covering to release the nutrients it needs to germinate. In the water environment it takes less time for the seeds covering to break down because it is constantly moist and the seed releases its nutrients faster. In the soil environment the seed needs moisture to be added to make the seed coat degrade.
When fertilizing seeds at this stage of germination the fertilizer surrounds the seed and waits for the seed coat to break down then the fertilizer interacts with the seed supplying it with nutrients that it needs for growth. CTP works the same way being liquid it is readily available for plant up take from seed or by plants root hairs or root stems.
CTP has the micronutrients the seed needs and will not harm or stop the uptake mechanize for the seeds or plants root system. CTP modifies the xylem and phylum system of the plant to always look for nutrients, which leads to better root uptake for plant growth from seed or plant.
Using CTP in the Hydroponic environment the roots do not have to look for nutrients they are there readily available for uptake when using just CTP in the Hydroponic solution. The plants will uptake the micronutrients because in low concentration the uptake process is constant. If the nutrient is in a higher concentration it will stop the root uptake for plant till the plant needs more nutrients for growth.
To date I have done numerous tests in hydroponics, soil and sand growing environments for plant growth with CTP and have seen consistent results of healthy and consistent plant growth.
CTP can provide all nutrient requirements for plant growth.
CTP applied to seeds or plants that have a higher need of fertilizer requirements can work because as mention earlier, the plants root system is stimulated to always look for nutrients. Based on a consistent application of CTP on a crop that is been grown the nutrient requirement can be met over time using only CTP. The concentration of CTP applied to a crop for growth in the soil or a Hydroponic environment can be factored and made available based on the seeds or plants needs. CTP cannot harm plants or seeds. My current recommendation is 20:1 ratio for soil and Hydroponic grow environments and 1:1 ratio for foliar application, germination and cloning.
To date used on traditional crops like corn and vegetables that CTP was applied on the results were similar at the same growth stages in comparison with other forms of fertilizers with much higher NPK values.
Microbe activity in CTP.
The microbe activity in the soil will be different based on the area where the seeds or plants are located. Microbes in the soil environment will be in much more abundance than in the Hydroponic environment, because of the forms or types that are naturally present in soil. The quantity of microbes helps determine the growth of the seed or plant based on the media type being soil or Hydroponic. Based on my test CTP has all the Microbes needed to maintain sustained plant growth. The nutrients that are present will take different pathways for the seed or plant to use but all the necessary nutrients are present. The pH level, moisture content and temperature of the soil as well as the pH level of the water in a Hydroponic environment will affect the microbe growth rate and thus affect the plant growth. This is why it is my recommendation that using only CTP without other product will produce the best results.
The shelf life for microbes in CTP and why CTP is not harmful to plants.
CTP states that no harmful microbes are present and that it cannot harm a plants growth. I have found this to be true and all test indicate that all the microbes that are present in CTP when used in either soil or Hydroponic environment will not be harmful to plants even when applied at full strength.
CTP has a pH range of 7.0 - 7.2 and over time has proven to remain constant. Testing of CTP at a pH level of 7.0 - 7.2 has proven microbes can live comfortable at this pH range.
The shelf life of CTP has been tested for over eight years the pH was still in the7.0 -7.2 levels. CTP has been stored in an outdoor tank for over eight years and then applied to row crops, house plants and used for Hydroponics and the performance of the aged CTP showed no difference then the freshly produced CTP. In my testing of CTP I have found no break down or separation of its components over time.
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