Composting

  • Composting for Soil Borne Disease Control

    Soil and Root Health Fumigation phaseout is forcing farmers and researchers alike to revisit our knowledge and understanding of soil and root health.  Methyl bromide (MeBr) and other fumigants have provided a growing environment in the soil that is essentially free of soilborne pathogens, weeds and nematodes.  In addition, methyl bromide has greatly minimized risk…

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  • Effect of compost on soil microbial activity

    The following figure describes the effect of compost on microbial activity.  Four composts were added to each field at 30T/A, except vermicompost at 5T/Ac, and measured two weeks after incorporation.  Five field sites were evaluated, three on the central coast and two in the Sacramento valley.  Hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate were used to measure microbial…

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  • Effect of Compost on Strawberry Yield on an Organic Farm in Watsonville, CA

    Here’s a summary of the cumulative yield reported as ‘g per plant’ from a commercial organic field in Watsonville, comparing the four types of compost.  The treatment, “Control +N” is a nitrogen control in which N was added in the form of cottonseed meal, at an amount to match the highest amount of N contributed…

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  • Compost buffers soil pH

    In all of our field trials, compost significantly buffered soil pH .  When soil pH was low-mid 6, compost amended plots raised the pH to low-mid 7, and when the soil pH was closer to 8, it lowered it to mid-7.  Below are two examples from different fields.  

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  • Root development of two strawberry cultivars when grown in different compost amendments

    To evaluate root health, soil cores are taken 4.5″ deep, two inches from the crown, between the crown and the drip tape.  Root cores are soaked and sieved, then scanned and analyzed using WinRhizo software to measure total root length. Both cultivars Albion and Chandler are grown in a replicated field trial in a commercial organic…

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  • Compost can affect soil salinity

    Two types of finished compost, manure compost and spent mushroom compost, both significantly increased soil salinity.  However, with sufficient irrigation, the spike in electrical conductivity was reduced to within optimal levels by January (1.5 months after compost incorporation) and possibly earlier.  In a field with deficit irrigation, high EC levels were still measured in soil…

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  • Composting for Disease Control in Strawberries at UC Davis, National Strawberry Sustainability Institute Press Release

    Last spring, the National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative administered by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability released a call for proposals as part of a $3 million donation by the Walmart Foundation. We were awarded $101,821 for research on “Sustainable Strawberry Production in the Absence of Soil Fumigation.”…

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  • California Compost Symposium, Center for Sustainability, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

    On March 28th, I attended the California Compost Symposium at Cal Poly’s Center for Sustainability, San Luis Obispo. http://www.cfs.calpoly.edu/compost_symposium.html PROGRAM INTRODUCTION- ‘Compost: The Sustainable Solution’ Cary Oshins, Director of Education and Annual Conference, U.S. Composting Council Dan Noble, Executive Director, Association of Compost Producers NOBLE PRESENTATION KEYNOTE: Dr. Deborah A. Neher & Tom Weicht, Plant and Soil Science Dept.…

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