Could the NPK of Aerobic Teas be 10-5-3?

[CaptainCompostAL]

I read once from Gary Zimmer's book, "The Biological Farmer", that every beneficial soil microbe that we breed either by our regular methods of composting, green manuring, etc., is equivalent to a plant's root zone (rhizosphere) as a 10-5-3 synthetic NPK fertilizer plus micronutrients!

Since aerobic teas are mostly beneficial microbes, and are used as biostimulants rather than mere liquid natural fertilizers, could the soluble NPK rating of a good bacterial/fungal aerobic tea brew be near 10-5-3?

[CaptainCompostAL]

Never mind, I think I got my answer....

[Bluestem]

What did you find out. I use the aerated compost tea extensively on pastures and have had good results. 10-5-3 may be one reason.

[CaptainCompostAL]

Based on responses I got from other sustainable farmers and experts on this subject, it seems that the 10-5-3 number makes little or no sense in the real world for ACT.

The NPK concept traditionally represents the way conventional farmers use soluble N,P, and K on their soils, over several months of applications, as their crops grow. The microbes in ACT are measured in minute, fractional, scales that are short lived in the real world in organic soil. Microbes live, breed, and die on a regular basis. They also live and breed at different rates based on climate, weather, temperature, etc.

Because there are so many variables involved the 10-5-3 NPK number for microbes, the real NPK in your soil may be a lot less in reality, over several months of growing season, based on the way NPK calculations are based on averages of amounts of soluble N,P, and K, per volume of soil.

The real truth is ACT is not a real fertilizer, but a powerful biostimulant. The microbes in ACT are insoluble most of the time. They get soluble when they die, or get digested by some other organism, or maybe even absorbed into a plant's body. No one really knows for sure yet!

All we really know is that ACT works great, and really helps reduce all extra fertilizers, soil amendments, and natural pest controls in sustainbable farming.

I personally would never garden anywhere, without using gallons of my creative ACT recipes as foliar/soil drenches with tons of my homemade compost, on my no-till sustainable farm.

Check out the responses I got from other gardeners:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg1216580010226.html

Hope that summarizes what I discovered recently.
Happy Gardening everybody!