> >...boiling will sterilize the tea. If you use
> >a cold water percolation, and happen by misfortune to have a bad
> >batch of peat moss, you could water your plants with a bacteria or
> >fungus-laden tea.
And Tom Hayes responded:
> "Bad" batch of peat in what sense? Bacteria & fungus are everywhere.
> If we were talking about tissue culture, I could see the concern for
> complete sterilization, but come on, we are talking about plants
> growing in pots! They are already exposed to bacteria,
> fungus & bugs. (& who knows what else?)
There is a difference between exposure to ambient levels of pathogens
and exposure to a rampant infection of pathogens. Yeah, plants are
exposed to ambient stuff all the time. Nothing can be done about
that, really.
But what about watering your plants with a solution of viable fungus
(spores, mycelia) that is much more concentrated than ambient levels?
It could happen (may be unlikely) that a batch of peat moss harvested
from a particular location contains a vigorous culture of some pathogen
that might harm your plants. Making peat tea by boiling peat moss
will take care of that problem for the most part--the resulting tea
should be stored properly and used within a reasonable time. (Some
of the benefical tannins and alkaloids might degrade over time at
room temperature--organic chemists please comment).
Forget about tissue culture and the accompanying precautions. It is
not unheard of in standard horticulture for people to sanitize their
cutting instruments when pruning from plant to plant, so as to not
spread viruses or other pathogens. Boiling your peat moss to make
tea is just another precaution.
Perry Malouf