Powdered Milk for gardening

[Tapout]

Hmmm ok I found a study but it costs 31 bucks for the .pdf file hehe just my luck. Here is a taste of what I found "Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi belong to the Glomales (Zygomycetes) .... Extracts were amplified in the presence and absence of dried non-fat milk and PCR ..."

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...53756208608114

[RayR]

That has to do with DNA extraction. Way over my head, but I know it is difficult for scientists to determine what species of microbes are in the soil without DNA extraction. It's not as simple as just looking under a microscope.

[Tapout]

Ok so far I came up with another lead. This is a lil bit from instructions for a product called GeoEM-B http://www.geocarebiotech.com/eng/geoem-b/

"Step 3: Bacteria expansion liquid

Use 100~200L clean water mix with 1~2kg GeoEM-B plus 0.2% milk powder and 3% molasses. Aerating the mixture for 24~48hours. (we suggest to use aquarium aerator in helping aeration, if you don’t have one, please manually stir the mixture to increased contact with the dissolve oxygen in the air. Stir for 15 minutes every 2~3 hours each day, 3~4 times a day will be best.) Dilute 1:10 bacteria expansion liquid and pour to the soil root, or assist with organic fertilizer and spray on the soil before the plowing. Apply on short-term crop once a season; and expand bacteria 2~3 times a year for the long-term crop."

Now this is the composition of the product that they are using in step 3 above.

【Composition】

Each gram contain above 1.25 x 108 ecological beneficial bacteria:

Actinomycetes

Yeast

Subtilis bacteria

Lactic acid bacteria

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Protein/fiber-decomposing bacteria

Mycorrhizal fungi group

Rhizosphere flora protection

So you can see where I am going with this to determine if Powdered Milk is safe for Mycorrhizal fungi. Whats your thoughts?

[mcsee]

I seriously doubt that it will do 'anything' at all to the Mycorrhizal fungi, but someone else may disagree with that.

[Tapout]

Well I can "guess" that it wont hurt the mychos, but seeing it used in a commercial formula with mychos makes me feel a bit more confident. On top of that, holy crap some of the prices from that website are astronomical.

[meadowyck]

This is very interesting in deed.

10 years ago when I had a herd of nigerian dwarf dairy goats, when ever I would have too much milk, (and with goats you do have from time to time too much milk) I had been told to pour it on the areas around my fence line to keep the weeds down. For the six months I did that I never had to weed wack around the fence line. I didn't understand why, and at the time I didn't care, I was just thrilled to not have to weed wack another area. LOL

So this is most certainly something I'm going to try, now off to find a local farmer with some milk.

Side note: for those that think that stuff in the jug that is brought home from the store is milk, you might want to read about it. I won't go into the process of what happens to it once it leaves the farm where it was collected from. This is why so many adults and children aren't able to tolerate milk.

ok, now back to the topic, sorry to have gotten off.

[RayR]

Interesting, milk as a preemergent herbicide. Seeds need to breath, maybe all those fats and oils in the raw milk coating the weed seeds cut off the oxygen supply or maybe in high concentration there are compounds in the milk that inhibit germination.
Too much of a good thing is not a good thing for seeds or anything else.

[Tapout]

Yes very interesting indeed. From some of the formulas I found that most are saying not to go over a 30% milk to 70% water solution for plants. 100% milk will go rancid and cause a build up of nasty bacteria effectively stunting/negating growth of what ever it was put on full strength in essence I think Ray hit the nail on the head with the above statement.

[Got Worms?]

Originally Posted by Chrissykin

I read lawn forums and they swear by corn meal and milk for fungus.

Mmmm. Corn meal mush.