Soil Food Web Gardening with Compost Teas

Nizza

Nizza

Well-Known Member
i was thinking about making an air lift type brewer, does anyone know of any links so i can steal ideas for the build?
I just don't want to have to deal with airstones, and figure it would be fun to make
also curious, what effect does sunlight, direct or not, have on your tea when you brew it?
 
DonPetro

DonPetro

Well-Known Member
B

Below66

Member
Scroga said:
it was said that the longer the brew time, the more the mycos will flourish and dominate the aerobic beneficial bacteria in the tea (assuming that its the balanced recipe that was mentioned?)
I was under the impression that the bacteria suppressed mycorhizal products therefore it was best not to add fungi products to teas until just prior to application...
Click to expand...
I'm rather new to this so I have no reason to be speculating.

But from microbeOrganics.com - "Adding Ingredients to a Finished Brew;

As I’ve mentioned we used to make 1200 gallon batches of ACT which we applied on our farm garden beds through an irrigation system. We used the same tank if we wanted to apply some other diluted soil amendment or fertilizer, like fish hydrolysate, molasses (occasionally) or humic acid.

I had read that many growers and landscapers were adding some of these amendments into their ACT just before applying and I believe this process was endorsed by SFI. Anyway we decided to try saving some time and money and dumped 5 gallons of fish hydrolysate into a 1200 gallon batch to pump out. I had, as usual examined the finished brew microscopically and out of curiosity took another sample after mixing in the fish hydrolysate. To my astonishment and dismay I had wiped out or put to sleep almost half of the microorganisms. This was the last time we did this.

We always apply amendments separately from ACT and this is what I recommend unless using the most minuscule amounts. I surmise that adding anything to a finished brew can have similar negative results. The amount of FH we used was 0.4%. If you have a microscope, go ahead and experiment."

I understood this to mean he probably doesn't think it's probably worth adding anything to a finished brew, for it would lessen it's effect, but he only tried with fish hydro... so I'm not sure myself if guys are adding stuff at the end in a beneficial manner.
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
^^I have seen Tim mention this more than once. I would follow his advice^^

As for adding mycorrhizae to a tea ........ don't do it! They need to be applied directly to the roots/root zone when transplanting. Adding them to a tea is essentially using them as a food stock ..... and an expensive one at that!
 
Scroga

Scroga

Well-Known Member
So...going back a page, drj states that with a balanced tea, the longer the brew time, the more fungal dominated the mix well become...I thought this was not the case...
Its (coming into)winter here at the moment..and my tea is not giving my girls the same smile it was before...been adding cal mag,organic probiotic product, silica...to my tea bucket lol...might bring I t back to basics...
 
canadiankushman

canadiankushman

Well-Known Member
Below66 said:
I'm rather new to this so I have no reason to be speculating.

But from microbeOrganics.com - "Adding Ingredients to a Finished Brew;

As I’ve mentioned we used to make 1200 gallon batches of ACT which we applied on our farm garden beds through an irrigation system. We used the same tank if we wanted to apply some other diluted soil amendment or fertilizer, like fish hydrolysate, molasses (occasionally) or humic acid.

I had read that many growers and landscapers were adding some of these amendments into their ACT just before applying and I believe this process was endorsed by SFI. Anyway we decided to try saving some time and money and dumped 5 gallons of fish hydrolysate into a 1200 gallon batch to pump out. I had, as usual examined the finished brew microscopically and out of curiosity took another sample after mixing in the fish hydrolysate. To my astonishment and dismay I had wiped out or put to sleep almost half of the microorganisms. This was the last time we did this.

We always apply amendments separately from ACT and this is what I recommend unless using the most minuscule amounts. I surmise that adding anything to a finished brew can have similar negative results. The amount of FH we used was 0.4%. If you have a microscope, go ahead and experiment."

I understood this to mean he probably doesn't think it's probably worth adding anything to a finished brew, for it would lessen it's effect, but he only tried with fish hydro... so I'm not sure myself if guys are adding stuff at the end in a beneficial manner.
Click to expand...
What happens if added before the brewing process?

Ck.
 
rikdabrick

rikdabrick

Well-Known Member
@ canadiankushman; If you're interested in making microbial tea then microborganics.com is a good page to read. Tim Wilson has spent countless hours looking through a microscope a microbial teas and experimenting with what works and what doesn't and dispelling some of the myths about AACT's.

Adding almost anything besides compost/worm castings and molasses before or after will keep or even kill the microbe population.

If you want to do a nutrient tea you should do it separate from your microbe tea.
 
DonTesla

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
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DonTesla

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
Nizza said:
i was thinking about making an air lift type brewer, does anyone know of any links so i can steal ideas for the build?
I just don't want to have to deal with airstones, and figure it would be fun to make
also curious, what effect does sunlight, direct or not, have on your tea when you brew it?
Click to expand...
the suns light/UV rays kill bacteria, both good and bad, so useful in some cases, its bad for us organic guys. compost teas are packed with bacteria, nematodes, protozoas, and fungi.. vermicompost teas are more bacterially dominated. both very helpful but both light sensitive.. the foam should protect the brew a bit, its proteins mostly, (from worm bodies primarily, according to Teaming w/ microbes) but darkness is best, mon
36-42 hours for PEAK populations
2.38% VC is ideal
and 0.5% BSM (unsulphured important, it kills micro life)
more or less, less is more.
 
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DonTesla

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
st0wandgrow said:
^^I have seen Tim mention this more than once. I would follow his advice^^

As for adding mycorrhizae to a tea ........ don't do it! They need to be applied directly to the roots/root zone when transplanting. Adding them to a tea is essentially using them as a food stock ..... and an expensive one at that!
Click to expand...
yep, Don ("Key") Stow Know! he also sports masks on the DL and never gets chest infections, so home boy know how to avoid the doc, i had to play fool to catch wise, lol

what y'all think of having both a fungal compost and a bacterial compost? is this like a given for y'all?

Fungal recipe:
5 to 10% alfalfa meal
45-50% fresh grass clippings
40-50% brown leaves / wood chips

Bacterial recipe:
25% alfalfa meal
50% green grass clippings
25% brown leaves / bark

Any thoughts are welcome, thanks.
…………..(source: teaming wit microbes)
 
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DonPetro

DonPetro

Well-Known Member
DonTesla said:
yep, Don ("Key") Stow Know! he also sports masks on the DL and never gets chest infections, so home boy know how to avoid the doc, i had to play fool to catch wise, lol

what y'all think of having both a fungal compost and a bacterial compost? is this like a given for y'all?

Fungal recipe:
5 to 10% alfalfa meal
45-50% fresh grass clippings
40-50% brown leaves / wood chips

Bacterial recipe:
25% alfalfa meal
50% green grass clippings
25% brown leaves / bark

Any thoughts are welcome, thanks.
…………..(source: teaming wit microbes)
Click to expand...
That would be a hell of a lot of alfalfa meal. I would rather source fresh alfalfa and do something like:
25% fresh alfalfa
25% grass clippings
50% leaves
That being said i personally feel that a good manure source should also be used when making compost. So in that regard maybe 25% each alfalfa, grass, leaves and manure. Of course you would want to layer everything and have enough bio-mass in order to reach the desired temperature.
 
NoSwagBag

NoSwagBag

Well-Known Member
Nizza said:
i was thinking about making an air lift type brewer, does anyone know of any links so i can steal ideas for the build?
I just don't want to have to deal with airstones, and figure it would be fun to make
also curious, what effect does sunlight, direct or not, have on your tea when you brew it?
Click to expand...
this brewer was EASY to build and made from 1 1/2 " pvc, so cheap too..
CAM00370.jpg CAM00374.jpg CAM00363.jpg CAM00364.jpg CAM00396.jpg
 
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