Just a little poll, about compost teas. Do you use them as an organic grower?

[kratos015]

M.O. You are not wrong. That is exactly what layered mulching is. And imo the best system. However the best use of teas would be after your harvest and are re-ammending your soil for your next grow. When its all depleted. Throw some EWC/ and a good couple handfuls of your soil and bubble away. Throw that on your chopped up rootballs, cover, and presto!

Now thats not to say i dont mix some shit up and throw it on my plants. I just use rehydrated kelp meal, aloe, and coconut. Hillbill above has:

I use to use this exact recipe in 5 gallons. Easy and simple. I stopped useing it when i got the same results i was looking for with just the kelp. And being the cheap bastard that I am, I was a easy sell on it.

Just keep in mind. Compost teas are all opinion. (Why do you think theres so many recipes out there?) The science has not proved out one way or the other. Some people swear by it. Others like myself, feel that compost teas are a waste of time. (Unless your a soil biologist that is looking at it under a microscope) In some cases if you're not careful you can kill your soil with a bad batch of tea. If you ever brew a tea and you get close and it smells like anything other then forest-y heaven throw that shit out.

Topdressing still makes me laugh. If you google topdressing you get cannabis and if you do mulching you get the rest of the gardening community. Its like we had to come up with different names for the same shit so we could pass the info on more directly.

Agreed 100%. The only argument in favor of compost teas would be for when you're mixing a new batch of soil, however even then compost teas are incredibly inefficient. No point in using compost teas when you've mixed the exact same compost into your new batch of soil.

Furthermore, if you're that interested in getting a jump-start you can just grab a $20-$30 bottle of Grower's Recharge. No need for buckets, pantyhose, and air stones. Just mix the Recharge with some water, apply to your soil, done. Huge waste of time, effort, and compost.

As for guano/nutrient teas? Stay far the fuck away from those unless you want to find out that using organics can and will burn your plants.

Respectfully though, the top dressing is simply not true. Top dressing and mulching, while similar in some ways, are in fact different from one another.

Mulching's main purpose is for water retention and reducing growth of weeds/etc., where as top dressing is for nutrient applications. Mulching involves covering the entire top layer of the soil mass, where as top dressing is typically just a sprinkling of amendments.

Top dressing typically involves a more "thin" layer where as mulching covers the entire soil mass to the point where you can't see the soil underneath the mulch.

For example you can see on the back of this Dr. Earth bag it specifically says "top dress" and "mulching" separately.

 

[m4s73r]

Agreed 100%. The only argument in favor of compost teas would be for when you're mixing a new batch of soil, however even then compost teas are incredibly inefficient. No point in using compost teas when you've mixed the exact same compost into your new batch of soil.

Furthermore, if you're that interested in getting a jump-start you can just grab a $20-$30 bottle of Grower's Recharge. No need for buckets, pantyhose, and air stones. Just mix the Recharge with some water, apply to your soil, done. Huge waste of time, effort, and compost.

As for guano/nutrient teas? Stay far the fuck away from those unless you want to find out that using organics can and will burn your plants.

Respectfully though, the top dressing is simply not true. Top dressing and mulching, while similar in some ways, are in fact different from one another.

Mulching's main purpose is for water retention and reducing growth of weeds/etc., where as top dressing is for nutrient applications. Mulching involves covering the entire top layer of the soil mass, where as top dressing is typically just a sprinkling of amendments.

Top dressing typically involves a more "thin" layer where as mulching covers the entire soil mass to the point where you can't see the soil underneath the mulch.

For example you can see on the back of this Dr. Earth bag it specifically says "top dress" and "mulching" separately.

I see what your saying on the difference. I quess i dont do this cause i feed all my amendments to my worm bin and then put the ewc on top of my pot when i mulch in the leftovers from harvest. See sometimes your doing shit and not even know what your doing LOL.

 

[maranibbana]

Last time I built some worm bins, I used some leaf/yard waste compost from the backyard and introduced a few different critters to the bins. Also added some of that compost to an existing bin and now have populated that as well. Mainly just brought springtails and sow bugs inside, which has now given me a seemingly endless supply of "frass" in with my worm castings. I really like the sow bugs as they seem to prefer things that take a bit longer to break down (sticks/bark/avocado skin peels/stems) more so than the worms and springtails. Springtails seem to be the most active and least preferential to any of the inputs in the bin from what I've observed so far.

At the end of the day, its all just processed plant material, some castings/frass may be a bit more refined and broken down than what their counterparts excrete or add specific digestive tract goodies, but all should be beneficial in my opinion. I like the term vermicompost for this reason, so much more than just the castings of the worms are at play when working with worm bins.

A lot of very knowledgeable guys in here, but figured I'd throw out my inexperienced two cents to the thread. Wish you all well with the endeavors though.

I see what your saying on the difference. I quess i dont do this cause i feed all my amendments to my worm bin and then put the ewc on top of my pot when i mulch in the leftovers from harvest. See sometimes your doing shit and not even know what your doing LOL.

insert "circle of life" theme song

 

[kratos015]

insert "circle of life" theme song

Please don't, I'm still not over watching my boy Mufasa die.

 

[meangreengrowinmachine]

Please don't, I'm still not over watching my boy Mufasa die.

This shit shaped my childhood

 

[maranibbana]

Please don't, I'm still not over watching my boy Mufasa die.

Still sad

 

[707Patrick]

I just started using compost tea. Just using molasses and worm castings. Not sure how much to use. I'm using in coco and also FFOF soil. I have to PH for the coco so I water soil first un PH ed

 

[hillbill]

I just started using compost tea. Just using molasses and worm castings. Not sure how much to use. I'm using in coco and also FFOF soil. I have to PH for the coco so I water soil first un PH ed
View attachment 4818862View attachment 4818863View attachment 4818864View attachment 4818865

That’s a good recipe right there

 

[cultivatorzach]

Anyone ever used Instant Compost Tea?? What is everyone's opinion on Instant Compost Teas? Ive been using one that I grabbed on Amazon from Mighty Plant these last few months and have been happily surprised with the results. One thing I am curious about, how does this stack up to a traditional brewed tea on a bacteria/fungal level?

I can say that by visual comparison the Instant tea is blowing my traditional 24 hour brew out of the water, can anyone explain why this might be? Ive attached a link to the webpage listing which shows their ingredients

Instant Compost Tea - The Mighty Plant

Microbe Powder - 100% water Soluble. No brewing required. Simply add water, stir and microbes are ready to go to work as a root drench or as a systemic foliar spray ProBiotic Microbes - 4 species of bacteria within, each strain selected for a specific purpose. Increases bio-availability of...

themightyplant.com

 

[shwamp]

Anyone ever used Instant Compost Tea?? What is everyone's opinion on Instant Compost Teas? Ive been using one that I grabbed on Amazon from Mighty Plant these last few months and have been happily surprised with the results. One thing I am curious about, how does this stack up to a traditional brewed tea on a bacteria/fungal level?
I can say that by visual comparison the Instant tea is blowing my traditional 24 hour brew out of the water, can anyone explain why this might be? Ive attached a link to the webpage listing which shows their ingredients

Instant Compost Tea - The Mighty Plant

Microbe Powder - 100% water Soluble. No brewing required. Simply add water, stir and microbes are ready to go to work as a root drench or as a systemic foliar spray ProBiotic Microbes - 4 species of bacteria within, each strain selected for a specific purpose. Increases bio-availability of...

themightyplant.com

The quality of the compost tea could only be as good as the quality of the compost. With a high quality compost you get a bigger variety of microbes and I'd assume higher populations. There was a study awhile back, in either Oregon or Washington, and they found that bagged/bottle microbe products often don't have all the species or population count they claim because the microbes don't survive in storage. Not all products but many of them have this problem.

 

[CrunchBerries]

Bubbling right now EWC, Molasses and a tablespoon of Kelp Meal and one of Alfalfa in 3 gallons. Use also for herbs and ornamentals. Been doing it for ten years or more.

How much EWC and molasses do you use in this mix?

 

[hillbill]

How much EWC and molasses do you use in this mix?

I use a couple tablespoons at the most, gives K and iron and sulfur. Suplies ready source of carbon.

 

[green_machine_two9er]

From my research’s and experience aact need a truly vortex brewed to be super effective. Not just a bubbler in a five gallon bucket.

 

[hillbill]

2 6” stones and double pump have made my ornamentals and herbs happy for a long time. My own castings help.

 

[CrunchBerries]

2 6” stones and double pump have made my ornamentals and herbs happy for a long time. My own castings help.

Would you say about a cup or two of ewc?

 

[hillbill]

From my research’s and experience aact need a truly vortex brewed to be super effective. Not just a bubbler in a five gallon bucket.

I would use a vortex animal if I was doing a bigger grow or commercial. Or the big veggie gardens I had when I had soil and sun in my yard.

 

[hillbill]

Would you say about a cup or two of ewc?

Yes

 

[CrunchBerries]

Yes

Thanks Bill

 

[shwamp]

From my research’s and experience aact need a truly vortex brewed to be super effective. Not just a bubbler in a five gallon bucket.

From what I've learned, I don't think you necessarily need the vortex. Just the correct amount of dissolved oxygen and no dead zones in the brew where the water isn't moving enough. I use an airlift brewer and my teas have that sweet earthy smell and lots of foam coming out. With that being said, I'm sure the vortex does increase dissolved oxygen levels in the brew.

 

[myke]

Id like to rig up a "vortex" bubbler for my yard this spring.Would be a good learning experience.I get flyers in the mail advertising monthly tea applications.I wonder how many people would pay for that service?