mountaingarden
Well-Known Member
Thanks for trying to steer the thread back on course and away from the weird p'ing contest that so weirdly occurred.
Take it out behind the barn, boys.
Outdoor Teas and application Methods
- Thread starter dirrtyd
- Start date
Take it out behind the barn, boys.
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
Some excerpts from CT GUY I will add more articles to this as I read them I will add a different types of teas article he has written next. Enjoy
Recipes:
There are many recipes available for making AACT. All involve the use of high quality compost. I'll focus on the 5 gallon size, though recipes are available in larger quantities. However, ingredients do not increase in direct proportion to the size of the tank, so please contact me directly if interested in recipes for larger brewers. Recipes are directly related to the amounts of dissolved oxygen in your brewer. As you add more food sources for the microbes, you need to add more air to ensure the tea stays aerobic (above 6 mg/liter dissolved oxygen).
Here's a recipe from Dr. Ingham of Soil Food Web Labs (www.soilfoodweb.com):
5 gal brewer
1 lb. compost
½ cup of humic acid
1 to 3 T. of kelp
1 tsp. of non-sulfured, blackstrap molasses
In our brewer, we use:
1 heaping cup of compost (approx. 1 ¼ cups)
½ cup of our foods (proprietary blend comprised of sulfate of potashmagnesia, feather meal, soymeal, cottonseed meal, mycorrhizal, kelp, and alfalfa meal)
1 T. of Tera Vita SP-85 Humic acid (optional for increased fungal growth)
We use volume instead of weight as a measure for our compost, as weights will fluctuate based on moisture content of the compost. We also don't use molasses because it is difficult to package and ship and also creates bacterial blooms, rather than slow growth of organisms, which may rapidly lower the dissolved oxygen levels in your brewer. However, it is a perfectly acceptable food substrate that tends to feed the bacteria in your tea. With all these ingredients, it is much better to start using less foods rather than more. If not looking at your tea through a microscope, I would use a recipe that has been tested and err on the side of too little foods, rather than too much.
Another thing to consider is that you want to maximize your biological diversity in your finished compost tea. We use 3 types of compost in our food kits:
Alaska Humus (brought down from Alaska, contains excellent biological activity and diversity, see www.alaskahumus.com or www.alaskamagic.com for more information)
Vermicompost (Woody materials, vegetable food scraps, cardboard, and newspaper that has been composted by worms.) I recommend this material over thermal compost for people who like to make their own compost, as vermicompost tends to be the most consistent material since the worms take care of the composting process for you)
Fungal compost that is mostly comprised of woody materials. We add food resources for the fungi and strive for the highest active and total fungal content we can achieve.
Brewing Temperatures:
There are a couple of schools of thought regarding brewing temperatures. One is that since the microbes in the tea will grow and reproduce most efficiently at 68-70˚F., this is the temperature at which you should brew your tea, regardless of the current soil or air temperature where you’ll be applying the tea. The theory is that since you are using the shotgun approach to growing microbes, whatever microbes are unable to adapt to the conditions will either die or go dormant, becoming food resources for the other microbes in the soil. Since soil and air temperatures will change throughout the seasons and even from day to night, these organisms are highly adaptable and you will get your best results with this approach.
Another theory, and one that Dr. Ingham subscribes to, is that you want to brew at the ambient temperature you will be applying the tea. Therefore, if you are applying your tea as a soil drench on 60 degree soil, you’ll want to brew at 60 degrees. You may need to extend your brewing cycle a bit for the colder temperatures, but this method will select for the organisms that will be most successful at the current temperatures in your soil and you won’t suffer as much organism loss.
I believe we need much more research to determine the most effective brewing temperatures for AACT. However, since I haven’t seen conclusive data either way, I tend to lean towards brewing at ambient temperatures, though this requires a bit more knowledge about your brewer and brewing cycle, as you will need to adjust your brewing time based on the temperature.
Application:
AACT can be applied in a variety of ways. One benefit of AACT is that it can't be over-applied, as it is comprised of beneficial biology and any biology that cannot survive will just go dormant or die and become food for other microbes.
Typical application rates are 20 gallons/acre for soil drenches and 5 gallons/acre for foliar applications up to 5 feet in height. Water is merely a carrier, so the tea can be mixed at ratios up to 5:1, water to tea, in order to get an even application across your property.
Depending on the size of the area you're spraying, you can use anything from a watering can to a backpack sprayer or larger. Make sure to avoid any pumps with an impellor or pump where the tea is being sent through something that could shred the fungi. Many people use the handheld pump sprayers or a pump backpack sprayer. These have been tested to not damage the biology, provided you don't over pump and hold the nozzle too close to the surface of the plant.
Make sure there is not a 90 degree angle in your nozzle tip. You can only use a hose-end sprayer if you don’t have chlorine in your water supply. Think about the passage that the organisms will take from the brewer to the leaf surface of your plant and be as gentle as possible.
keepem green dirrtyd
Recipes:
There are many recipes available for making AACT. All involve the use of high quality compost. I'll focus on the 5 gallon size, though recipes are available in larger quantities. However, ingredients do not increase in direct proportion to the size of the tank, so please contact me directly if interested in recipes for larger brewers. Recipes are directly related to the amounts of dissolved oxygen in your brewer. As you add more food sources for the microbes, you need to add more air to ensure the tea stays aerobic (above 6 mg/liter dissolved oxygen).
Here's a recipe from Dr. Ingham of Soil Food Web Labs (www.soilfoodweb.com):
5 gal brewer
1 lb. compost
½ cup of humic acid
1 to 3 T. of kelp
1 tsp. of non-sulfured, blackstrap molasses
In our brewer, we use:
1 heaping cup of compost (approx. 1 ¼ cups)
½ cup of our foods (proprietary blend comprised of sulfate of potashmagnesia, feather meal, soymeal, cottonseed meal, mycorrhizal, kelp, and alfalfa meal)
1 T. of Tera Vita SP-85 Humic acid (optional for increased fungal growth)
We use volume instead of weight as a measure for our compost, as weights will fluctuate based on moisture content of the compost. We also don't use molasses because it is difficult to package and ship and also creates bacterial blooms, rather than slow growth of organisms, which may rapidly lower the dissolved oxygen levels in your brewer. However, it is a perfectly acceptable food substrate that tends to feed the bacteria in your tea. With all these ingredients, it is much better to start using less foods rather than more. If not looking at your tea through a microscope, I would use a recipe that has been tested and err on the side of too little foods, rather than too much.
Another thing to consider is that you want to maximize your biological diversity in your finished compost tea. We use 3 types of compost in our food kits:
Alaska Humus (brought down from Alaska, contains excellent biological activity and diversity, see www.alaskahumus.com or www.alaskamagic.com for more information)
Vermicompost (Woody materials, vegetable food scraps, cardboard, and newspaper that has been composted by worms.) I recommend this material over thermal compost for people who like to make their own compost, as vermicompost tends to be the most consistent material since the worms take care of the composting process for you)
Fungal compost that is mostly comprised of woody materials. We add food resources for the fungi and strive for the highest active and total fungal content we can achieve.
Brewing Temperatures:
There are a couple of schools of thought regarding brewing temperatures. One is that since the microbes in the tea will grow and reproduce most efficiently at 68-70˚F., this is the temperature at which you should brew your tea, regardless of the current soil or air temperature where you’ll be applying the tea. The theory is that since you are using the shotgun approach to growing microbes, whatever microbes are unable to adapt to the conditions will either die or go dormant, becoming food resources for the other microbes in the soil. Since soil and air temperatures will change throughout the seasons and even from day to night, these organisms are highly adaptable and you will get your best results with this approach.
Another theory, and one that Dr. Ingham subscribes to, is that you want to brew at the ambient temperature you will be applying the tea. Therefore, if you are applying your tea as a soil drench on 60 degree soil, you’ll want to brew at 60 degrees. You may need to extend your brewing cycle a bit for the colder temperatures, but this method will select for the organisms that will be most successful at the current temperatures in your soil and you won’t suffer as much organism loss.
I believe we need much more research to determine the most effective brewing temperatures for AACT. However, since I haven’t seen conclusive data either way, I tend to lean towards brewing at ambient temperatures, though this requires a bit more knowledge about your brewer and brewing cycle, as you will need to adjust your brewing time based on the temperature.
Application:
AACT can be applied in a variety of ways. One benefit of AACT is that it can't be over-applied, as it is comprised of beneficial biology and any biology that cannot survive will just go dormant or die and become food for other microbes.
Typical application rates are 20 gallons/acre for soil drenches and 5 gallons/acre for foliar applications up to 5 feet in height. Water is merely a carrier, so the tea can be mixed at ratios up to 5:1, water to tea, in order to get an even application across your property.
Depending on the size of the area you're spraying, you can use anything from a watering can to a backpack sprayer or larger. Make sure to avoid any pumps with an impellor or pump where the tea is being sent through something that could shred the fungi. Many people use the handheld pump sprayers or a pump backpack sprayer. These have been tested to not damage the biology, provided you don't over pump and hold the nozzle too close to the surface of the plant.
Make sure there is not a 90 degree angle in your nozzle tip. You can only use a hose-end sprayer if you don’t have chlorine in your water supply. Think about the passage that the organisms will take from the brewer to the leaf surface of your plant and be as gentle as possible.
keepem green dirrtyd
Corbat420
Well-Known Member
Fungi Tea's are another form of Compost tea which is rarely explored. Different forms of fungi live EVERYWHERE, some are good and some are bad. Fungal Teas use Naturaly ocuring good forms of fungi to inoculate the soil and form a symbiotic Bond with the roots of your plants. With a balance of Fungi, Bacteria and Enzymes an organic grower will be MUCH happier with the results the final product has to offer.
Fungal-Dominated Compost Tea Recipe
Tip #1
Fungal-Dominated Compost Tea Recipe
- 2 pounds of fungal-dominated compost (see Tips at bottom of page)
2 ounces humic acids
2 teaspoons of yucca extract*
1 ounce of liquid kelp
2 tablespoons of ground oatmeal
5 Gallons Water - We like to add yucca extract near the end of the brewing process, since it has a tendency to create a lot of foam. Also, you'll want to make sure your yucca doesn't have any preservatives, but does have a high saponin content.
Tip #1
- If you want to increase the diversity of your compost tea, we suggest adding a cup or two of garden soil. Better yet, if your compost tea recipe calls for fungal compost, include a cup or two of soil from a nearby forest. By adding these additional soils, you're ensuring your tea is inoculated with a wide range of soil microbes. These soils are like a biological catalyst, or compost tea activator.
- When we want to ensure we've got fungi in our tea, we will brew it, and then add spores of mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi act as a wonderful inoculum to any fungal compost tea recipe. These fungi naturally form beneficial relationships with approximately 95% of all plant species. They aid in nutrient transfer to plants, and help to create better soil conditions. Here is a great site if you'd like more information on mycorrhizal fungi.
- We can't claim this last tip to be our own. It comes from the incredible book, Teaming with Microbes, by authors, Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. In it, Lowenfels and Lewis suggest you "give fungi a head start." Since it can be difficult to get fungi to multiple (they do grow in size, just rarely in number) during the compost tea brewing process, the authors recommend growing them prior to the brewing process.To do this, you'll want to moisten a couple cups of compost (just damp, not dripping wet), and then put it in a light-resistant container. Then grind up some simple proteins (fungal foods), such as oatmeal, and mix them in with the moist compost. Cover partially with a lid, and then place in a warm, dark area. We typically put ours under our sink, or above our fridge in a cupboard. After about 3 days, you'll remove the lid, and find a bunch of fungal mycelia throughout the compost. You can now use this compost to brew your fungal tea.
- Don't accidentally filter out your fungi (and nematodes) when straining your tea. When filtering your tea, be sure your screen is as close to 400 micrometers as possible. Paint strainers, from your local hardware store, work quite well for this function. Avoid using socks or pillowcases, since their fibers are too tight.
Corbat420
Well-Known Member
a Quick note regarding temperature. my Personal recomendations are:
20 C (68 f) for Bacterial compost teas
25 C (77 f) for Fungal Compost teas
a temperature above 68 C will cause anaerobic (Harmful) Bacteria go grow faster. in bacterial compost teas a lower temperature will ensure Aerobic bacteria thrive. a higher temperature can be sustained for Fungal teas due to the fact that the Mushroom Mycelium will usualy overtake the harmful bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria and Fungal Mycelium like the same temperature.
20 C (68 f) for Bacterial compost teas
25 C (77 f) for Fungal Compost teas
a temperature above 68 C will cause anaerobic (Harmful) Bacteria go grow faster. in bacterial compost teas a lower temperature will ensure Aerobic bacteria thrive. a higher temperature can be sustained for Fungal teas due to the fact that the Mushroom Mycelium will usualy overtake the harmful bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria and Fungal Mycelium like the same temperature.
treemansbuds
Well-Known Member
Hello all-
I was asked by Dirtyd to donate my tea recipe's to this very helpful thread.
The tea was used with great success last season. I'm always adjusting things, but this has worked for me. This is from my thread....
Tea ingredients are...per 5 gallon bucket
2-double handfuls of earthworm castings
1 double handful of forest humus
1 double handful of mushroom compost
2 tbs molasses
2 cups of Alaska Fish Emulsion 5-1-1
1 cup of Bat Guano 8-2-1
1 cup liquid kelp (Maxi-grow)
1 cup of soft phosphate
half cup Cotton seed meal
1 cup of Dr. Earths organic 7 which has....
Fish bone meal
Feather meal
alfalfa meal
mined potassium sulfate
phosphate
seaweed extract
and PRO-BIOTIC seven champion strains of beneficial soil microbes plus Ecto and Mycorrhizae.
All the above was put into a 5 gallon bucket and air was pumped into the tea while brewing. Each plant was given 1.5 gallons of tea and another 5 gallons of water was added on top. All the solids that were at the bottom the 5 gallon tea buckets was thrown on top of the soil equally. This will act as top dressing when watered in the future.
Enjoy your tea!
TMB-
I'll post my "flowering tea" later
I was asked by Dirtyd to donate my tea recipe's to this very helpful thread.
The tea was used with great success last season. I'm always adjusting things, but this has worked for me. This is from my thread....
Tea ingredients are...per 5 gallon bucket
2-double handfuls of earthworm castings
1 double handful of forest humus
1 double handful of mushroom compost
2 tbs molasses
2 cups of Alaska Fish Emulsion 5-1-1
1 cup of Bat Guano 8-2-1
1 cup liquid kelp (Maxi-grow)
1 cup of soft phosphate
half cup Cotton seed meal
1 cup of Dr. Earths organic 7 which has....
Fish bone meal
Feather meal
alfalfa meal
mined potassium sulfate
phosphate
seaweed extract
and PRO-BIOTIC seven champion strains of beneficial soil microbes plus Ecto and Mycorrhizae.
All the above was put into a 5 gallon bucket and air was pumped into the tea while brewing. Each plant was given 1.5 gallons of tea and another 5 gallons of water was added on top. All the solids that were at the bottom the 5 gallon tea buckets was thrown on top of the soil equally. This will act as top dressing when watered in the future.
Enjoy your tea!
TMB-
I'll post my "flowering tea" later
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
More knowledge from CTGUY:
It's Tea Time!
Compost tea has become increasingly popular in the last few years as part of a grower's program. In fact, current world record holder was grown using this technology. I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss different types of compost teas and share some of the knowledge we've gained in the industry over the past 5 years.
Let's start by looking at some of the different types of teas you can make for your plants:
Plant Tea - This is where plants are soaked directly in water for an extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and any bacteria or fungi on the surface of the plant will be extracted. May contain some soluble nutrients.
Manure Tea - Typically manure is placed in a permeable bag (burlap) into a bucket or barrel and left to soak for an (# of days) extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and will be dominated by anaerobic organisms (bacteria and ciliates). Pathogens will be present in most instances, and may burn the leaf surfaces of plants. These teas will contain some soluble nutrients, but may also contain antibiotics and growth hormones such as tetracycline, that are not broken down during the composting process.
"Put To Sleep" Tea - These teas are typically advertised as "instant" compost teas. Specific organisms are cultured or extracted from compost and then put into a dormant state. Even with hundreds of different species, it won't contain even 1% of the diversity or quantities you would find in properly made aerated compost tea. These teas may be helpful in certain instances when you wish to combat certain diseases and know the proper microbe that has been documented to prevent or suppress it (eg. trichoderma).
Compost Leachate - These teas is sometimes referred as "worm tea" as it is the liquid that leaches out of the base of worm bins or compost piles during the composting process. Leachates will consist primarily of soluble nutrients, but will contain some small amount of biology. This can serve as a good food substrate for the biology in your soil.
Compost Extract - Compost extract is where the microorganisms are stripped from the soil aggregates using water and extracted into a liquid form. This process will contain good biology for soil drenches, and can be made very quickly, as it does not require a brewing process. It does however require a large amount of compost relative to the final liquid product, and is primarily used in large commercial productions.
Non-Aerated Compost Tea - This is where compost is put into a container with water and foods are added for the microbes. The tea is then stirred occasionally or left to sit for a period of time. These teas may or may not produce beneficial results and could potentially harm your plants depending on the anaerobic organisms in your starting compost.
Aerated Compost Tea (AACT or ACT) - Similar to the tea above, this process involves adding oxygen to the tea and a food source for the biology in the compost. By creating optimal conditions for aerobic microbes, AACT allows you to multiply the biology in the starting compost by over 10,000 times. Many plant pathogens are anaerobic and prefer low to no oxygen conditions. By making sure the tea and the compost itself are well oxygenated and highly aerobic, you can potentially eliminate 75 percent of the potential plant-disease-causing bacteria and plant-toxic products.
For the past 5 years, AACT has become the standard within the organic industry in regards to compost teas. It's currently being used by golf courses, vineyards, farmers, and homeowners as a means of growing healthier plants. Here's a list of some of the benefits:
Compost tea has been shown to help in disease-suppression (pythium, phytopthera, powdery mildew, fusarium, etc.) when applied as a foliar spray and soil drench.
Helps extend root systems
Increases water and nutrient retention
Is 100% safe and natural
Creates healthier plants
Helps breakdown of toxins in the soil and on the plants
Enhances the taste of fruits and vegetables
Reduces or eliminates the need for chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers
Occupies the space around the infection sites so disease-causing organisms cannot penetrate into the tissues of the plant
Cannot be over-applied because it is completely natural and organic
These benefits are all attributed to well-made AACT. If the tea is not made properly, you will not see all of the benefits listed above. Let's take a closer look at what goes into making quality aerated compost tea.
1. Good compost is very important! Without good biology in the compost, you really have no chance of getting high-quality tea. You can only multiply what you put into your brewer, therefore good compost that has been tested to have high numbers and a diversity of beneficial organisms is essential. A lot of science goes into making good compost, and unless you test your compost you really have no idea if what you are putting into your brewer is truly beneficial. By adjusting the type of compost you put in the brewer you can control whether your tea is going to be bacterial or fungal dominated. We use a mix of 3 different composts (Alaska humus, vermicompost, and a fungal compost comprised of woody materials) to increase the biological diversity in our teas.
2. Food is critical for the microorganisms so that they can reproduce and grow in numbers. The goal is to maximize your output of beneficial biology without giving the bacteria and fungi too much food that they over-replicate and cause the tea to go anaerobic. It's important that dissolved oxygen levels stay above 6 mg/l during the entire brewing cycle. There are many different recipes out there, each of which will give you different biology in the end and some are much better than others. It is important to see the lab results of the recipe you use to make sure that you are indeed maximizing your final product.
3. Oxygen! If you're not getting enough oxygen in your brew, then your tea will go anaerobic and you will start brewing the "bad" organisms (pathogens such as e.coli or root feeding nematodes) that may have existed in your original compost. If your tea has enough oxygen and stays aerobic for the entire brew cycle, what you'll have at the end will be the good biology that you want for your plants.
In addition to these variables, other things to consider are elevation, temperature, brewing time, and water quality. All of these variables can have a significant impact on your final tea. With significant elevation, you may need to increase the brewing time, due to the lower oxygen content in the air. With high temperatures, where the water temps are 90 degrees or above, you'll want to shorten the brewing cycle and possibly cut back on the foods you're using. In cold temps., you'll want to increase the brewing cycle to give the organisms time to reproduce. In regards to water quality, different sources will have different mineral or chemical content, which will affect your final tea. In the case of chlorine or chloramines, these chemicals will need to be removed prior to adding the compost to the brewer.
I hope folks are learning from the posts in this thread. I love going over this stuff to keep it fresh in my growing style. keepem green dirrtyd
It's Tea Time!
Compost tea has become increasingly popular in the last few years as part of a grower's program. In fact, current world record holder was grown using this technology. I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss different types of compost teas and share some of the knowledge we've gained in the industry over the past 5 years.
Let's start by looking at some of the different types of teas you can make for your plants:
Plant Tea - This is where plants are soaked directly in water for an extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and any bacteria or fungi on the surface of the plant will be extracted. May contain some soluble nutrients.
Manure Tea - Typically manure is placed in a permeable bag (burlap) into a bucket or barrel and left to soak for an (# of days) extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and will be dominated by anaerobic organisms (bacteria and ciliates). Pathogens will be present in most instances, and may burn the leaf surfaces of plants. These teas will contain some soluble nutrients, but may also contain antibiotics and growth hormones such as tetracycline, that are not broken down during the composting process.
"Put To Sleep" Tea - These teas are typically advertised as "instant" compost teas. Specific organisms are cultured or extracted from compost and then put into a dormant state. Even with hundreds of different species, it won't contain even 1% of the diversity or quantities you would find in properly made aerated compost tea. These teas may be helpful in certain instances when you wish to combat certain diseases and know the proper microbe that has been documented to prevent or suppress it (eg. trichoderma).
Compost Leachate - These teas is sometimes referred as "worm tea" as it is the liquid that leaches out of the base of worm bins or compost piles during the composting process. Leachates will consist primarily of soluble nutrients, but will contain some small amount of biology. This can serve as a good food substrate for the biology in your soil.
Compost Extract - Compost extract is where the microorganisms are stripped from the soil aggregates using water and extracted into a liquid form. This process will contain good biology for soil drenches, and can be made very quickly, as it does not require a brewing process. It does however require a large amount of compost relative to the final liquid product, and is primarily used in large commercial productions.
Non-Aerated Compost Tea - This is where compost is put into a container with water and foods are added for the microbes. The tea is then stirred occasionally or left to sit for a period of time. These teas may or may not produce beneficial results and could potentially harm your plants depending on the anaerobic organisms in your starting compost.
Aerated Compost Tea (AACT or ACT) - Similar to the tea above, this process involves adding oxygen to the tea and a food source for the biology in the compost. By creating optimal conditions for aerobic microbes, AACT allows you to multiply the biology in the starting compost by over 10,000 times. Many plant pathogens are anaerobic and prefer low to no oxygen conditions. By making sure the tea and the compost itself are well oxygenated and highly aerobic, you can potentially eliminate 75 percent of the potential plant-disease-causing bacteria and plant-toxic products.
For the past 5 years, AACT has become the standard within the organic industry in regards to compost teas. It's currently being used by golf courses, vineyards, farmers, and homeowners as a means of growing healthier plants. Here's a list of some of the benefits:
Compost tea has been shown to help in disease-suppression (pythium, phytopthera, powdery mildew, fusarium, etc.) when applied as a foliar spray and soil drench.
Helps extend root systems
Increases water and nutrient retention
Is 100% safe and natural
Creates healthier plants
Helps breakdown of toxins in the soil and on the plants
Enhances the taste of fruits and vegetables
Reduces or eliminates the need for chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers
Occupies the space around the infection sites so disease-causing organisms cannot penetrate into the tissues of the plant
Cannot be over-applied because it is completely natural and organic
These benefits are all attributed to well-made AACT. If the tea is not made properly, you will not see all of the benefits listed above. Let's take a closer look at what goes into making quality aerated compost tea.
1. Good compost is very important! Without good biology in the compost, you really have no chance of getting high-quality tea. You can only multiply what you put into your brewer, therefore good compost that has been tested to have high numbers and a diversity of beneficial organisms is essential. A lot of science goes into making good compost, and unless you test your compost you really have no idea if what you are putting into your brewer is truly beneficial. By adjusting the type of compost you put in the brewer you can control whether your tea is going to be bacterial or fungal dominated. We use a mix of 3 different composts (Alaska humus, vermicompost, and a fungal compost comprised of woody materials) to increase the biological diversity in our teas.
2. Food is critical for the microorganisms so that they can reproduce and grow in numbers. The goal is to maximize your output of beneficial biology without giving the bacteria and fungi too much food that they over-replicate and cause the tea to go anaerobic. It's important that dissolved oxygen levels stay above 6 mg/l during the entire brewing cycle. There are many different recipes out there, each of which will give you different biology in the end and some are much better than others. It is important to see the lab results of the recipe you use to make sure that you are indeed maximizing your final product.
3. Oxygen! If you're not getting enough oxygen in your brew, then your tea will go anaerobic and you will start brewing the "bad" organisms (pathogens such as e.coli or root feeding nematodes) that may have existed in your original compost. If your tea has enough oxygen and stays aerobic for the entire brew cycle, what you'll have at the end will be the good biology that you want for your plants.
In addition to these variables, other things to consider are elevation, temperature, brewing time, and water quality. All of these variables can have a significant impact on your final tea. With significant elevation, you may need to increase the brewing time, due to the lower oxygen content in the air. With high temperatures, where the water temps are 90 degrees or above, you'll want to shorten the brewing cycle and possibly cut back on the foods you're using. In cold temps., you'll want to increase the brewing cycle to give the organisms time to reproduce. In regards to water quality, different sources will have different mineral or chemical content, which will affect your final tea. In the case of chlorine or chloramines, these chemicals will need to be removed prior to adding the compost to the brewer.
I hope folks are learning from the posts in this thread. I love going over this stuff to keep it fresh in my growing style. keepem green dirrtyd
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
I personally did not see a difference last year from seed. Both plants looked great one got Max Sea and the other didn't. I will do some container tests this year for sure where one only gets teas and the other get Max Sea on top of a good living soil. keepem green dirrtyd
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
J I got the seeds going already in the organic forum. I will be popping some more here soon want to take clones again this year. Last year I was lazy and did straight seed and purchased clones only. Keepem green dirrtyd
Corbat420
Well-Known Member
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/472174-samwells-organic-comparrison-grow-vs.html you can follow it from the begining up to now. hes still in the prosecc of growing them out
im going to be doing a 100% organic outdoor grow this year using my super soil mix and most of these tea's..... i can feel it, its going to be a good year....
wheezer
Well-Known Member
hmmmm let's see...:
5 scoops of compost
3 scoops of chicken manure compost (veg-only)
2 scoops of Dr. earths bud and bloom booster 4-7-5
1 scoop Bat Guano 10-3-1 (veg-only)
1 scoop Bat Guano 0-12-1 ( bloom-only)
5 scoops worm castings
5 scoops Denali Gold Humus
4 glubs of Fish Emulsion 2-4-0.5
4 glubs of Kelp
4 glubs of Molasses
2 cups Bio-Link 0-5-5 (bloom-only)
2 cups Bio-Link 3-3-3 ( veg-only)
2 cups Bio-Link Micro Nutrients
2 cups Earth Juice catalyst
I mix this in a 55 gal drum and aerate it for 24 hours before use. I use it 2-3 times per week, and that 55 gal covers my 6 legal plants, but you could feed 5-10 plants with it.
BTW...A scoop is just a 2 cup measuring cup, but full of dry material it holds almost 2 1/2 cups. A glub is the sound a 5 gallon bucket with a spout makes when pouring...haha...it's about 2-3 cups. You can leave the Bio-link stuff out if you want, it depends on what you got in your soil.
5 scoops of compost
3 scoops of chicken manure compost (veg-only)
2 scoops of Dr. earths bud and bloom booster 4-7-5
1 scoop Bat Guano 10-3-1 (veg-only)
1 scoop Bat Guano 0-12-1 ( bloom-only)
5 scoops worm castings
5 scoops Denali Gold Humus
4 glubs of Fish Emulsion 2-4-0.5
4 glubs of Kelp
4 glubs of Molasses
2 cups Bio-Link 0-5-5 (bloom-only)
2 cups Bio-Link 3-3-3 ( veg-only)
2 cups Bio-Link Micro Nutrients
2 cups Earth Juice catalyst
I mix this in a 55 gal drum and aerate it for 24 hours before use. I use it 2-3 times per week, and that 55 gal covers my 6 legal plants, but you could feed 5-10 plants with it.
BTW...A scoop is just a 2 cup measuring cup, but full of dry material it holds almost 2 1/2 cups. A glub is the sound a 5 gallon bucket with a spout makes when pouring...haha...it's about 2-3 cups. You can leave the Bio-link stuff out if you want, it depends on what you got in your soil.
jyermum
Active Member
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
Yes I will do that my friend. Been working in the worm bins today added some more red wigglers to them. kepem green dirrtydLooks like I have some catching up to do.
Keep it dirty .. Burn mad green
wheezer
Well-Known Member
That's what I want to get started seriously.....I wonder should I start em' now or wait till it warms up some.
dirrtyd
Well-Known Member
You can keep the bins in the garage they will not die. Mine have been outside even in the few frosts we have gotten. They will just slow down when it gets too cold. keepem green dirrtyd