help plz compost tea!

missnu

missnu

Well-Known Member
the easiest way I have managed is putting just the naked tubing down into a gallon jug and just adding whatever I want to the jug and letting it go...seems like I get less air with the airstones I have then if I just let the one end of the tube bubble on the bottom, I mean damn it isn't hard to aerate a one gallon jug.
 
dante76

dante76

Active Member
i've seen it done that way and your right, it seems enough for 1 gallon but for a 5+ gallon brewer i would do something more heavy duty. The airstone is good but it won't last forever. They're never quite the same when they get older and itsn't really designed to be submerged in all the tea so particles will clog it over time. I'd like to custom build a bubbling device like the one for this homemaid 25 gallon brewer...this would great cuz you could maintain it much easier than stone.


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=25 gallon rubbermaid brewer plan&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDQQFjAA&url=http://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/horticulture/documents/25gallonRubbermaidbrewerplans_2_.pdf&ei=HFQvT6OiOMagiQKsuLGNDA&usg=AFQjCNFYP99K95OfxI4j--_gaXLDD9FVyA&cad=rja
 
RawBudzski

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
I have a big 8" airstone that Must be cleaned well after every brew. and I only use it for brews. If I were to use it 24/7 it would be bad.
 
B

Buddy Hemphill

Active Member
dante76 said:
How do u clean yours?
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I drop them in a bucket with 50/50 water/vinegar and let them bubble.

If you wanna really get them clean...unplug them from the pump and suck thru the hose. It will pull the vingar into the stone and up the hose. You can see all the shit dislodge. Then hook it to the pump and blow it out. Repeat.

Do the same thing with a clean bucket of water for the final rinse.

Hot water and vinegar will cut thru any salt build up.
 
J

jpill

Well-Known Member
The diffuser and your air stone are similar. You just really want those bubbles breaking the surface to get oxygen. Only thing I don't like about air stones is that they have a electro magnetic pump and i've heard that can fuck with the micro biology in your res if you leave it there for a while. Just what i've heard.
 
purpz

purpz

Well-Known Member
BradleyJ443 said:
so buying compost tea by the gallon has gotten expensiveand ive chosen to brew my own. i want a general bacteria dominant tea.

i attempted to brew my own this week but it never got frothyy like ive seen in videos (so was it any good?)
my recipe was this
7 tbs of molassess mixed in 4.5 gallons of water

with a sock filled with two cups of worm castings as the tea bag

1tbs of hum-boldt humic acid

1 airstone pumping air through the five gallon bucket for 36 hours


no frothiness why? i feel like it means no life



RO water as well btw
Click to expand...

Just ask the person in charge of making the tea. I ended up making my own tea as well and talked to a guy @ my local "feed and seed" spot and was more then helpful with whatever questions i had. He even had a recipe and sells his own special compost. He ended up being very helpful and glad i met him.

No, bubbles do not indicate weather your tea is "bad" it really doesn't matter if you have froth or not. Also don't use so much molasses it could hurt your tea if you over do it.
 
B

Buddy Hemphill

Active Member
missnu said:
the easiest way I have managed is putting just the naked tubing down into a gallon jug and just adding whatever I want to the jug and letting it go...seems like I get less air with the airstones I have then if I just let the one end of the tube bubble on the bottom, I mean damn it isn't hard to aerate a one gallon jug.
Click to expand...
There is a tech called 'fluming' that you may be hitting on just right.

Its using big air bubbles to break surface tension. There is more physics that I cant remember. Some people swear by fluming for increased DO levels...some say its better that using cheap pumps and stones.

I dont have a DO meter, although I tried it and it seemed to work from my results.
 
dante76

dante76

Active Member
Buddy Hemphill said:
I drop them in a bucket with 50/50 water/vinegar and let them bubble.

If you wanna really get them clean...unplug them from the pump and suck thru the hose. It will pull the vingar into the stone and up the hose. You can see all the shit dislodge. Then hook it to the pump and blow it out. Repeat.

Do the same thing with a clean bucket of water for the final rinse.

Hot water and vinegar will cut thru any salt build up.
Click to expand...

Cool! How long do you let it bubble for in the vinegar solution? a couple of hours?
 
B

Buddy Hemphill

Active Member
dante76 said:
Cool! How long do you let it bubble for in the vinegar solution? a couple of hours?
Click to expand...
I have my hot water heater set on kill.

I let it bubble for 10-15 minutes until it starts to cool a bit and start sucking on them...lol...

Scalding vinegar water is a great organic non toxic sterilizer/cleaner. I sub it for bleach in several spots...

It doesn't take long. I suppose the filthier they are...the longer to soak them. This way works for me.
 
Kronron

Kronron

Member
Sounds like you need to get better quality castings or add a teaspoon of microbial innoculant.. I use a similar recipe to yours but I add some kelp meal. Good job on adding the humic acids. Alot of people forget to add that it helps make nutrients more availible to the plant. Try some humic fulvic amino acid blends it works wonders..
 
bigcarty24

bigcarty24

Active Member
sincitygrowJB said:
u need more ingredients add these with your molasses and worm castings bat guano or dog shit ***only*** if you feed them the best dog food and know there dieat i use liquid karma and seabird guano this tea recipe works great!!! JB
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lolololololol.... I dont know about u guys... but i would rather NOT smoke dogshit. But to each there own I guess.
 
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