Are teas a MUST in living organic soil?

K

keepsake

Well-Known Member
This is my first run at organic living soil. I have a seedling in a 15gal fabric pot of Coot's mix soil. I don't have a compost tea brewing system so I can not make any teas that require bubbling/aerating. How detrimental will it be for my grow to not use these types of teas?

What I will use is:

Organic coconut water: 1/4 per gallon of water
Fresh, raw aloe vera: 1 tablespoon of flesh per gallon (blended thoroughly); soil feed & foliar
Lactic acid bacteria, EM1, and AEM: 1oz per gallon; foliar spray once a week

Some questions:

1) how often should I top dress with worm castings?
2) how often should I top dress with grounded malted barley?
3) alfalfa meal? do I top dress with that too? how often?
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
If you are top dressing there's no need for tea's

Malted barley - every 2 weeks
Worm castings - every 4 weeks
Alfalfa- only in teas if deficiencies occur

Aem soil feed every 10 days (1/4 cup per gallon)

Coconut water isn't necessary if you are top dressing malted barley. Coco water is an alternative to seed sprout tea's
 
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Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
Unless you are using a microscope and are able to identify bacteria then you shouldn't be making teas anyway friend!
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
SchmoeJoe said:
You don't have to be able to id the different species of bacteria to be able to benefit from them.
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You are cultivating bacteria.

Not all species of bacteria are beneficial, and if you can't identify harmful bacteria then why would you risk multiplying them? You could unknowingly start a pandemic.
The woman who did all the compost tea research herself says you shouldn't be applying them unless you are using a microscope and can identify the different types of bacteria.
 
K

keepsake

Well-Known Member
So top dressing with compost is just as good as teas if not better?

Coot did say theres no point to doing barley sst and all he does now is just top dress with it.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Rasta Roy said:
You are cultivating bacteria.

Not all species of bacteria are beneficial, and if you can't identify harmful bacteria then why would you risk multiplying them? You could unknowingly start a pandemic.
The woman who did all the compost tea research herself says you shouldn't be applying them unless you are using a microscope and can identify the different types of bacteria.
Click to expand...
A pandemic? Seriously? If you're using a known inoculant source then you know what species of bacteria you're culturing with no need for a microscope.
 
GreenLogician

GreenLogician

Well-Known Member
Sometimes when I buy worm castings they also sell a bottle of 'worm wee', which allegedly isn't about nutrients but the microbes - can I trust that they are good microbes?
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
GreenLogician said:
Sometimes when I buy worm castings they also sell a bottle of 'worm wee', which allegedly isn't about nutrients but the microbes - can I trust that they are good microbes?
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For sure. Worms only multiply and concentrate the already present beneficial soil microbes.

The big thing about actually doing your own AACT is that you should be starting with either fresh high-quality compost or a commercial beneficial inoculant. As long as you start with a good source of beneficials and create the proper environment for them they will out compete any unwanted organisms.
 
Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
No need for a tea if using Coot's mix
I use corn sst with great success
Corn has a higher enzymes levels , plus it has allot starches,sugars
I also use malted corn grd into flour for top dress mix

Top dress mix is,
Neem
Malted corn
Small amount oyster or egg shells flour sized
Kelp
Ewc
Myco
Comfrey
The added myco oyster,egg is the secret sauce as it makes the top dress go full inoculation in a day or so in myco fungus your roots will be growing into it in days
 
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W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
keepsake said:
So top dressing with compost is just as good as teas if not better?

Coot did say theres no point to doing barley sst and all he does now is just top dress with it.
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I quit using teas ~7 years ago when I noticed the same thing and had some convos with LD (Lumper Dawg), about this.

Now, it's going to a whole nother level with the top dressing.

Basically now it's taking whatever amendments you would normally top dress with, running them through your worm bin and using the resulting VC as a single top dress for everything.

I've been doing something similar for several years but with much smaller amounts of amendments and it works a treat. But, was still top dressing individual amendments. This just makes total sense because the scaled down version works so well.

If you haven't yet, you really ought to make starting a worm bin a priority.
 
Rasta Roy

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
SchmoeJoe said:
A pandemic? Seriously? If you're using a known inoculant source then you know what species of bacteria you're culturing with no need for a microscope.
Click to expand...
Yeah man, seriously. Pandemics have been started because of simple stupid shit like this before. Multiplying bacteria isn't just for fun backyard science.

How could you have a known innoculent source? Unless you are doing your own compost and worm bin, but even then...are you testing to make sure your heap is staying at the right temperature to kill off pathogens? Are you getting your compost tested after it's completed to make sure all the harmful by products have dissipated? Did you really take the time and effort to get to know your inoculent source?

That's not even getting into commercial compost production. A lot more opportunities for random objects that carry god knows what to end up in those piles.

Not trying to bust your balls friend just telling you something you probably don't want to hear, I went through it too.

But trust me, you won't miss the teas in your regimen. The microbes will still develop in your soil, and your plants will still kick as much ass as ever.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
GreenLogician said:
Sometimes when I buy worm castings they also sell a bottle of 'worm wee', which allegedly isn't about nutrients but the microbes - can I trust that they are good microbes?
Click to expand...
Totally agree with RR on this.

The absolute best thing you can do for organic growing is start your own worm bin. All you need is a unused corner and 2' x 3' of space.

To call it a game changer would be an understatement. Really!
 
Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
Roy is going on about teas but there's two types full act brewing life or do extraction teas that breakdown admendments thru enzymes & bubble action these r teas that brew short periods, your not growing bacto
8 -10 hrs I did mine .so i'D do two a day for the trees I was growing ,this was before I went Coot's mix
 
hillbill

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Growing in large containers works well with just water. As far as culturing a pandemic, I worry a thousand times more about Cattle, poultry and hog CAFOs that surround me and spray untreated sewage on fields in a karst geology. Make that 10,000 times more concerned.

I grow in small containers and use teas in rotation with clear water. I use them on the herb as well as ornamentals and mints and such. Been doing that for ten years. My containers need a. Little boost.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Rasta Roy said:
Yeah man, seriously. Pandemics have been started because of simple stupid shit like this before. Multiplying bacteria isn't just for fun backyard science.

How could you have a known innoculent source? Unless you are doing your own compost and worm bin, but even then...are you testing to make sure your heap is staying at the right temperature to kill off pathogens? Are you getting your compost tested after it's completed to make sure all the harmful by products have dissipated? Did you really take the time and effort to get to know your inoculent source?

That's not even getting into commercial compost production. A lot more opportunities for random objects that carry god knows what to end up in those piles.

Not trying to bust your balls friend just telling you something you probably don't want to hear, I went through it too.

But trust me, you won't miss the teas in your regimen. The microbes will still develop in your soil, and your plants will still kick as much ass as ever.
Click to expand...
I use Roots Organism. It has a complete list of it's bacterial and myological inoculants. No microscope needed.
 
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