Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
So what size pump do you use? Should I only use one stone?
Compost brewer/air diffuser recommendation
- Thread starter Flaming Pie
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greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
I can't remember.. I think it's the ecoplus 4?
and I don't use a stone, just a ring that is coupled with the air hose, and it churns up the water like a mofo.
you just want the air coming in from the bottom to keep it from settling, your tea ingredients, that is
I don't use stones anymore, pointless in my opinion.
Although I do have one running into my cloner..
Jumfrey13
Active Member
Hi Richard. I am just entering mid flower right now and have been considering a bloom booster. I just have my flowers in Roots 707 soil and have brewed AACT Teas with much success. Most of the veg cycle was done in the 5 gal pots that they are still in, so i assume a lot of nutes have been used up. I was using General Organics Biothrive Grow with low doses and 2 weeks ago, i topdressed with Fox Farm Bat Guano 0-5-0. My plants look hungry and last night i bought Biothrive Bloom, so i finally have the flower nutrient covered. However, I believe it's time to use a bloom booster. I dont have the money to go buy an organic, bottled bloom booster right now, but i have all the leftovers from a subs super soil that i recently prepared. What should i do to add that extra punch? I have some 0-13-0 bat guano i was thinking of topdressing (along with ewc of course) since i hear that flowering plants will eat up lots of P, but i know that bloom boosters arent high on the NPK. Before i get myself too dazed and confused, would you tell me what might be a good course of action to use in conjunction with the biobloom and AACT?
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
Well I read online that I needed .08cfm per gallon for good oxygenation so for brewing 2.5-3 gallons I got a 127gph pump which is .28cfm which is right on mark for 3 gallons.
http://microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer
http://microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Last time I tried to use a bloom booster it threw off my ph & my plants got all fucked up- don't waste your money. I only give my plants in mid flower an AACT maybe once & they barely need it. AACTs are good for boosting populations of microbes but do not really fix deficiencies. In organics in my exp anyways you kinda hafta give them what they need in your mix before they need it. That's why recycling & amending your mix works so well. I would do a top dressing with fresh EWC, guano, and fish bone meal which has worked well in the past when my soil was not quite as active as it is right now. Each time you recycle it your mix will get better; some amendments take a long time to give benefits - even several runs later they are released. Fresh EWC from your own worm bin is more effective than anything in a bottle; keep your soil supernaturally active & you'll never see a deficiency again.
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
I brew up about 3-5 gal in an $8 tote bin with a small dual airpump & Walmart airstone....plants are literally covered in trichomes like this....
I mean yeah an airlift or vortex is awesome but you don't need all that just to make good teas
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
Sure hope this is enough air.
To 3 gallons of water I added 1.2 cups EWC, 4 tbsp molasses, and 1.2tsp of hydrolyzed fish.
Will be 36 hours till my next round of watering.
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
That molasses was super thick. Didn't taste sweet at all but stats on the bottle said 20% potassium and 10% calcium and 15% iron.
I read that tells little microbes eat the carbs and then other microbes eat them and shit them out as a pure nutrients for the plants. The ones that don't get eaten will share with the plant for some love from the roots.
Fun stuff.
I read that tells little microbes eat the carbs and then other microbes eat them and shit them out as a pure nutrients for the plants. The ones that don't get eaten will share with the plant for some love from the roots.
Fun stuff.
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
1 tsp of molasses is sufficient; you want the microbes to consume most of it before it goes on the plants. I find that fishy ferts are very good to give in veg due to the available N it can provide but seems to slow down activity in my teas- not much foam. That's why I prefer guanos in a tea; but that's just me- you can dilute it by up to half if it's still very dark once it's done bubbling
Jumfrey13
Active Member
We'rE="Richard Drysift, post: 12207034, member: 896148"]Last time I tried to use a bloom booster it threw off my ph & my plants got all fucked up- don't waste your money. I only give my plants in mid flower an AACT maybe once & they barely need it. AACTs are good for boosting populations of microbes but do not really fix deficiencies. In organics in my exp anyways you kinda hafta give them what they need in your mix before they need it. That's why recycling & amending your mix works so well. I would do a top dressing with fresh EWC, guano, and fish bone meal which has worked well in the past when my soil was not quite as active as it is right now. Each time you recycle it your mix will get better; some amendments take a long time to give benefits - even several runs later they are released. Fresh EWC from your own worm bin is more effective than anything in a bottle; keep your soil supernaturally active & you'll never see a deficiency again.[/QUOTE]
We're
We're
Were you introducing your bloom booster into some kind of super soil?
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
A recipe for a balanced nutrient cycling ACT which many growers claim to have great success with is;
[vermi]compost – 2.38%
unsulphured pure black strap molasses - 0.50% [but you can use a maximum 0.75%]
fish hydrolysate (high quality) - 0.063%
Do not use chemically deodorized liquid fish!
kelp meal - 0.25% max. [Less is more!]
NOTE: This is a maximum amount of kelp and you can experiment using less. This is using regular grade kelp meal for livestock. If you have soluble kelp, I recommend using smaller amounts. As noted earlier kelp meal can initially delay bacterial multiplication and fungal growth in ACT.
^^^^ that's the recipe I was following from http://microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
All the love to ya brother, but you are looking at this a lil skewed, (in my very humble opinion, please don't take offense)
"bloom booster" is hydro myth man, you are wasting your money.
They want you to think you need a "vege" nutrient, and "flower" nutrient" an "enzyme" (probably multiple types), seed starting additives, ph up, ph down, a flush additive... hell you can go buy a bottle of ectomycorrhizal fungi from a hydro store, and you'll pay out the ass for it, and it won't do shit for your plants.
"bud hardener" "bud sweetner" "bloom booster"..
All that isn't needed.
Build the soil, first and foremost, and you are done.
Besides, plants can't even come close to taking all that phosphorus up anyways, you are just loading up the soil, and creating more of a problem with the plant uptaking phosphorus to begin with.
build the soil right, with the correct minerals, correct mag/cal ratio, loads of humus, and you can skate by with a light amount of nutrients. Surprisingly tiny amount of nutrients.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
did you mean a tablespoon?
If not I think a teaspoon isn't nearly enough man, not for that size.
I usually add 3 tablepoons to my brew, but it's a big ass 22 or 25 gallon bucket/drum thingy
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
The site I linked the guy spent time using a microscope to examine his teas.
It was a long read but we'll worth it.
It was a long read but we'll worth it.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
of course!
that's tim the microbe mans site, he's linked in the tea stickys too
good read, him and Elaine whats-her-face are the leading people behind it all, weird thing is their information and techniques often aren't similar
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
He recommended 1.28 tbsp per gallon of water.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
yup, I always rounded down to a tbsp, it depends on how long the brew is, just like animals, the more and the longer you have them in a container, the more food they'll need
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
Oh I thought you used only 3tbsp for all 22 gallons. Lol
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
What is the deal with hi brix molasses? It was at the hydro store. I didn't buy it cus it wasn't blackstrap and it wasn't unsulfered.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
nah I don't fill it all the way up, I got a bad back and my brewer is hell and gone from my grow (ok like a half football field, but it's uphill)
so normally I do probably a 8 or ten gal brew, I go light on the BSM, because I had an unfortunate experience using it as a nutrient (back when I first started using it)
potassium overdose is easy as hell using bsm
but when I use to do the 5 gal bucket, i'd go with three tablespoons and about 3.5 gallons of water.
but I did like to add another tablespoon after a days worth of brewing, I figure there is more microbes then, and they may need a speck extra food