What are your favorite ACTs?!

sup yall!!

I'm new to teas, never done one but I do somewhat understand the whole purpose of it. and I need it for my girls asap. lol

anyways I just bought a flow n brew 3 gallon brewer. and I need some simple flower teas as I am now in my second week of flower.

I've been suggested to do a ewc and molasses tea, one question on it, does it need to be strained and diluted. or the 3 gallons I brew can just be used as my water when I do water. also is that good for flowering or is there anything else I could or should add?

also when doing the brew is the stuff being added dry ammendments?

I have crab neem alfalfa kelp and fish bone meal (all dry ammendments)

thanks yall!!

bankcee said:

sup yall!!

I'm new to teas, never done one but I do somewhat understand the whole purpose of it. and I need it for my girls asap. lol

anyways I just bought a flow n brew 3 gallon brewer. and I need some simple flower teas as I am now in my second week of flower.

I've been suggested to do a ewc and molasses tea, one question on it, does it need to be strained and diluted. or the 3 gallons I brew can just be used as my water when I do water. also is that good for flowering or is there anything else I could or should add?

also when doing the brew is the stuff being added dry ammendments?

I have crab neem alfalfa kelp and fish bone meal (all dry ammendments)

thanks yall!!

Click to expand...

AACT (actively aerated compost tea) is not a nutrient tea, which is something similar but for a different purpose. you are mixing up the two.

so molasses + EWC = AACT. AACTs only purpose is to breed microbes, so you can dump the microbe populations from your tea into your soil. this tea is not a tea for your plant. it can be applied about once every 3-4 weeks to aid in maintaining healthy microbe populations in your soil, which is critical for organic gardening with an amended soil. you don't have to strain this tea, after all it's just EWC. but straining is recommended if you use a watering can.

NUTRIENT tea, is something used for the plants, when you're looking to feed macro and micro nutes to the plant. there are a bunch of people that make these kinds of teas on here, but you're going to get a bunch of variance in the recipes. I've never made one for flower so i can't give you a working recipe. if i come across one, i'll post it up here for you.

What shluby said. An easy NUTRIENT tea is per gallon. 1 tbsp kelp. 1 tbsp alfalfa.

@ShLUbY @green_machine_two9er

can i use this tea bag for my second week of flower and then do another P&K nute tea like in my 4th week?

I'm asking cause my brother used my worm castings for some of his plants he has and I just ordered the brand I usually get cause they don't carry it around me.

so now I have no worm castings atm. but I have molasses kelp alfalfa crab neem fish bone meal and epsoma plant tone..

I planned on doing the molasses and ewc tea to multiply my micro herd but that's out of the question and I'm still noticing this N def taking over. not rapidly but it's moving for sure.

I'm in second week of flower. day 10.

thanks guys I know I'm a pest but I'm just a noob trying to get on your level. hahah

also the tea says it is derived from ewc and kelp.

bankcee said:

@ShLUbY @green_machine_two9er

can i use this tea bag for my second week of flower and then do another P&K nute tea like in my 4th week?

I'm asking cause my brother used my worm castings for some of his plants he has and I just ordered the brand I usually get cause they don't carry it around me.

so now I have no worm castings atm. but I have molasses kelp alfalfa crab neem fish bone meal and epsoma plant tone..

I planned on doing the molasses and ewc tea to multiply my micro herd but that's out of the question and I'm still noticing this N def taking over. not rapidly but it's moving for sure.

I'm in second week of flower. day 10.

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yeah you can use that. sounds like a similar product to boogie brew. don't forget to add the molasses! TBSP per gallon of h2o and make sure you dissolve it in a couple cups of water before you dump it in your bucket, just easier that way. if you have a good compost resource (someone you know maybe?), you can use that to brew microbe tea as well.

something else you can get is fish hydrolysate, just make sure it's from a reputable company like neptune or something. remember aloe and kelp both ease stress on plants, are low in NPKs and high in micronutes/vitamins/minerals.

ShLUbY said:

yeah you can use that. sounds like a similar product to boogie brew. don't forget to add the molasses! TBSP per gallon of h2o and make sure you dissolve it in a couple cups of water before you dump it in your bucket, just easier that way. if you have a good compost resource (someone you know maybe?), you can use that to brew microbe tea as well.

something else you can get is fish hydrolysate, just make sure it's from a reputable company like neptune or something. remember aloe and kelp both ease stress on plants, are low in NPKs and high in micronutes/vitamins/minerals.

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when you say dissolve, what do you mean? dissolve the molasses?

bankcee said:

sup yall!!

I'm new to teas, never done one but I do somewhat understand the whole purpose of it. and I need it for my girls asap. lol

anyways I just bought a flow n brew 3 gallon brewer. and I need some simple flower teas as I am now in my second week of flower.

I've been suggested to do a ewc and molasses tea, one question on it, does it need to be strained and diluted. or the 3 gallons I brew can just be used as my water when I do water. also is that good for flowering or is there anything else I could or should add?

also when doing the brew is the stuff being added dry ammendments?

I have crab neem alfalfa kelp and fish bone meal (all dry ammendments)

thanks yall!!

Click to expand...

the things you can add to a nutrient tea must be water soluble, or they will end up simply as wet nutrients at the bottom of your brewer.
I think I've said this before, your plant doesn't look that bad, outside its difficult to keep up with the sun.
I would be worried about temps and raining though.
depending on where you are.
But you'll be finishing around Christmas... maybe a tad earlier.
If you are truly wanting to give them a shot of nitrogen that is available immediately piss in a bucket and add four gallons to it, and water.
In 5 days if it's a nitrogen def, you'll see a change.
You could also do a bat guano or seabird guano tea, or fish hydrosylate, or alfalfa..

I just hope this gets me through this first grow of mine lol

I understand a lot more than I did when I planted these. lol

so none of my dry ammendments will work for a tea? cause I don't think they are water soluble.

also @ShLUbY since this pre made tea is from extreme gardening I have granular mycos by them as well can I throw that into there too?

In order to brew up a really good tea IMO you need a supply of fresh worm castings. Bagged castings are active but nowhere near the level of bacteria I can populate with fresh castings right from my worm bin. The dry amendments really just feed the microbes which beak it all down & feed your plants but it can't happen without a population of microbeasts to begin with. Even straight veganic growers need compost to keep the microbial party rockin; start a worm bin & harvest your own castings. Vermicompost is the best to use as a base for your teas whether it's bacterial or fungal dominated IMO. Nutrient teas cannot provide all your plants need at once like compost based teas can.

Richard Drysift said:

In order to brew up a really good tea IMO you need a supply of fresh worm castings. Bagged castings are active but nowhere near the level of bacteria I can populate with fresh castings right from my worm bin. The dry amendments really just feed the microbes which beak it all down & feed your plants but it can't happen without a population of microbeasts to begin with. Even straight veganic growers need compost to keep the microbial party rockin; start a worm bin & harvest your own castings. Vermicompost is the best to use as a base for your teas whether it's bacterial or fungal dominated IMO. Nutrient teas cannot provide all your plants need at once like compost based teas can.

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how do I got about starting a worm farm. I'm here in so cal and I'm really interested in starting one. what are they fed and when and what can a small setup produce for me? how many pounds or whatever?

thanks for the input as well.

Richard Drysift said:

In order to brew up a really good tea IMO you need a supply of fresh worm castings. Bagged castings are active but nowhere near the level of bacteria I can populate with fresh castings right from my worm bin. The dry amendments really just feed the microbes which beak it all down & feed your plants but it can't happen without a population of microbeasts to begin with. Even straight veganic growers need compost to keep the microbial party rockin; start a worm bin & harvest your own castings. Vermicompost is the best to use as a base for your teas whether it's bacterial or fungal dominated IMO. Nutrient teas cannot provide all your plants need at once like compost based teas can.

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yeah i was looking at the veganics stuff for the vegamatrix and they're feeding molasses and microbe teas ALOT. it makes sense to me though since they grow generally in unamended soils. that veganic special sauce or whatever...

and yes @bankcee dissolve the molasses. i got a nice foam with the boogie brew compost tea i was using, not that that means anything but that tea looked better than my bagged EWC + ancient forest looks lol. i'd like to get a scope eventually, just dont have the 400$ to chuck out right now.

bankcee said:

how do I got about starting a worm farm. I'm here in so cal and I'm really interested in starting one. what are they fed and when and what can a small setup produce for me? how many pounds or whatever?

thanks for the input as well.

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Step 1: build or buy a worm bed:
You can use something as simple as a smart pot or get one like I have which I high-ly recommend; the worm factory 360 which has trays for easy harvesting.
Step 2: aquire worms: check out Amazon or uncle jims worm farm. 250 red wigglers is like $15 shipped
Step 3: raise your worms & harvest vermicompost: wigglers can eat almost any organic waste. I like to feed mine mostly fruit & veggie scraps and dried cannabis leaf. I get a tray about every 3 weeks now which I use for teas and to amend my recycled soil. Whatever organic inputs you want to add to your compost can be given to your worms & they will do most of the work for you.

Richard Drysift said:

Step 1: build or buy a worm bed:
You can use something as simple as a smart pot or get one like I have which I high-ly recommend; the worm factory 360 which has trays for easy harvesting.
Step 2: aquire worms: check out Amazon or uncle jims worm farm. 250 red wigglers is like $15 shipped
Step 3: raise your worms & harvest vermicompost: wigglers can eat almost any organic waste. I like to feed mine mostly fruit & veggie scraps and dried cannabis leaf. I get a tray about every 3 weeks now which I use for teas and to amend my recycled soil. Whatever organic inputs you want to add to your compost can be given to your worms & they will do most of the work for you.

Click to expand...

i need to get this project going as well... ugh, so much to do! still have basement work to finish and get the veg area squared away...

Richard Drysift said:

Step 1: build or buy a worm bed:
You can use something as simple as a smart pot or get one like I have which I high-ly recommend; the worm factory 360 which has trays for easy harvesting.
Step 2: aquire worms: check out Amazon or uncle jims worm farm. 250 red wigglers is like $15 shipped
Step 3: raise your worms & harvest vermicompost: wigglers can eat almost any organic waste. I like to feed mine mostly fruit & veggie scraps and dried cannabis leaf. I get a tray about every 3 weeks now which I use for teas and to amend my recycled soil. Whatever organic inputs you want to add to your compost can be given to your worms & they will do most of the work for you.

Click to expand...

I was reading people feed them paper and cardboard? that couldn't possibly be a good thing? what is the point of this? inexpensive?

I've seen that worm factory 360.. might do that. I'll def hit you up as soon as I get one. make sure I'm doing this right. what does a tray equate to?

ShLUbY said:

i need to get this project going as well... ugh, so much to do! still have basement work to finish and get the veg area squared away...

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hahah so I ain't the only one trying to start this?! figured a guy with your knowledge would already have a worm farm squared away.

bankcee said:

I was reading people feed them paper and cardboard? that couldn't possibly be a good thing? what is the point of this? inexpensive?

I've seen that worm factory 360.. might do that. I'll def hit you up as soon as I get one. make sure I'm doing this right. what does a tray equate to?

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Yeah they can eat almost anything made of fiber like paper or cardboard but that's not their favorite. I feed them cannabis leaf because it's good for making compost and veggies & fruit because they consume it very quickly so I assume they like it. I've found newspaper scraps and egg carton remnants in my compost which is no big deal just toss whatever they don't eat back in; it'll get broken down eventually. I only give them eggshells sparingly for this reason; they take fuckin forever to break down yet the worms use it to lay their eggs to make baby worms. Raising worms is easy; almost effortless. A full finished tray of castings is about enough to recycle maybe 1-2 cu ft of soil. I add a tray to about 3 root balls at a time & I flower in 10g pots so that's about 30g of soil per tray. I usually save a handful or 2 per tray for making teas which is all you need for say 3-5 gal of AACT. Once you have the worms all happy in a bin it costs almost nothing to run it.