When to switch teas?

Morning,
Is there a beneficial time to switch from a veg tea to a flowering tea? How does one tell the most beneficial time? Right now I switch between alfalfa tea and ewc tea as they are in veg. One week alfalfa tea, the next week ewc tea. I have used banana peel tea in the past for flowering, but was wondering what other organics use for flowering teas to get bigger buds? Thanks and keep on rollin!!!

I would continue feeding your alfalfa tea until the plants finish their early flower stretch. They really need nitrogen during this high growth phase. But I would also hit them with a phos. quano tea as soon as you see clumps of pistils starting to form. Alternate the two until the buds are finger sized then lay off the veg teas.

Thanks MjMama. Here's a few pics of the girl. What do you think?

You are fine with the alfalfa tea. If it were me I would add quarter the amount of kelp. So if one cup alfalfa 1/4 cup kelp meal. There many reason behinds this the big ones are hormones such as gibberlic acid and auxins, which will help bud set on your side limbs as well as the main cola. Kelp also has a score of enzymes which will help breakdown the alfalfa even further before the tea hits your soil. There is also alginic acid, which brings another set of benefits to your alfalfa tea.

You don't need to think about it as one tea for veg, one for flower. Use your veggie time to build up the soil, like you have been doing, and use the second half of flower to break down and use all the material you've been accumulating in your soil. For the second half of flower I always go heavy on compost teas, top dress and enzyme/humic/fulvic inputs to bring things down.

YesMamNoSir said:

You are fine with the alfalfa tea. If it were me I would add quarter the amount of kelp. So if one cup alfalfa 1/4 cup kelp meal. There many reason behinds this the big ones are hormones such as gibberlic acid and auxins, which will help bud set on your side limbs as well as the main cola. Kelp also has a score of enzymes which will help breakdown the alfalfa even further before the tea hits your soil. There is also alginic acid, which brings another set of benefits to your alfalfa tea.

You don't need to think about it as one tea for veg, one for flower. Use your veggie time to build up the soil, like you have been doing, and use the second half of flower to break down and use all the material you've been accumulating in your soil. For the second half of flower I always go heavy on compost teas, top dress and enzyme/humic/fulvic inputs to bring things down.

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damn good advice!
I agree 100%.
Use the same tea throughout I say.
But i'm a light feeder and my compost is heavily fortified so a handful of compost, some shaved comfrey, and water and they are green as can be.
personally I avoid adding any potassium. But my soil is already amended well.

Thanks YesMamNoSir.
I just went and picked up some Gaia Green organic kelp meal 1-0-3, and some Gaia green organic bat guano 10-3-1.

My alfalfa tea is made by putting about an 1 1/2" rehydrated alfalfa pellets in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and filling it with water and stirring for a couple days. I then pour the mixture thru a stocking and use the fluid to water my plants. I cut it 1 to 1. How do you make your tea with alfalfa and kelp? Do you bubble it? When should I start using my bat guano?

kkt3 said:

Thanks YesMamNoSir.
I just went and picked up some Gaia Green organic kelp meal 1-0-3, and some Gaia green organic bat guano 10-3-1.

My alfalfa tea is made by putting about an 1 1/2" rehydrated alfalfa pellets in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and filling it with water and stirring for a couple days. I then pour the mixture thru a stocking and use the fluid to water my plants. I cut it 1 to 1. How do you make your tea with alfalfa and kelp? Do you bubble it? When should I start using my bat guano?

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just be sure the pellets aren't formed with molasses, and if so be cognizant of it if you have any other sources of potassium.
remember if your soil is fortified well you CAN screw things up with teas... some people are a teensy bit naïve when it comes to that, thinking you can't overdo it...

Switch "tea's" when the plants start to /are in flower stage you mean super teas ans budswell?

kkt3 said:

Morning,
Is there a beneficial time to switch from a veg tea to a flowering tea? How does one tell the most beneficial time? Right now I switch between alfalfa tea and ewc tea as they are in veg. One week alfalfa tea, the next week ewc tea. I have used banana peel tea in the past for flowering, but was wondering what other organics use for flowering teas to get bigger buds? Thanks and keep on rollin!!!

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Budswell is a great flower tea believe it's .05-.10-.05

I actually just made an alfalfa kelp tea. What I do is aerate one cup alfalfa 1/4 cup kelp in 5 gallons h2o for 24 hours strain, and use this for foliar and soil, sometimes i'll add silica or aloe.

I then put the strained material back into 5 gallons of water and brew for 48 hours, this is when I would probably add the guano for the second brew to bump up npk a little, not necessary but since you have it use it. I would cut the second brew with h2o is you're going to foliar should be fine with soil I would test it with a plant after adding the guano, but straight should be A OK.

Thanks. I added some kelp meal and alfalfa pellets to 5 gallons rainwater and stirred a few times over a 36 hour time frame. Then I made sure the solution was mixed well and cut 1/3 mixture to 2/3 rainwater, to make up a gallon, and watered my plants with it. Is it better to aerate the mixture? How much guano should I add next time? I do aerate when I make my ewc tea.

Forgot to add that I put about 10 cups of alfalfa pellets and 2 cups kelp meal in the 5 gallon bucket. To much?

You made your tea a little strong. For 5 gallons of water I usually only use a cup if you used 10 cups that means you have to use everything in tenths. One cup alfalfa tea to 9 - 10 cups plain h2o.

I might add that these botanical teas are BEST served fresh and never stored. The only time I've had things go sour and burn my plants was when I was storing an alf/kelp tea. The response of the plants tends to get weaker so my guess is that a lot of the beneficial metabolites are being destroyed or fermented. If you make more than you can use throw it on the lawn or a tree, anything in nature should love it.

It is probably best to aerate it, but this is not a microbial tea so there is no issue of amount of dissolved oxygen. The only thing you are wanting is movement and friction on the interface of the alfalfa meal and the water so that it slowly breaks into millions of little pieces. if the water is sitting still it is still breaking down the alfalfa just more slowly, and it will still need a little stir to get the particles in suspension with the water.

My mother use to get a wooden spoon and stir her alfalfa tea for 30 minutes every day while watching tv and then let it sit the rest of the day, and would only take 48 hrs.

With the guano I can't give sure advice so I would rather not. I have only used peruvian seabird guano, never more than a teaspoon per gallon. Guanos are iffy and really just an NPK booster, and even then NPK is an estimated ball park figure of what the manufacturer THINKS the numbers might be…….

Good luck.
Don't forget to foliar!

Thanks YesMamNoSir,
Little strong indeed hey. Oh well. Cool story about your Mom. Just purchased a 50 pound bag of organic non gmo alfalfa pellets. Guess they will be around for a while. Gonna aerate next time

Is the foliar that beneficial? I've heard about it but never done it.

kkt3 said:

Thanks YesMamNoSir,
Little strong indeed hey. Oh well. Cool story about your Mom. Just purchased a 50 pound bag of organic non gmo alfalfa pellets. Guess they will be around for a while. Gonna aerate next time

Is the foliar that beneficial? I've heard about it but never done it.

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Intense growth from foliar