Compost/nutrient tea slimey reservoir

[BobChronic6505]

So I'm new to organics and I'm trying to do the nutrient tea thing. I use kelp meal, insect frass, bud and bloom booster in a compost tea bag. Then into a 5 gal bucket with 3 air stones. I usually add some hydroguard and sometimes some hygrozyme. Sometimes I use raw aloe or aloe powder from BAS.

Is this slime from the aloe? The slime coats my air stones and they basically stop bubbling.

Any tips to keep my tea bubbling?

 

[49th]

Teas are a waste of money and time IMO. Just mix good soil and top dress as necessary. People really overcomplicate organic growing.

I can see why people would be interested in them coming from growing with bottled nutes though. Looks like you even threw some of your old bottled stuff up in the mix which is probably fine though depending on what it is exactly...

The biggest pitfall in getting into organics is buying too much stuff. Build A Soil is totally trying to sell people stuff they don't need just like the hydro store tries to. The main difference is that at least Jeremy sometimes says in the videos you don't need to buy all this stuff etc. He often says "you can't buy a good grow' then goes on to try and sell you 20 different products lol. Almost like he's at war with himself wanting to do the right thing but also realizing he runs a business.

Sorry, this isn't a very helpful rant and just my opinion of course. Just some food for thought.

 

[St. Phatty]

As flowering goes on I like to give the Girls some Extra.

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, each from 2 organic sources ... until I ran out of Wood Ash.

Now the plants only get Potassium from the soil, and the chicken manure in the tea.


Starting about 4 weeks in, I started giving them Nutes every other day.

4 plants in 32 gallon pots.

On the non-nute day, I just flush them real thoroughly.

Hose-Water them twice, basically. One of them drains slow so she only gets watered once.


When they get extra nutes, they get hose watered first, then a gallon of dilute Nutes.

Lots of Nitrogen, Mucho de Phosphorus, a little Potassium.

I think they like it.


I think Time Management is a BIG part of growing.

I try to get everything set up so I can take care of business fast.

 

[Great outdoors]

I always prefer to do my soil light on amendments, less is more, and then boost with teas and top dressings what I see the plant needs. Much safer than trying to add all nutrients for the year and easier to custom tailor to each strains needs.
As far as slime, skip the air stones. Just use straight tubing, there is better agitation that way anyways. You are going to get slime, those are called microbes.

 

[BobChronic6505]

I always prefer to do my soil light on amendments, less is more, and then boost with teas and top dressings what I see the plant needs. Much safer than trying to add all nutrients for the year and easier to custom tailor to each strains needs.
As far as slime, skip the air stones. Just use straight tubing, there is better agitation that way anyways. You are going to get slime, those are called microbes.

I worry about the slime because if it covering my air stones to the point they dont bubble anymore, what would they do to my roots?

 

[Great outdoors]

I worry about the slime because if it covering my air stones to the point they dont bubble anymore, what would they do to my roots?

The biology in that slime works hand in hand with the roots. Welcome to the world of organics. You can't be scared of slimy stinky things, they are your friend. Just don't use anything that's smell gives you a gag reflex.

 

[BobChronic6505]

Ok cool thanks man

 

[KIS]

It would be good to identify what is causing the slime. I doubt it's bacterial biofilm due to how rapidly it's growing. Probably related to the aloe (it's slimy stuff). If you took out the insect frass, then none of your inputs would contain microbes and you could just mix and apply. You could aerate for a short period of time just to raise dissolved oxygen levels right before applying your tea. When applying any nutrient or nutrient tea, it's important to identify the limiting factor of growth and then apply accordingly.

 

[BobChronic6505]

It would be good to identify what is causing the slime. I doubt it's bacterial biofilm due to how rapidly it's growing. Probably related to the aloe (it's slimy stuff). If you took out the insect frass, then none of your inputs would contain microbes and you could just mix and apply. You could aerate for a short period of time just to raise dissolved oxygen levels right before applying your tea. When applying any nutrient or nutrient tea, it's important to identify the limiting factor of growth and then apply accordingly.

Do u think my tea would go anaerobic without the proper amount of bubbles in there?

 

[h.h.]

I worry about the slime because if it covering my air stones to the point they dont bubble anymore, what would they do to my roots?

Air stone don’t work long with tea. They plug up. Nature of the game.

I’d leave out the aloe. Kind of a pointless gimmick IMO.

 

[BobChronic6505]

Air stone don’t work long with tea. They plug up. Nature of the game.

I’d leave out the aloe. Kind of a pointless gimmick IMO.

I'm using aloe for its wetting properties. I have some promix that loves to get hydrophobic pockets, and I think it definitely helps as far as that goes.

Nutritionally, idk for a fact what it does, but I can say the first time I fed with raw aloe water, i saw a good difference next lights on. I saw what I thought were and are Happy praying leaves.

So I use it occasionally to keep the promix wet, and any additional nutrients it provides is icing on the cake

 

[h.h.]

I'm using aloe for its wetting properties. I have some promix that loves to get hydrophobic pockets, and I think it definitely helps as far as that goes.

Nutritionally, idk for a fact what it does, but I can say the first time I fed with raw aloe water, i saw a good difference next lights on. I saw what I thought were and are Happy praying leaves.

So I use it occasionally to keep the promix wet, and any additional nutrients it provides is icing on the cake

It probably makes a good wetting agent. I’ll give it that.

 

[BobChronic6505]

Hey does anyone have any tips on cleaning air stones or getting air stones to work again? I need a fix asap!

 

[St. Phatty]

Hey does anyone have any tips on cleaning air stones or getting air stones to work again? I need a fix asap!

I would boil it.

And maybe hook it up to a super high pressure pump.

Find a friend with an air compressor and "blow it out", put the pressure on the inlet manifold and blow hard. Maybe wear sunglasses cause it might blow shit around.

If that doesn't work, put a label on it that says "Quartz" and sell it on Craigslist to some Yuppie.

 

[BobChronic6505]

I would boil it.

And maybe hook it up to a super high pressure pump.

Find a friend with an air compressor and "blow it out", put the pressure on the inlet manifold and blow hard. Maybe wear sunglasses cause it might blow shit around.

If that doesn't work, put a label on it that says "Quartz" and sell it on Craigslist to some Yuppie.

Originally posted by h.h. View Post
Air stone don’t work long with tea. They plug up. Nature of the game.

Man did he call it.

St Phatty you called it too man because thats exactly what i did, and it worked. A lot of foul shit came out. I also soaked them in soapy peroxide bleach water for 2/3 hours first of course.

 

[BobChronic6505]

It would be good to identify what is causing the slime. I doubt it's bacterial biofilm due to how rapidly it's growing. Probably related to the aloe (it's slimy stuff). If you took out the insect frass, then none of your inputs would contain microbes and you could just mix and apply. You could aerate for a short period of time just to raise dissolved oxygen levels right before applying your tea. When applying any nutrient or nutrient tea, it's important to identify the limiting factor of growth and then apply accordingly.

I believe the slime originated from the combination of the organic shit I was putting in there (insect frass, kelp) and Botanicare Hydroguard, which is bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Botanicare's website says:

"This scientifically isolated bacterium was selected for its superior ability to amplify root mass and vigor, especially in hydroponic gardening, when compared with the more common and well-known bacillus subtilis species. These highly specialized rhizobacteria assist in the breakdown of organic materials and may increase nutrient availability."

I've bubbled up a few more batches of insect frass and kelp tea without the Hydroguard, and no more slime. It makes me wonder if the slime was a product of the bacteria attacking the organic materials? What do you think

 

[kalopatchkid]

Ditch the airstones, you will never get them completely clean and the biofilm will keep coming right back if you are using it for teas. I just aerate with an open ended air line and it agitates the hell out of my 20g rez.