http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3153
cheaper? ooops! Not! I was looking at the shipping price; duh.
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10 min $10 DIY aerated compost tea ACT brewer
- Thread starter heady blunts
- Start date
http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?item=3153
cheaper? ooops! Not! I was looking at the shipping price; duh.
S
Stankie
3.5 gallons I added
1 tbsp of finely ground kelp meal
3 tbsp of finely ground alfalfa meal
1 tbsp azomite
1 tbsp glacial dust
1/2 cup EWC
1 cup of compost
1 cup of composted leaf litter
I was spraying some mulch I put down, mainly.
OK, what are the important things we need to keep in mind when designing a brewer? I've love to hear more. I have read your section on making your own brewer on your page, well done. That definitely has been an inspiration.....scrappy
I thought it looked richer than I usually make it. In 3.5 gallons I use 1.33 cups of compost (includes EWC and all forms of compost). Also I reminded myself recently that kelp meal must be used sparingly. I used a weeny pinch of regular feed grade in a compost test in a petri dish and it inhibited all bacterial growth; only fungi was growing. It seems you are using a good amount but be aware. You should use less alfalfa meal. If I were you, I'd start out cautiously with ingredients, keeping it simple. Black strap molasses is a great ingredient/food.
My page pretty much says it all. I can't think of anything to add here.
V
vonforne
mad professor
New member
Good to hear your a couple steps ahead of me MM, i've been kicking around the idea of trying to get an airdump into a smaller brewer (10-25G) for a couple weeks without much headway. I'm working on locating a cheap cone bucket before I start work on the air dump, keep me updated on how this project is going! I'm sure my design will borrow heavily from yours 
.By the way, have you still been experimenting using pyrophylite clay in brews? (feel free to post on my page if its not relevant to this thread)
My newly designed tea brewer
My newly designed tea brewer
If I were to buy make a tea brewer, assuming the design provides enough o2 I would base my choice entirely on the following:
ease of cleaning.
My newly designed tea brewer
If I were to buy make a tea brewer, assuming the design provides enough o2 I would base my choice entirely on the following:
ease of cleaning.
a couple things i've learned about building an air lift:
1. rate of flow needs to be optimized. this means having both enough air and the proper diameter of tubing. more air (bigger pump) = higher flow. smaller diameter tube = more pressure = higher flow (to a point).
2. the position of the air/water interface (at the end of your air tubes) makes a big difference. the more vertical distance the bubbles travel, the more force they carry with them (have you ever held a basket ball under water? it pops back up when released. if you hold it deeper and then release it, it will jump higher out of the water. same principle).
3. dead spots - make sure your design is cycling the oxygenated water through your entire system.
HTH!
By the way, have you still been experimenting using pyrophylite clay in brews? (feel free to post on my page if its not relevant to this thread)
Hi Professor,
Good to hear from you and welcome. I have not been doing much besides sitting in front of the fire and computer. However, spring is imminent and I'm getting my arse into gear. My first home based project is to feed my soil. We planted new grass into a compost soil mix last fall and it is beautiful but the rest of the 'lawn' is not beautiful. We are going to try using my big 95 CFM pump to run two 1000 litre tanks. (It ran my 1200 gallon brewer on the farm) It might be overkill.
My idea with the 15 gallon tanks is to create another affordable brewer for market. (gotta eat).
Hi Von,
It really is way too much for me to write here (so I copied links below) but briefly the important issues are dissolved oxygen, agitation & circulation.
http://www.microbeorganics.com/#Tea_brewer50
http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer
I also attached a paper (for the mathematics fanatics) on air lifts which seems to indicate (because of horrid language) that an air lift can increase the dissolved oxygen by 10 fold over a bubbler column.
What I have done by utilizing the air lift is create a 50 gallon bioreactor. The crux of this is simplifying this as has been done by Heady or designing an efficient diffusion chamber as has been done by me. I have filed a patent on this but kudos to those who can employ something similar for a homemade machine.
i think that there's a lot of home gardeners that would be interested in something like that
V
vonforne
Danke! Wunder schön!
Although most of us have read your work there will be those who follow that would find this thread a great reference source.
V
Von; I wonder if you can incorporate Heady Blunt's design into this one or....? or is it already a sticky? I could not find it.
here it is http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=200274
Also, is there a reason 'Tea Article' is out of the stickies
here it is http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=200274
Also, is there a reason 'Tea Article' is out of the stickies
Last edited:
V
vonforne
I think I can merge the two together and make one thread. I will look into that tomorrow.
The Tea Article is now in the Library in the sticky area above. Jaykush and I thought it needed to be cleaned up. No worries it remains. I made an Announcement to let everyone know where all the stickies went.
Do you really want the two threads merged??
V
Whatever you think. It has a simple to make airlift. Maybe Heady won't mind just moving over certain posts.
did u make the vortex or other design? & care to PM me on the details. If all goes well, i will likely get a new brewer built sometime in april.
