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A Basic Compost Tea Guide

C

CT Guy

How many gallons of water should i use when making the tea?

Completely depends on how much final tea you want, but it's much better to make a small batch with a strong motor or two and then add water when it's finished, than to try and make up a large amount all at once. You can never had too much dissolved oxygen!
 
I live in the desert area and have a corner spot for 1 plant. The soil here is generally compact and mostly devoid of organics. I dug a hole 40" diameter by about 30" deep in late Jan. I loosened it up, put in a few additives and roughage (could have done better but ok) and let it sit.

I've since read all the posts in this forum about teas and soil building and microbes, what an eye-opener! I'm about ready to turn the plot again, fluff it up, add some straw, then soil drench with bacterial and fungal microbial tea. I've obtained some ingredients, am i on the right track?

About 4 gallons of brew:

rich rabbit based compost/castings
pure EWC
a humic, fulvic, amino acid, kelp fert blend
N guanos
molasses

any thoughts on what else to add?

what about micorrizhae? is it liquid? into the tea or just the soil? seen incredible root pictures with it's use. sounds like wonderful stuff.

Lime, eggshells, rock phosphate, into the tea or the soil or needed at all?


I've read about the benefits of corn, alfalfa meal, oat water, fish hydrolysates, etc. there's sooo much. My tendencies are to add everything but i don't want to overdo it..or underdo.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated and give me a bit of confidence i've got the right mix on my first brew. cannabal
 
Last edited:

O-dizzle

New member
Great thread guys......


Just wondering how easy these teas are to use. I'm about to start my first grow. I just got Nirvana Indoor Mix and the beans are going under two 150-watters. I would like to try organics and I cannot argue with the results of these teas. Recommend for a first timer? Will I be able to solve problems easily?

Again, love what you guys are doing. I'm going to be in this thread a lot!

O-Dizzle
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
for a begginer stick to just compost/wormcastings + water + small amount of molasses and brew for 24 hours. youll be more than happy with the results.
 

Joey56789

Member
for a begginer stick to just compost/wormcastings + water + small amount of molasses and brew for 24 hours. youll be more than happy with the results.

I did just that, but I used black gold soil instead of an LC mix or something organic (black gold has some slow release ferts in it). Was that a bad thing to do? Should you only use tea with all organic soil? I'm having problems, but I'm not sure if this is the cause.

Infirmary post if you are interested...
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=113693
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
are you saying you used black gold soil that came in a bag or compost from a pile? there is a difference. looking at your seedlings, they are too young to be feeding teas. specially anything with slow release ferts. for now those plants need nothing but water only. they are pretty stretched as well, you might want to bury them up to the first leaves when you transplant and move the lights a bit closer.
 

Joey56789

Member
Black gold from a bag. I read that it was pretty popular until FFOF became all the rage.

The tea was just molasses and EWC. The newbie organic guide says it's safe for seedlings less then a month, every third watering. They are about two weeks from sprouting, and this is their third watering.

They stretched in their first few days because they were under inadequate light, waiting until their new home was ready. They have only gained maybe an inch since then and are no longer stretching. I will bury the taller ones when I transplant them.
 

O-dizzle

New member
Thanks for the reply Jay

I have some worm castings and compost on hand... no molasses yet.
For a simple mix for a beginner would you recommend a 1/2 cup of compost and EWC each, brew with 5 gal and throw a tsp of molasses in towards the end? Also, think I should wait two weeks after the seedlings have popped up before doing this?

Again love the thread!
Dizz
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
o dizzle i would go with something along these lines, being in mind i dont measure things here is a guesstimate.

5 gallons fresh water (no chlorine or let it sit for a day)
handful of compost or half compost half castings
teaspoon maybe two of molasses

bubble well for 24 hours.

yes you dont need to feed them until the cotyledons( little round leaves that come out first) are starting to yellow. then give a castings/compost tea every other watering. and dilute the tea 1:5 and give the seedlings a foliar spray once a week to help build a healthy leaf system. if you love this thread, read the OFC sticky, days and days worth of excellent info, by the end youll be on your way to an organic master.
 
do you think there is a to convert this for hydro use?? i would like to try this and i am running a hydro set up and seems to yeld well for me but im sick of using all these chemicals. thank you for your time guys
 

basscadet

Member
Does the use of mole asses or any type of sugars in the tea attract ants?

I've just gotten rid of ants in the house and from the compost too. Don't want a return of those pesky little shits.:dueling:
 
C

CT Guy

Great thread guys......


Just wondering how easy these teas are to use. I'm about to start my first grow. I just got Nirvana Indoor Mix and the beans are going under two 150-watters. I would like to try organics and I cannot argue with the results of these teas. Recommend for a first timer? Will I be able to solve problems easily?

Again, love what you guys are doing. I'm going to be in this thread a lot!

O-Dizzle

Read the sticky entitled "Tea Article" as I think it may answer a few of your questions. Remember, with organics, simple is often times better.
 
C

CT Guy

Does the use of mole asses or any type of sugars in the tea attract ants?

I've just gotten rid of ants in the house and from the compost too. Don't want a return of those pesky little shits.:dueling:

I think it definitely has the potential to attract any ants in the area, they would love the sugar content if they discover it on your plant.
 
V

vonforne

I did just that, but I used black gold soil instead of an LC mix or something organic (black gold has some slow release ferts in it). Was that a bad thing to do? Should you only use tea with all organic soil? I'm having problems, but I'm not sure if this is the cause.

Infirmary post if you are interested...
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=113693

JK is correct. Check the light distance....place lower in the soil and for seedlings EWC, molasses and plain water.

A good seedling mix is 50% peat and 50% EWC with about 30% of that with perlite.

V
 
V

vonforne

I think it definitely has the potential to attract any ants in the area, they would love the sugar content if they discover it on your plant.


Molasses also repeals some insects but ant eat everything.

V
 

onahah

Member
Here is a basic tea recipe:

Guano Tea and Kelp:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nutrient tea mix-
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
1-cup earthworm castings/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering

Vegetative mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Liquid Karma (optional)
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
@ 1-cup mix/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering.

Flowering nutrient tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses

Dilute as needed. Generally, 2 to 3 cups per 5 gallons of water @ every watering.

Each mix is unique. Use your better judgment on the amounts and the ingredients. Remember, your tea can be as versatile as you wish it to be. Be creative. Your plants will love you for it.

For something like this it says to use only 1-3 cups max! per 5 gallons of water! anyone know what type of ratio to use for just a 5 gallon mix to water a few plants with? i cant have shit tons of water bubbling all day long for weeks until i use it up.

Thanks in Advance.
 
V

vonforne

How much do you want to make or how much do you need. Let me know and I will figure it up for you. Also for what stage of growth are you in. What is the make up of your soil also.

V
 

onahah

Member
Tea

Tea

Hey Dr. Von.

Well, i really just want to use 1 5 gal bucket to water all my gals. Theyre between 3-6 weeks in veg, all have about 6+ nodes on them.

They are in some home made soil.
No time release nutes (unless the following two count)
Bloodmeal
bonemeal
wormcastings
perlite
its like 110 gals of dirt i had made up then added a bag of ffof like 2-3 grows ago. i re-use my dirt and have seen no problems yet.
im thinking that is it off the top of my head.

all of them are begining to yellow out. yellow green leaves with darker veing areas. getting to the bottom they just yellow out more. I could just add nutes. i just re-potted alot of plants into the new soil and I know that bone and blood meal are things that take time to break down in the soil but i am not sure if adding nutes at this point would hurt them. So i was just going to make a tea.

Ive got the worm castings, seaweed, guano, etc.

Thanks in Advance!
 
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