A Basic Compost Tea Guide

[CT Guy]

If you have good aeration and there's no dead spots in your brewer, you don't need to stir it. The bucket should be cleaned after every use and tea can go old. Brew for 24-36 hours and use immediately after shutting off the motor.

We use a 51 liters/min. pump on our 5 gal. system. Microbeman recommends .08 cfm/gal for optimal aeration.

 

[ambr0sia]

Do you stir the tea? How often?

I use a hand-pump with a long extension to pump my tea out of my buckets and into my gallon jugs, so I just use the wand on this to stir things up just before I pump it out.

How often do you clean your buckets and make a new tea? Can tea go old?

Tea can definitely go old - Smell tends to be the best way to "test" the freshness of teas, but I wouldn't let a batch sit around for more than 3 or 4 days - I've noticed that the pH tends to "drift" upwards as it gets older, which I'm sure can cause problems in any medium. Once I'm done with a batch, I drain off the extra, rinse the bucket, give it a quick scrub to keep the buildup down, and start a new batch.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CT Guy

Using a mixture of cottonseed meal, soybean meal, alfalfa meal and linseed meal, (in equal proportions) - what would be the best amount to use of this mixture in a compost tea mixture?

Thanks for any help!

CC

 

[CT Guy]

CC,

Boy, I don't know...the foods we use are actually something we discovered and re-brand. I don't know their exact ratios, I'd have to go back and check on our foods. I can tell you that I've done some testing with alfalfa meal and really like the results. I can also tell you that cottonseed meal and soybean meal are a part of our "food" ingredients.

What size brewer are you looking at? What other food sources are you planning to use? (molasses, kelp, etc...)

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CT Guy

Thanks for answering my original question. My 5-gallon tea recipe consists of fish hydrolysate (sp?), kelp meal and/or seaweed extract, a small amount of molasses (as in 3 tsp. per 5 gallons of water), a combination of both organic compost and EWC - the standard deal.

My 'other question' is the addition of beneficial fungai from www.mycorrhizae.com

Pretty standard stuff - I think?

Thanks!

CC

 

[CT Guy]

CC,

I'm a bit confused....your recipe you just posted looks to be fine. So what was the question about the "meals?" Were you thinking of supplementing your current recipe or changing it somehow?

What's the myco question? I think I already posted this, but from talking to one of their sales reps, he told me that Pirahna was simply one of the blends, repackaged for your industry.

In terms of adding it to the ACT, I wouldn't do it unless you were using it as an application medium instead of straight water. I'm sure you already know that it needs to come in direct contact with the roots and it won't travel through soil. You also only need to make the association once per the life of the plant, multiple applications are a waste of time and money. Though the sales rep did mention that they have some new myco products (this was 6-8 months ago) that you can do as direct soil drenches, though I haven't seen the data on this, they're a pretty good company when it comes to R&D.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CC,

I'm a bit confused....your recipe you just posted looks to be fine. So what was the question about the "meals?" Were you thinking of supplementing your current recipe or changing it somehow?

Correct - based on your web site and reading the ingredients that are used, I noted that the addition of certain seed meals were included and wondered if I should add these to my tea recipe.

What's the myco question? I think I already posted this, but from talking to one of their sales reps, he told me that Pirahna was simply one of the blends, repackaged for your industry.

I 'think' that in reviewing the product from your web site that the addition of mycorrhizae was included - my bad perhaps?

I'm just trying to dial-in my tea recipe. Any help is very much appreciated.

CC

 

[somebody041]

i just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this thread. my knowledge of compost teas has vastly increased due to the contributions of members on this forum.


one question: are compost teas benefits mainly enjoyed in soil mediums? what about soilless, or even coco?

 

[CT Guy]

Correct - based on your web site and reading the ingredients that are used, I noted that the addition of certain seed meals were included and wondered if I should add these to my tea recipe.I 'think' that in reviewing the product from your web site that the addition of mycorrhizae was included - my bad perhaps?

I'm just trying to dial-in my tea recipe. Any help is very much appreciated.

CC

That makes sense to me now, thanks for explaining.

Like I previously mentioned, it's a re-brand that we're doing. If I have my druthers, the myco would be left out as it's not really doing anything beneficial in regards to the tea. The reason we use this food source is because it's diverse (which in theory will feed a higher diversity of organisms), has a shelf life, and is very easy to measure and store.

That being said, I think your recipe is fine. I might consider adding some organic alfalfa meal, but the molasses and kelp should give you an excellent tea. I would use molasses myself if the issues of bottling, measuring, and shipping weren't such a headache.

 

[CT Guy]

i just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this thread. my knowledge of compost teas has vastly increased due to the contributions of members on this forum.


one question: are compost teas benefits mainly enjoyed in soil mediums? what about soilless, or even coco?

Short answer: Yes.

Slightly longer answer: Anytime you're using organics or where biology is doing the nutrient cycling for the plant, then a well-made ACT will have benefit.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

That being said, I think your recipe is fine. I might consider adding some organic alfalfa meal, but the molasses and kelp should give you an excellent tea. I would use molasses myself if the issues of bottling, measuring, and shipping weren't such a headache.

I have some organic alfalfa meal. What amount would you recommend for brewing 5 gallons? I was thinking that 1/4 cup would be a good place to start. Since you've used alfalfa in your teas then I'd want to take your experience and apply it.

This tea is primarily for spraying on fruit orchards in the area. Fungal issues are especially bad this year given the radical swings in the weather pattern (i.e. heat) this season. Most of our tree fruit will have to be composted this year - very, very little marketable production. Most others around here are in the same boat as us.

Hopefully things will be better next year.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

CC

 

[CT Guy]

We typically use a Tablespoon, but you could probably use more depending on your ratios of other ingredients. Don't have an exact recommendation without doing more testing though.

 

[jaykush]

when i used to use alfalfa meal 2 tablespoons was a good amount. dont want too much alfalfa, a little bit goes a long way to the micro buddies

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CT Guy & Jaykush

I'll split the difference and go with 1.5 tbsp. then!

Thanks for the info. My only experience with alfalfa in a compost tea brew included some massive amount of foam. Obviously I used way too much.

To say the least.

Thanks again.

CC

 

[jaykush]

funny, ive found the alfalfa to reduce the foam.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Jaykush

I'm sure that's true. I used 1 cup in a mesh bag in 5 gallons of water with the standard amount of compost & EWC and the other ingredients. It looked like a comedy skit on putting too much detergent in a washing machine!

LOL

CC

 

[CT Guy]

CT Guy & Jaykush

I'll split the difference and go with 1.5 tbsp. then!

Thanks for the info. My only experience with alfalfa in a compost tea brew included some massive amount of foam. Obviously I used way too much.

To say the least.

Thanks again.

CC

That's funny, I tried a cup of just alfalfa meal and nothing else, trying to make a protozoa tea, and the thing foamed up so badly that I couldn't keep it running. I tried adding some vegetable oil, but it was so out of control that I ended up tossing the experiment.....go figure!

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CT Guy

RE: Beneficial nematodes

Some of the organic pest control folks sell what they refer to as 'beneficial nematodes' (the specific strains are Steinernema and Heterorhabditis)

Assuming that you're using a high-quality compost and/or EWC, are there sufficient colonies of nematodes in an aerated compost tea? What contribution do they make to the soil food web concept?

I read an article and I was more confused than before.

Thanks!

CC

 

[jaykush]

and the thing foamed up so badly that I couldn't keep it running

i used to have this happen when i had access to fresh yucca for my teas. foam like you wouldnt believe lol. well maybe you can haha.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Packaged Compost Teas

Packaged Compost Teas

At a recent horticulture trade show, a company out of Novato, California called Nature Technologies was showing a packaged 'aerated compost tea' for sale. The company is headed by Dr. Carole Ann Rollins who has authored 2 books on the subject and are co-authored by Dr. Elaine Ingham from the Soil Food Web.

The 'plastic' package (generic term) is made so that it allows the passage of air but the holes are too small to allow the water/liquid to leak out.

They claim that the product has a shelf-life of several months. Here is a page supporting their claims.

Your call.

CC