A Basic Compost Tea Guide

[simonh]

hopefully there's a Tea Pro lurking about here .....v. soon !

 

[Microbeman]

Just ride it out. It probably won't cause any harm. Read the 'Tea Article' in the stickies and go to the link to learn about compost tea.
http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer

 

[captain.koons]

All I gotta say is this is the coolest thread I've come across I think. I'm on page 22 and I'll definitely read through later.

I'm wondering what can be done to raise more fungi or protozoa's I'm very curious as I'd like to have diversity. Well I know fungi likes 5%+ sugar, protoza's apparently don't like a concentrated tea, and bacteria prefer a .5-1% sugar solution.

Other than amount of sugar and inoculation what else is there?

Also for inoculation what all can be used? I'll list some of the things I've read so far.

Fungi -

Mushroom Compost
Soy Sauce
Yeast?
Soil?

Bacteria -

Aquarium water
Manure/Humus
Rice wash water
coffee
Soil?

Protozoa's -

Worm castings

?????

Nematodes -

Worm Castings


Also I'm wondering if there's any problem using yeast and sugar solutions which could have acetic acid bacteria(vinegar producing bacteria) if exposed to air. If someone grows mushrooms could they use spent substrate without composting? This would mostly just contain agaricus (white button) mycelium for example of course it would primarily contain whatever mycelium the person is growing so it lacks diversity.

 

[dethmetul]

Have a question about airstones when brewing my compost tea..

Necessary? Harmful?

Have read many times that size of air bubbles are very important, and a couple of times I've found writings indicating that having a couple air tubes simply weighted to the bottom would be much better than having airstones on the end of them.

Very interested as to you're guys thoughts as my regular forum I got no answer from the organic heads.

Thanks in advance,

Deth

Edit: Also noticed CC asked a question about amount of Fish Hydrolysate in mL/gallon for compost tea brew that went unanswered. I am also curious about this and was wondering if anyone could answer this now. Take it easy all, peace.

 

[dune]

i took the air stones off and never looked back. pain in the ass for the same effects. save urself the trouble and keep ur air stones for ur cloner.

 

[CT Guy]

Have a question about airstones when brewing my compost tea..

Necessary? Harmful?

Have read many times that size of air bubbles are very important, and a couple of times I've found writings indicating that having a couple air tubes simply weighted to the bottom would be much better than having airstones on the end of them.

Very interested as to you're guys thoughts as my regular forum I got no answer from the organic heads.

Thanks in advance,

Deth

Edit: Also noticed CC asked a question about amount of Fish Hydrolysate in mL/gallon for compost tea brew that went unanswered. I am also curious about this and was wondering if anyone could answer this now. Take it easy all, peace.

Deth,

The issue is getting agitation and aeration throughout the entire bucket. If air is only coming up in 1 or 2 places then you could have dead spots that could go anaerobic in the brewer. We use a coil system that sits on the bottom of our 5 gal. brewers to avoid this problem Air stones can be an issue due to bio-film buildup over time and how hard it is to clean them. MM recommends glass bonded airstones if you do go this route.

Can't give a recommendation on fish hydrolysate because I don't use it in my teas. It's an amazing fungal food though, probably one of the best! MM would be able to give you amounts, though keep in mind it will vary depending on what other ingredients (food sources) you add to the brewer.

 

[dethmetul]

Deth,

The issue is getting agitation and aeration throughout the entire bucket. If air is only coming up in 1 or 2 places then you could have dead spots that could go anaerobic in the brewer. We use a coil system that sits on the bottom of our 5 gal. brewers to avoid this problem Air stones can be an issue due to bio-film buildup over time and how hard it is to clean them. MM recommends glass bonded airstones if you do go this route.

Can't give a recommendation on fish hydrolysate because I don't use it in my teas. It's an amazing fungal food though, probably one of the best! MM would be able to give you amounts, though keep in mind it will vary depending on what other ingredients (food sources) you add to the brewer.

Thank you for the response Tad, I actually just purchased my kelp and Humic Acid off of your website, tried to order the Alaska Humus too but you don't ship that to Canada. Your info is VERY helpful man much appreciated that you're on here.

I find it much less work not to have to deal with the airstones. Your point about aerating the whole bucket is well taken, I have three air tubes spread around the bottom perimeter of my 5 gal bucket.. It creates the impression of a rolling boil as opposed to the small bubbles all hitting the surface using the air stone. I'm pretty sure I'm avoiding dead spots as much as I can aside from getting a proper pump which I will eventually. (currently using 25 gallons worth of aquarium pump (5gal + 20gal) three air tubes for about 2 - 3 gallon brews in a 5 gal bucket)

Thanks again Tad, and on that note Tim if you would be so kind as to answer that question about amounts of hydrolysate would be very appreciated.

Take it easy all.

Edit: Dune thank you for your reply as well didn't notice at first. Peace.

 

[Carl Carlson]

http://www.growingsolutions.com/home/gs2/listitems_13/articles.html

Compost Tea articles

 

[Carl Carlson]

Development and Application of Aerated Compost Teas

by Elaine Ingham, Michael Alms, and Karl Rubenberger

2 page .pdf is attached

source: page 18-20 of - Organic Farming Research Foundation - Information Bulletin No. 7, Winter 2000

 

[dodo5678]

made it through the thread!

made it through the thread!

V-man, CTGuy - i'm new to organics, but diligently in the process of making the switch. thanks for the information in this thread. Everyone else too!!!

i'm trying to wrap my head around teas and was curious if you could help me out.

At what point does a tea become a compost tea or a fertilizer tea? I'd gather from reading this thread it's with the introduction of humus say in the form of EWC, garden compost, or...

if that's the case would the following be considered a CT or Fert tea, maybe both?:

Here are some tried and true recipes for getting started in organic growing....

Veg mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 tsp. Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1 cup of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
To that 5 gallons of tea add:
5 tbs. Liquid Karma
5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses
Use it to water with every 3rd watering.

....
Burn1

basically i'm trying to understand using the right tool for the right job. When and how often should you implement the ACT distribution to your plants? and when just the Fert Tea?


hope this all makes sense. i'm just worried that constantly feeding my plants ACT could cause problems if just making a Fert Tea will do.

thanks for your time,
-dodo

 

[CT Guy]

V-man, CTGuy - i'm new to organics, but diligently in the process of making the switch. thanks for the information in this thread. Everyone else too!!!

i'm trying to wrap my head around teas and was curious if you could help me out.

At what point does a tea become a compost tea or a fertilizer tea? I'd gather from reading this thread it's with the introduction of humus say in the form of EWC, garden compost, or...

if that's the case would the following be considered a CT or Fert tea, maybe both?:



basically i'm trying to understand using the right tool for the right job. When and how often should you implement the ACT distribution to your plants? and when just the Fert Tea?


hope this all makes sense. i'm just worried that constantly feeding my plants ACT could cause problems if just making a Fert Tea will do.

thanks for your time,
-dodo

Couple of points:

1. You don't have to worry about over applying properly made ACT. I'd consider 1X/week to be an aggressive rate, unless you're dealing with severe disease problems.

2. It's just beneficial biology in the tea, with some bound up nutrients in the microbes themselves and I wouldn't consider it as a fert application, though it will help increase the efficiency of your soil in cycling nutrients to the plant.

3. I don't think it's possible to give a standard rate, it's going to vary depending on the quality of your soil. You may not need any fertilizing if it's all in the soil mix. You'll need to experiment a bit with rates to figure out what works best in your micro-climate with your soil mix.

 

[dodo5678]

Thanks for the reply CT Guy!

Couple of points:
1. You don't have to worry about over applying properly made ACT. I'd consider 1X/week to be an aggressive rate, unless you're dealing with severe disease problems.

good to know. so giving more than 2 feedings of ACT a week is probably overkill as the herd is probably thriving and in abundance. by disease, you mean root? or would that include most other diseases to the upper part of the plant as well?

Couple of points:
2. It's just beneficial biology in the tea, with some bound up nutrients in the microbes themselves and I wouldn't consider it as a fert application, though it will help increase the efficiency of your soil in cycling nutrients to the plant.

sounds good. i've been keeping this in my thought process too. i think i'm on the same page with you on this one.

Couple of points:
3. I don't think it's possible to give a standard rate, it's going to vary depending on the quality of your soil. You may not need any fertilizing if it's all in the soil mix. You'll need to experiment a bit with rates to figure out what works best in your micro-climate with your soil mix.

agreed. in this case i started with the following soil mix to germ my seeds in:

Here are some tried and true recipes for getting started in organic growing....

Here are two very good organic soiless mixes...

LC's Mix is great for any stage of growth. You can germ seeds in it, grow mothers in it, root clones in it as well as veg and flower in it.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

Burn1

Things started off pretty well just giving them well water and some EWC tea here and there. little molasses too:


But recently, looks like they got hungry:



i ended up making the following tea based off of the veg tea in the Organics for Beginners thread while taking into consideration the dosages on the guano boxes:

4 tablespoons hi N Guano Sunleaves Mexican Bat Guano (10-2-1)
4 tablespoons hi P Guano Sunleaves Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0.2)
2 tablespoons Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
2 tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses
1/2 Cup Earthworm Castings
20ml Liquid Karma (0.1-0.1-0.5)
2 Gallons of RO water

and feeding it to them... a week has gone by and they don't appear to be getting worse, but not really getting better at the same time.

I'm thinking i should probably give them a little more guano's but thought i'd check if giving them the above ACT recipe was causing my issues.

if i wanted to just make a fert tea with a little extra nutes, do you think this would be sufficient?:

4 tablespoons hi N Guano Sunleaves Mexican Bat Guano (10-2-1)
4 tablespoons hi P Guano Sunleaves Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0.2)
2 tablespoons Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
2 Gallons of RO water

i'm also curious to know if fert only teas should be made with a nylon bag?

do they need air supplemented?

and how long should they steep for?

thanks again and i apologize in advance for the barrage of questions,
-dodo

 

[Microbeman]

Thank you for the response Tad, I actually just purchased my kelp and Humic Acid off of your website, tried to order the Alaska Humus too but you don't ship that to Canada. Your info is VERY helpful man much appreciated that you're on here.

I find it much less work not to have to deal with the airstones. Your point about aerating the whole bucket is well taken, I have three air tubes spread around the bottom perimeter of my 5 gal bucket.. It creates the impression of a rolling boil as opposed to the small bubbles all hitting the surface using the air stone. I'm pretty sure I'm avoiding dead spots as much as I can aside from getting a proper pump which I will eventually. (currently using 25 gallons worth of aquarium pump (5gal + 20gal) three air tubes for about 2 - 3 gallon brews in a 5 gal bucket)

Thanks again Tad, and on that note Tim if you would be so kind as to answer that question about amounts of hydrolysate would be very appreciated.

Take it easy all.

Edit: Dune thank you for your reply as well didn't notice at first. Peace.

http://www.microbeorganics.com/#Compost_Tea_Recipes

 

[dodo5678]

just wanted to say thanks again Tad. next on my reading list was the Tea Article you wrote and i believe it helped me answer most my questions from my reply. also picked up the teaming with microbes book and i'm looking forward to reading that too!

peace,
-dodo

 

[Microbeman]

4 tablespoons hi N Guano Sunleaves Mexican Bat Guano (10-2-1)
4 tablespoons hi P Guano Sunleaves Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0.2)
2 tablespoons Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
2 tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses
1/2 Cup Earthworm Castings
20ml Liquid Karma (0.1-0.1-0.5)
2 Gallons of RO water

and feeding it to them... a week has gone by and they don't appear to be getting worse, but not really getting better at the same time.

I'm thinking i should probably give them a little more guano's but thought i'd check if giving them the above ACT recipe was causing my issues.

Dodo; I just wanna point out that the above is not ACT; it is manure/compost tea; big difference.

 

[dodo5678]

manure/compost tea eh?

manure/compost tea eh?

Dodo; I just wanna point out that the above is not ACT; it is manure/compost tea; big difference.

Microcosmic God, hehe that's awesome.

is that because manure isn't "compost" yet? in other words is it possible the goal of that recipe is like making more (liquid) compost? or sort of the equivalent of taking equal parts of hay, straw, manure and a little bit of previously cured compost to make more compost?

whereas the goal of making compost tea with a bit of cured compost and say a touch of molasses is to encourage the reproduction of the beneficial microbes and fungi that already exist, right?

thanks again for the clarification. your site is also on my to-do list of reading here soon too. just so much good information i've found here.


-dodo

 

[311devon]

Do i have enough aeration?

Do i have enough aeration?

Great Thread everyone, hats off to CT,MM,V-man and Suby for their knowledge and patience. i am currently read up to pg 40.

I am currently running a Dr Budgreengenes style compact SOG. Here's a link for those unfamiliar: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=69713
I switched over to organics about 2mo ago and am having trouble keeping the girls fed with the tiny amount of soil used. Approx 20ozs/cut. i was trying to avoid brewing teas but i now believe this will be the only way i can deliver enough nutes to keep the ladies happy. I have a few ?'s for the resident brewmasters here:

1. I brew approx 1gal at a time using a aquarium pump rated for a 40gal tank split into 4 airstones. Is this enough aeration? The water appears to boiling hard when its running. i have made a couple dozen teas and they all have come out smelling fresh and earthy. No smells of decay of any kind.
2. The girls require a drink every 3-4 days(was every 2 days before going organic), are on different schedules and with the numbers we are dealing with it amounts doing some watering everyday. For this reason i need a one recipe system. Tracking which girl had what tea at last watering is more than i want to do. So my question is: If i'm happy with achieving say 80-90% of what a two recipe system can produce, i.e. an alternating ACT then Nute tea kinda thing, can a combined act/nute tea work? I'm using high N and high P guano's. If so, should the guano's be brewed along with the act or added just before watering?
3. I need a potent,easy to find source for K. Kelp meal is not available in my area and i avoid ordering from the net. Want something available at an everyday kinda store. Any thoughts?
Disregard #3....i found a soure in town for kelp meal!!! whoo hoo!

 

[PointofNoReturn]

I have a Question regarding AACT. My Tea consisting of EWC, Melasse, Kelp Meal and some Humic Acic, had its PH rising to 10. I used vinegar to lower it but i took lots as the PH was that high.

Wont that huge PH Swing kill lots of Beneficals?

Does a good tea need to be constantly monitored?

I dont get much foam on my Teas, could it be cause the EWC isnt right?

Thx in Advance

 

[PointofNoReturn]

I have a Question regarding AACT. My Tea consisting of EWC, Melasse, Kelp Meal and some Humic Acic, had its PH rising to 10. I used vinegar to lower it but i took lots as the PH was that high.

Wont that huge PH Swing kill lots of Beneficals?

Does a good tea need to be constantly monitored?

I dont get much foam on my Teas, could it be cause the EWC isnt right?

Thx in Advance

Anyone ?

 

[Microbeman]

Wont that huge PH Swing kill lots of Beneficals?

no but the vinegar will. foam means nothing.