StoneyShayne
New member
Hey guys, I live in Southern Oregon and currently have 4 plants of grape ape x sensi star (rec) and am growing for my first time. I just have a few questions that I hope appeal to one of the growers on here who have much more knowledge then me.
Fist questions are about aerated compost tea, I have never made it before and am hoping to receive some guidance about the method I plan to use before I do it. Following the guide here I have made a simple 5 gallon bucket brewer. I plan on using kelp meal, blackstrap molasses, humic acid, water soluble mycorrhizae, EM-1, homemade compost (food scraps and sawdust mostly), and worm castings to make the tea. I plan on using it every week both before watering and as a foliar spray, however this is where my first question lies. Is this a solid mix for tea, and if so about what ratios or amounts of the various ingredients should I put in? Additional how much of it should I use when I give it to my little ladies? If it effects the dosage I also have a covercrop mix of barley, buckwheat, and crimson clover growing in the pots with the plants, as well as a layer of straw on top.
The second questions are about my supersoil mix. I started it way too late, but have followed subcools method to the T, with the exception of homemade compost I added to help with microbial life and worms, and it is currently cooking. I am wanting to use it as soon as I can, would it be bad to do it at the 3 week mark? 2 weeks even? Additionally my plants are currently growing in the same base soil and dry amendments (added in way smaller numbers) as the supersoil. They are in 5 gallon pots and are well established, could I transplant these directly into cooked supersoil when they are ready to go to bigger pots? Or should I plant them in the base soil with supersoil underneath? In addition, I will be producing way too much compost tea for my plants alone to use and was considering just dumping the excess into my supersoil while it was cooking, is this a good idea? The way I saw it, it would not only help it breakdown faster, but I could develop a strong living soil before I even transplant into it. Lastly, I was considering mixing the aforementioned cover crop mix into the pile of supersoil that is just cooking openly outside for the same reasons as adding tea to it (microbial life + faster breakdown). Is this a good idea?
Fist questions are about aerated compost tea, I have never made it before and am hoping to receive some guidance about the method I plan to use before I do it. Following the guide here I have made a simple 5 gallon bucket brewer. I plan on using kelp meal, blackstrap molasses, humic acid, water soluble mycorrhizae, EM-1, homemade compost (food scraps and sawdust mostly), and worm castings to make the tea. I plan on using it every week both before watering and as a foliar spray, however this is where my first question lies. Is this a solid mix for tea, and if so about what ratios or amounts of the various ingredients should I put in? Additional how much of it should I use when I give it to my little ladies? If it effects the dosage I also have a covercrop mix of barley, buckwheat, and crimson clover growing in the pots with the plants, as well as a layer of straw on top.
The second questions are about my supersoil mix. I started it way too late, but have followed subcools method to the T, with the exception of homemade compost I added to help with microbial life and worms, and it is currently cooking. I am wanting to use it as soon as I can, would it be bad to do it at the 3 week mark? 2 weeks even? Additionally my plants are currently growing in the same base soil and dry amendments (added in way smaller numbers) as the supersoil. They are in 5 gallon pots and are well established, could I transplant these directly into cooked supersoil when they are ready to go to bigger pots? Or should I plant them in the base soil with supersoil underneath? In addition, I will be producing way too much compost tea for my plants alone to use and was considering just dumping the excess into my supersoil while it was cooking, is this a good idea? The way I saw it, it would not only help it breakdown faster, but I could develop a strong living soil before I even transplant into it. Lastly, I was considering mixing the aforementioned cover crop mix into the pile of supersoil that is just cooking openly outside for the same reasons as adding tea to it (microbial life + faster breakdown). Is this a good idea?
