How long are teas good for?

[Formaldehyde]

So I made a few gallons of organic tea a couple of weeks ago. I used maxicrop, molasses and worm castings. My plants are still seedlings currently, so I almost haven't used it yet. I'm wondering if there's any chance the tea might go bad or something. I smelled it yesterday and it was a horrible smell, but then again, it probably smelled really bad when it was freshly brewed, I tried my best not to smell any of it.

So, do teas have some sort of expiration date?

 

[minds_I]

Hello

I have kept teas bubbling for a few weeks with no notice. I just keep adding molasses to feed the microkiddies.

If it has been in a closed container without air its bad.-It went anarobic and that could be bad for your plant. Toss it.

minds_I

 

[BurnOne]

Just make what you'll use within 48 hours. Keep it bubbleing during that period. There's no use trying to keep it any longer than that.
Burn1

 

[Formaldehyde]

So wait: if I want to feed teas to my plants every other watering, EVERY TIME I have to bubble a new tea for 48hs over and over again? This is gonna be a looooong grow.

Anyway, thanks for answering.

 

[vonforne]

I always keep a 5 gallon bucket going at all times. Both for veg and flower. And whats left over goes to my outside girls.

 

[jaykush]

i keep mine bubblin and keep the microbes fed the teas are almost always bubbling. until the tea is gone then i make more. if you stop bubblin and feeding them the tea will go bad.

 

[Guest]

I have teas going for over a week many times. The tea I have going right now is a week old...and I probably won't go through it all for another week. Keep bubbling, and add molasses like another poster mentioned.

Cheers,
SH

 

[Suby]

Alright all you perpetual bubblers I'd like you all to remember this:

Bacteria not only feed on tea elements they feed on themselves and also compete for the limited amount of space and food available.
Now while you tea might not stink the sampling of bacteria it contains is less diverse as a result of longer periods of bubbling.
As the tissues of dead bacteria decompose the elements they make mobile or transform are taken up into the plant but this is provided those species still exist within the tea.

Something to consider...

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

I agree- while you can keep the system going by supplimenting with water and the other ingredients, At some point start from fresh.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I use 1 gallom plastic jugs. After about two weeks, I just empty the contents to my outside garden and toss into the recycle bin.

I restart a new batch 48 hours prior to feeding.

Suby, not to argue withyou- but if you provide food and air and a favorable evironment, the bacteria count will rise and fall with nutrient and environmenttal factor.

I do see your point on bacterial diversity. Which is really a nagging question for me. It is clear that teas are very effective. But, are we introducing the same bacteria as would be found in soils. I presume they would be present in the EWC.

Also, how to suppliment the mycorhyzia(sp) fungi.

minds_I

 

[Suby]

Hey MI, don't worry about arguing with me, It's not like I have Doctorat in Soil Biology or anything, but when I get bored anything is possible...

Once in the soil beneficials will find a balance withing the soil but the environment in a tea is different, a tea accelerates the soil environment as everything available is easily dissolved and in suspension in the water as well as there being no roots or medium to interfere.

If you want the same soil elements then use healthy soil from outside BUT be sure to make a tea with it and do not just add it to your soil, a tea is less likely to harbour pathogens and or pests.
All you need is a sampling and the tea does the rest, the initial amount isn't as imp. as the diversity, choose a sampling close to a healthy shrub or plant.

As for Mych well it is a symbiotic fungus which need roots and presumably root exudase to propagate and further itself, it requires a host to establish itself through the soil unlike tea organisms.