Is compost tea with bat guano fast acting?

[Mate Dave]

From my personal gardening using Cuban bat guano. Cheap seabird/chicken waste, wormcastings and Rabbit poo..

I found that rabbits can consume the males quick enough to give you a instant fertilizer that is almost instantaniously redily available... It's not like hydrolized fish proteins but it's bioavalability is quick..

Guano's I find are suited to late maturing crops.

Anything that is missing in the cycle I have always had better results charging the levels of the growmedia with a balanced fast acting 7-7-7 or 30-30-30 and that usually sorts it out right away..

A bit of this and a bit of that tend to cause problems later on and then your chasing optimal..

 

[KIS]

Do we really want to be brewing something that contains potentially deadly fungus? In general, brewing manure based composts that have not been treated by thermophilic composting shouldn't be used in teas in my opinion. E. coli, salmonella, etc....not worth the risk.

 

[ThaiBliss]

So, now its been more than a week since I watered with the tea. Plant seems fine, hard to say if the bat guano is fast acting.

I believe it is very fast acting. If you watch plants grow like I do, you can see them respond in hours. This is the best way to fertilize. What you are doing is growing micro organisms that will feed the plants when they consume material in the soil. The micro organism excrement and worm excrement are the real fertilizers. Most of the guano in the tea is feeding the organisms. Next year throw down some rock phosphate before the top dressing. Cannabis LOVES phosphorus. People say rock phosphorus is very slow acting. Not when the layer between the compost and the mineral soil is cooking from this system.

You are aerating the tea for a couple of days, yes? You are applying the tea in the very early morning or evening, correct? Sunlight will kill the micro organisms. Plenty of compost in, better yet on, the soil, yes? Also be sure to throw in a handful of local natural compost from under the leaf litter of a local tree into your tea to seed with local micro organisms and mycelium. Maple trees for example. Do not use oak or walnut.

I have never seen plants respond faster or grow bigger on any other type of fertilizer. I used to grow 16 foot plants at 42° north. No tilling. I just applied a layer of compost as a top dressing every spring and watered regularly with compost tea. Easy peasy. I laugh at the days I used to till, or use containers. So much work and much worse results. When I dug out the Cannabis stump at the end of the season, there was a thick layer of pure while mycelliium between the soil and the top dressed compost. The top dressing was 2 feet deep in the spring. It was 2 inches deep in the fall. Those micro organsims and worms are voracious.

The plant below is 16 feet tall from the base of the plant. The branches spilled downslope. 20 plus feet from the lowest branches to the top of the plant. The plant ate the puny 6 foot diameter cage I built around it to support the limbs. Next years I used horizontal trelising.

The soil this grew on was terrible. I was hardpan and too acidic. Scrub oak was the only thing that grew there until I basically made the whole thing a compost pile. I used to drive around yuppie town and collect leaves and grass clippings in the fall. That was the part that took work.

 

[Mate Dave]

PICTURES AINT SHIT BUT PH0T0'5 & TRICKS. Grab hold'a'm Nut's and SMD

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I just gave a couple of my plants 1/4 cup 0-7-0 guano on Thursday and then another 1/4 cup on Saturday. The purpling should stop processing soon. Here's a link in case your curious.

𝗔𝗿𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗲𝘀

Do a "pour thru" on watering day catch a little discharge, and test the run-off and see what the EC is. It looks like your plants a fading from low EC. This late in flowering day 45 you may be better off not adding any fertilizers and ride it to the end. You have some very pretty flowers already...

www.icmag.com

 

[ThaiBliss]

SMD

Wow, really?! It's not my fault you're lost. Having a bad week?

30-30-30 and that usually sorts it out right away..

Look where you are:

Cannabis Growing > Cannabis Growing > Organic Soil

This is why everyone should grow your own. You just can't trust what people are willing to put on their stash.

 

[Mate Dave]

It's organic.. That's all i'm saying.. if it passes cannabis testing I dunno test it... But as far as organic production of edible crops.. It's the way it's done... Ie for growing Seed.

 

[acespicoli]

• Pocket EC Meter: portable and small, this meter shows the results on a digital screen. Ideal for indoor and outdoor grows, in soil, coco coir etc.

The Right EC in Soil and Coco​

• Growth: during the first weeks it should be between 0.800 – 0.900 mS, and you’ll have to increase it to 1.100 – 1.200 mS as the growth period goes on.
• Bloom: start off with 1.200 – 1.300 mS, increasing it weekly until 1.900 – 2.000 mS. During the last coupe of weeks or 10 days you’ll need to use just water with a 0.000 – 0.400 mS EC to flush the plant.

target ph 6.5

Soil pH
Soil fertility
Soil moisture

Cation-exchange capacity - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Seems complicated but its as simple as get the meter and start measuring

Deficiency Pathology - Diagnose Sick Plants, Follow up with Cure

*************************************************************************************************************************** Added Index 02.05.2025 Nutrients *************************************************************************************************************************** Cannabis...

www.icmag.com

Its hard to manage what you cant measure
Hope I didnt jump to far out there with all this info
Interested to see your guano recipes and results, found some guano ready to use concentrates that were interesting.

 

[acespicoli]

Hi,

I am making some tea with worm castings, high phosphorus bat guano, liquid seaweed and molasses.

The plant is in flower and showing signs that it needs some P.

Will the finished tea be fast acting, or do I need to add some bottled bloom ferts?

Thank´s in advance

When applied to soil, the plants rely on soil microbes to break down those nutrients to a simple form that the plants can eventually absorb.
This digestion process usually takes anywhere from weeks to months to take place in soil,
which can make growing organically quite a challenge as it takes a long time for farmers to see results from these organic inputs.

Effect of compost/water ratio on some main parameter of compost solutions​

Published:
2021-06-01

https://ojs.lib.unideb.hu/actaagrar/article/view/8500

Abstract​

Composting is an efficient technology for the utilisation of by-products and waste. It is also suitable for treating raw materials to convert fertilisers that are not recommended for application without pre-processing. Such is the case with poultry manure, which is very important to pre-treat due to its hazardous properties. An increasingly common form of compost is compost tea, which is made by soaking compost in water. In our experiment, we made compost tea from a composted and granulated poultry manure product. Three mixing ratios were used (1/5, 1/10, 1/10) and compost teas were set for three different extraction times (24–48–72 hours). After elimination of the experiment, the pH, EC, and nitrate and ammonium contents of the samples were measured. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between each mixing ratio and different extraction times. Based on our results, it can be said that the fluctuation of pH values during the experiment was low. Regardless of the mixing ratio and extraction time, the samples were in the slightly acidic range. The electrical conductivity, nitrate and ammonium content follow a similar trend, the values decrease significantly with the increase of the mixing ratio. Similar tendency was observed at the incubation time. The concentrations of both EC and nitrogen forms increase with increasing incubation time, in most cases significantly.


Im looking forward to hearing more about your grow success
Also what kinda results your getting with your variables, gro media type brew times and extraction rates
Good luck on your grows
Best vibes >>>

I have tried the fish emulsion and kelp teas EWC but thats the extent of my expertise on that mostly just add water like > AceS Organic Potting Mix's
Glad you started this thread, I know some advanced organic growers keep a constant bio tea 55 gallon tank and it will be interesting to hear their experiences

Perpetual 55 gallon compost tea ... caution on foam overflow...or failure of a air pump
Hear its quite stinky, if you ever tried the fish emulsion powder ..

We look at the ingredients there then your adding molasses in your recipe
That will raise the plants sap/flowers brix levels also the plant wont hae to make its own sugars
feeding microbes etc, atleat this product above is showing inputs and a NPK result
0-0.7-0
NPK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_of_fertilizer

Fertigation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The tea liquid concentrate , never tried it but it looks good
It is more cost effective to make your own id think
Thanks to @LHC may get back into this was considering a tank a few months back
BIO film filter sand filter combo on a SIP

Theres a old organic hydro book I had found and it was really great just need to look for it again
That gets you your constant feed/optimal growth

Maybe the rapid test would give a ballpark NPK for homemade tea
Then your would know,
Fast-release fertilizers are typically made with water-soluble nutrients, such as ammonium nitrate, urea, and potassium nitrate.

 

[acespicoli]

All is fine @acespicoli
But, I still don´t know if guano in tea are fast acting

Variables come into guano fresh or ancient, how long are we brewing the tea (lets not forget the ammonification cycle)
The ammonification of guano releases ammonia into the atmosphere and the soil.
There are several raw organic certified mined minerals that give NPK these are available in micronized ground powders

Effect_of_compostwater_ratio_on_some_main_paramete.pdf

drive.google.com

If your plants recover in a couple days from a deficiency, id say it was fast acting, YES

Frontiers | Cannabis Hunger Games: nutrient stress induction in flowering stage – impact of organic and mineral fertilizer levels on biomass, cannabidiol (CBD) yield and nutrient use efficiency

Indoor medicinal cannabis cultivation systems enable year-round cultivation and better control of growing factors, however, such systems are energy and resou...

www.frontiersin.org

If your not experiencing excess or deficiency, symptoms in your leaf


Glad your doing organics, how's the smoke ?
What strain are you growing

 

[acespicoli]

There are different types of N ... another post
Upon a closer look this product High N guano with a N value of 7 the water soluble is N 1.8%
What does that mean ? What is 1.8% by weight ? lets say 1 gram

How many mg of elemental N are in 1 gram of guano
1.8% of (1000 milligrams) = 18 milligrams

Looking back at the last post (hunger games) how many mg/ liter of tea are we feeding ?
240/18=13.333* so were going to mix 13-14 grams of guano per liter of feed tea if we want N of 240 ?
Run this extraction for 72 hours

I think you'd have a low ammonia high N fast acting feed of appropriate strength
Would not try this on anything but mature plants
Of course the recommendation for younger plants
seedlings EWC earth worm castings in mix

Guano and compost teas
early veg is 1/4 strength up too 100% as mature

2lb Makes 64 liters
Anyone check this for errors ? Of course theres errors...

The hunger games files are using 240 of a high PK mix with low N
We really need a label to make a good feed and nutrient deficiency correction
Bright side is organic growing is usually very forgiving and plants have a way of making due with what they have

Liebig's law of the minimum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"The availability of the most abundant nutrient in the soil is only as good as the availability of the least abundant nutrient in the soil."
@LHC can you tell us what guano label your using with you NPK values and how much is soluble ?
We could put together a complete feeding start to finish, we need to know the substrate media soil, fertilizers NPK veg time, flower time...

The mix is
3 gal water
1 cup worm casting
2 tbsp bat guano
2 tbsp molasses
1/2 tbsp seaweed

That should be a weak mix I think. Still think I should dilute?

The soluble part is fast acting - is it enough ? Depends we need some more data,
Organic gardening in general is a laid back hobby enjoy!
Very easy to just mix steep feed and see the results, and go from there. I see your recipe and it looks fantastically organic and complete

 

[LHC]

Thank´s for all the good information to all of you
A big thank tou to @acespicoli for the extensive information you have written. It will take som time for me to go through it.
The grow this time is Panama x Bangi Haze and Hashplant Haze x Kali China. Both from Ace seeds.
Soil mix is:
Biobizz Lightmix 80%
Self made worm compost 10%
A handful Bat Guano
10% extra perlite.
Fertilizers are Biobizz Grow and Bloom.

 

[Mitsuharu]

I rarely use it as tea but am using Guanokalong(NPK 1-10-1) powder/pellets for many years in my soil, the powder is perfect for mixing soil and good for veg/rooting and flowering-phase. Very smelly tasty buds. Works good with every bio soil i tried, lately with tomatoe-vegetable soil for a couple of years. Now i'm recycling my soil for 2 - 3 years and adding Worm Humus for the first time in my actual grow + the guano i always used...

 

[LHC]

@Mitsuharu
I have a box of Guanokalong. How much do you mix in the soil?

 

[Mitsuharu]

@LHC
I must say i'm never measuring... I mix maybe 2 tea-spoons full of powder with ~ 5L soil for veg-phase and i think 5 tea-spoons full for 5L soil when flowering. I always repot before flower so if i had fresh tomatoe soil for example i never had to fertilize till harvest, only water.

 

[joepotsmoker]

I got a good question for you. For anyone really, I kinda am looking for information.
So like here we go, don't be mad at me.
Why even brew a tea when I can get everything I need with a bag of nutes (well multiple bags) I've found that trying to brew tea on a large scale can be very time consuming, I can add bat guanno if I want but I find that it's just very dirty and some will attract animals like the Alaskan fish shit or whatever, like if I want a living soil I can just add microbes and boom, living soil... so like.
I guess my question really is,
Why should I waste my time brewing a tea? What's the benefit? I've done both on larger scales and always switch back to the nutes.... advice?

 

[joepotsmoker]

I start with a water at 70ppm 6.8 ph and a soil/medium mixture that consists of old broken down horse manuer like 10 plus years, with some sand, prolly a 55 gal bag of perlite and a half of bag of verm, some azos for transplanting and some of that real black composted dirt from like well say pine island black dirt, old bags are recycled each time and remixed separate. Thats my starting point. After that they getting a 14 10 8 for veg and a 9 12 14 for mid bloom with like molasses and some Epson salts and worm shit and some bat guanno and some microbes kinda to top them off if they died, then like a 0 15 30 at the end (with lots of sugar and some Epson salts) final ppm is under 10000 and ph is always like 6.8 ish I always make sure it's good and I mix well.
I end up with something very nice at the end of the year, I don't have problems persay this is more of an information thing, idk.

 

[joepotsmoker]

Like is this tk make the medium a more viable solution like, I feed everyweek.
You guys say your feeding like never.
How do you stack your soil so well as to just water throughout the whole season?
Are you checking your soil like I check my water? I kinda neglect my soil throughout rhe season it's just like feed, wash out for a week, feed again wash, etc, I flush for a week so salts won't build up basically, I don't Wana get locked, so like I guess I'm still fighting my medium, what would be the best direction for my next dirt project? What's a good starting point?

 

[acespicoli]

I got a good question for you. For anyone really, I kinda am looking for information.
So like here we go, don't be mad at me.
Why even brew a tea when I can get everything I need with a bag of nutes (well multiple bags) I've found that trying to brew tea on a large scale can be very time consuming, I can add bat guanno if I want but I find that it's just very dirty and some will attract animals like the Alaskan fish shit or whatever, like if I want a living soil I can just add microbes and boom, living soil... so like.
I guess my question really is,
Why should I waste my time brewing a tea? What's the benefit? I've done both on larger scales and always switch back to the nutes.... advice?

Depends, on your system.
Top water, Bottom water?
How easy is it to get soilds to mix in a potted plant? The other concern is feeding the soil microbes like molasses and brown sugar etc.. There's a cliff with a valley near a creek it's always moist and catches the tea runoff of the surrounding hills, it's the deepest black most alive place to find worms for fishing or dirt for planting... if your getting god mileage out of your system no need to change anything. IMO Plants use dissolved nutrients, ions from solution. This is achieved in simple watering tea is a booster!

Great idea for a strong finish

 

[joepotsmoker]

So it's a top water say, 50 gal felt bag. In the beginning I can do what I want with the soil, as i transplant or before, as time goes on, you can't get into the soil, like even sticking steaks in sucks, u can hear the roots ripping, but o well. I'm using black strap molasses only for sugar, I've recycled say 10 pots for 5 years now and I just have to remove the roots every year, the microbes(and worms I throw in) help alot. I have the pots lifted off the ground like 8 inches for aeration as well, previous I use little mesh pots and water from the bottom 0.25 gal nursery bags I don't remove these, they get planted with the baby, the nursery bag right in the pot.