old, rebrewed, innoculated, frothy tea question

[irie-i]

i fed my ladies on wednesday with tea that was about 20% left over tea from the week before. there is now about 20% left from wednesday. its been brewing and bubbling and frothing like a mofo. is it okay to just keep adding water and fertilizers, in appropriate proportions, for next week's tea and so on?


irie

 

[Guest]

irie, mon. If the tea is a simple innoculation tea with only low levels of ferts, my understanding is that you can just keep adding a little molasses and maybe a bit of castings or guanos or whathaveya to keep the microbial population going.

If the tea is an actual fert tea, it might be a little trickier to keep doing that, as you'd have to be careful you don't throw your N-P-K proportions off. Shouldn't be a huge concern, as long as you're not goosing them with tons of N in flower or similar.

 

[vonforne]

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...

irie, awhile ago we were discussing this and this is what Suby had stated. And I like to brew fresh things each time. I always have something going in the buckets. It always has a bad smell after 2 or 3 days. Even if you add more nutes and molasses.

 

[jaykush]

ive used older tea in the past to help fill in the new tea but i found best action is to go give it to some plants outside. ive been giving oild tea to the roses and peach tree, damn what a noticible difference in the roses. 5x more rosebud sites. greener, bushier, smellier. and its always old tea they just love it. id just start some more add the foam to the compost pile.

 

[irie-i]

the tea is one with alfalfa,BG,EWC. theres also the other stuff from my teas like enzymes and humates. i wouldnt want to "waste" the expensive components by pouring them on a plant outside (besides plant outside are dieing becuase its fall)

could i feed the bacteria to make sure they dont feed themselves?

its not really a big deal for me to chuck it and start fresh, it might be time to give the girls plain water this time (although i know many of you feed till the end flush, co i was thinking of trying that) but i figured this was worth trying to learn more about...
thanks bredda's

 

[vonforne]

I have an outside spot where I pour my extra. Makes the flowers bloom like mad.

 

[Guest]

what size air pump are you using? i have one thats good for 30 gallons and i probably bubble a few gallons at a time. i dont get as much foam buildup as id like too...

 

[vonforne]

I have been having good luck with a air hose called a wall of bubbles. It comes in 3 lengths, I am using the 8 inch. I got it at the pet store. I use a 20 gallon pump for a 5 gallon bucket. Massive foam now.

 

[irie-i]

i bought the biggest one the pet store had. its about the size of brick. it has an adjuster

 

[Guest]

my airstone is about 6 inches long... its just one of the sand ones...

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

I let my teas bubble for no longer then a week now. They just make the room nasty and thats a sign to change out the tea. I love milk bottles for convience-just pour out hte liquid and toss inthe recycle.

minds_I

PS: I have been using a small desk lamp shinning on my milk bottle to warm up the solution and it has helped tremendously in the froth production. Which is qa sign of bacterial growth.

 

[irie-i]

sometimes i run a submersible pump to heat the water

i guess the thing to do is to toss the tea. thats gonna be hard, its like a frothy old friend.

its only 20% of the resi, its was my intention to add water

 

[Guest]

I use homemade worm castings for innoculation the tea can work for days with no bad smell airstone is a given. The plants love thw oxygenated water also