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me too
granger; this is a thread wherein microbeman actually explains why that isnt a good idea
in the short time that an AACT would be 'brewing' it wouldnt make any difference on the availability of minerals in the azomite {there's actually some deliberation about whether the minerals in azomite ever become available but not in here}
compost tea is a micro-life solution not a nutrient solution
Beautiful explanation! When I first came to the organic soil section, it took me awhile to grasp this concept. About 3-4 years ago I fired up one of my first batches of AACT to which I added a multitude of nutrient additives including pelletized chicken shit. Started this hazardous waste brew the day before thanksgiving with the entire extended family coming to my house for the holiday.
We ate around 1PM out on my pool deck and the stench from that batch of tea occasionally wafted over the meal when the wind would shift. Nobody said anything but it made me gag more than once.
I let it sit for another three days until I figured out how to dilute it so it wasn't toxic and I ended up putting it all over my lawn. didn't hurt anything, but it was a nasty, nasty experience and made me go back to square one with AACT and really pay attention to how to do it right.
From the horse's mouth...
"The foodstocks used are strictly to feed or benefit the microorganisms which in turn benefit the plants."
That's what I'm hoping the *Micronized* [soluble] Azomite does. What's good for the herd is good for my plants. The herd will contribute to my plants either thru symbiotic exchange or with their dead carcases.
If you look at the ACT recipes on MM's site, he uses Fish Hydrolysate, Alfalfa, Kelp meal, Soft Rock Phosphate, and of course Molasses. These are all nutrient rich. The herd processes them for the plants.
I have doubts about the availability of any rock powder in the short term, but the best chance of plant benefit in a 3-4 month crop time is to feed them to the herd. Good luck. -granger
"The foodstocks used are strictly to feed or benefit the microorganisms which in turn benefit the plants."
That's what I'm hoping the *Micronized* [soluble] Azomite does. What's good for the herd is good for my plants. The herd will contribute to my plants either thru symbiotic exchange or with their dead carcases.
If you look at the ACT recipes on MM's site, he uses Fish Hydrolysate, Alfalfa, Kelp meal, Soft Rock Phosphate, and of course Molasses. These are all nutrient rich. The herd processes them for the plants.
I have doubts about the availability of any rock powder in the short term, but the best chance of plant benefit in a 3-4 month crop time is to feed them to the herd. Good luck. -granger
Small point. The microorganisms in ACT are not processing the ingredients or foodstocks directly 'for' the plants. They are just using the food to increase their own population. When an ACT is finished all of the foodstock should be used up (or most of it).
I don't know if Azomite feeds microorganisms in a liquid (it may) but it probably does not hurt using small ratios at the beginning of the brew.
I don't know if Azomite feeds microorganisms in a liquid (it may) but it probably does not hurt using small ratios at the beginning of the brew.
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
So i finally built an airlift brewer thanks to MM's design..and very similar to the one OrganicBuds built ubt i doubled the upper return outlet and angled them in order to achieve a vortex effect.
i now have my first 50gal brew underway with Verma-life vermicompost and the vermi-brix molasses. wish me luck....i know folks that use this particular vermicompost blend with great result, but as far as the molasses powder, it was just more economical than liquid and these products happen to come from the same company.... so we will soon see how the work together.
Thank you all for your knowledge and information!
i now have my first 50gal brew underway with Verma-life vermicompost and the vermi-brix molasses. wish me luck....i know folks that use this particular vermicompost blend with great result, but as far as the molasses powder, it was just more economical than liquid and these products happen to come from the same company.... so we will soon see how the work together.
Thank you all for your knowledge and information!
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
UPDATE: my airlift worked great and made a nice vortex, so nice that it swirled all the EWC right to the bottom of my barrel
so.... do I just run a couple of airstones??
OR
make my own bubbler setup with a pvc octagon in the bottom of the barrel?
I really like the idea of using the airlift to break the surface tension of the water for aeration, but I can only run one 80w pump on my deep cell batteries (and do not want to add more batteries).... so its either one method or another.... or modify the airlift to include a bubbler.... that would idea, but have not yet devised a plan for that.
what seems to work best for everyone?
Pictures would help Smokey. However, I think your fine with the EWC on the bottom of the barrel. I like to add the extra air stones because I am anal, and like to make 100% sure everything is being stirred up, but I overkill. Maybe add another inlet on your pvc to ensure you draw liquid from various spots at the bottom of the barrel. If you post a pic maybe I could be of more help.
How did the tea it self look, smell, taste? Opps, don't taste your tea, lol.
How did the tea it self look, smell, taste? Opps, don't taste your tea, lol.
OrganicGrowerMi
Member
can anyone help with measurements of ingredients for ACT
can anyone help with measurements of ingredients for ACT
I just bought a couple new ingredients for my tea. And I'm not sure how much I should add to 5 gallons of tea.I checked out microbemans site, but I'm not to good at percentages. All my ingredients are
Ewc
Alaskan humus
Buffalo compost(new)
Liquid fish
Non sulphured blackstrap molasses
Bat guano ( both high n and high p)
Soft rock phosphate (new)
Kelp meal (new)
I'd really appreciate any help, or a link to a thread with a good recipe...thanks
can anyone help with measurements of ingredients for ACT
I just bought a couple new ingredients for my tea. And I'm not sure how much I should add to 5 gallons of tea.I checked out microbemans site, but I'm not to good at percentages. All my ingredients are
Ewc
Alaskan humus
Buffalo compost(new)
Liquid fish
Non sulphured blackstrap molasses
Bat guano ( both high n and high p)
Soft rock phosphate (new)
Kelp meal (new)
I'd really appreciate any help, or a link to a thread with a good recipe...thanks
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
I forgot to take pics of the airlift yesterday... will snap a few today.. The airlift I built is just like the one you made, OrganicBuds, but with 2 outlets on top instead of one (and the 'downtube' from the air pump was taller)...
The tea was lighter in color than I'm used to seeing and smelled mostly like the powdered molasses I use. However, when we got down to the bottom of the barrel, the tea was darker, and we found about 90% of the EWC settled on the bottom. As we mixed the EWC back into the brew, the mixture took on the scent of "fertile earth".
I soil drenched yesterday, so we will see the results soon. I could only imagine that the brew would be better if the ingredients were sufficiently mixed..
Mr Smokey;
What Organicbuds has done in his latest barrel design is try to copy my 50 gallon microbulator. This is not one of the designs I've posted for people to build, although I'm not opposed to people attempting this for their own use. This is the first lay out (well similar) which I did for my US patent so if someone started to sell them I may sue them.
This model was never meant to creat a vortex, although one can. Your stuff is accumulating too much on the bottom because your returns may not be correctly configured.
The better design for a vortex and no sediment issues is this;
http://microbeorganics.com/Simple design cone airlift.pdf
which Organicbuds structured one or two other brewers after.
We use both models on our farm and each produces similar microbial results. The cone bottom seems a little faster to finish. We do also get some sediment with the 50 gal microbulator so we use light vermicompost (without any sand, etc.) and we give it a stir with a long pole once in a while and prior to dispensing.
What Organicbuds has done in his latest barrel design is try to copy my 50 gallon microbulator. This is not one of the designs I've posted for people to build, although I'm not opposed to people attempting this for their own use. This is the first lay out (well similar) which I did for my US patent so if someone started to sell them I may sue them.
This model was never meant to creat a vortex, although one can. Your stuff is accumulating too much on the bottom because your returns may not be correctly configured.
The better design for a vortex and no sediment issues is this;
http://microbeorganics.com/Simple design cone airlift.pdf
which Organicbuds structured one or two other brewers after.
We use both models on our farm and each produces similar microbial results. The cone bottom seems a little faster to finish. We do also get some sediment with the 50 gal microbulator so we use light vermicompost (without any sand, etc.) and we give it a stir with a long pole once in a while and prior to dispensing.
All you do for percentages is multiply by the volume of water you are using.
From my webpage; http://www.microbeorganics.com/#More_on_Compost_Tea_2013_
"Recipes;
Through a plethora of trial and error brewing with a dissolved oxygen meter at hand we determined that a pretty reliable volume of [vermi]compost to use is 2.38% by volume of water used up to around a 250 gallon brewer.
So if you have 5 gallons you multiply that by 2.38% to get the amount of [vermi]compost to use. Then you can go to; http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm and convert it into any unit of measure which is convenient. In my opinion measuring [vermi]compost by weight is inaccurate because of varying moisture content.
Anyway to proceed we have;
5 x 2.38% = 0.119 of a gallon = 0.476 of a quart = 0.450 of a liter
= 450.5 milliliters [450 rounded] = 1.904 cups [2 cups rounded] - Your choice
Likewise with the use of black strap molasses, a percentage of 0.50% is a good median amount to use.
These two ingredients, perhaps surprisingly, comprise the total of inputs in most of our brews these days. This simple recipe, if using an efficient ACT maker and good quality [vermi]compost results in a microbial population made up of the important three groups. This is the only recipe used to date, in all the videos on my Youtube channel ‘Microbe Organics’
To get these three groups the ACT maker should be run for 36 to 42 hours. The ideal temperature range is 65 to 72 Fahrenheit (18 to 22 Celsius), however a little cooler or warmer is okay. I’ve had pretty equivalent results with ambient temperatures around 100 F (38 C) and as cool as 50 F (10 C)."
Conversion site = very handy http://www.onlineconversion.com/volume.htm
Tea Math for 5 gallons
Tea Math for 5 gallons
Tip. Google Chrome will calculate all the ratios you could ever want right in the google search bar.
Anyways:
5 gallons brewer? How much water is actually in it? 4 gallons?
Personally I would brew with straight EWC and Molasses.
5 Gallons water = 80 Cups of water
Compost at 2.38% = 1.904 Cups of Compost
(Just EWC is awesome but you could combine the Buffalo, EWC, Humus together at just under 2 cups)
Molasses at .50% = .4 Cups of Molasses up to half cup max.
Fish Hydrolysate = .063% = 2.5 teaspoons or about 12 milliliters but you don't want to use just any fish fertilizer you only want hydrolyzed.
Bat Guano - I'm our on this one. Just add it as top dress or maybe when your tea is done brewing..... But then again, I'm not a guano guy.
KELP = 3.2 tablespoons of Kelp Meal for 5 gallons water.
kelp meal - 0.25% max. [Less is more!]
NOTE: This is a maximum amount of kelp and you can experiment using less. This is using regular grade kelp meal for livestock. If you have soluble kelp, I recommend using smaller amounts. As noted earlier kelp meal can initially delay bacterial multiplication and fungal growth in ACT.
SRP = Same as Fish see above. I also don't use this.
soft rock phosphate granules/powder - 0.063% Consider this optional. In the past 2 years I’ve become more aware of the possibility of polonium 210 and lead content in soft rock phosphate which is radioactive. This varies depending on how it was mined and where. If you wish to use this in ACT check all available data. Look for heavy metal testing
We grind up the granules into a powder with a coffee grinder
Tea Math for 5 gallons
Tip. Google Chrome will calculate all the ratios you could ever want right in the google search bar.
Anyways:
5 gallons brewer? How much water is actually in it? 4 gallons?
Personally I would brew with straight EWC and Molasses.
5 Gallons water = 80 Cups of water
Compost at 2.38% = 1.904 Cups of Compost
(Just EWC is awesome but you could combine the Buffalo, EWC, Humus together at just under 2 cups)
Molasses at .50% = .4 Cups of Molasses up to half cup max.
Fish Hydrolysate = .063% = 2.5 teaspoons or about 12 milliliters but you don't want to use just any fish fertilizer you only want hydrolyzed.
Bat Guano - I'm our on this one. Just add it as top dress or maybe when your tea is done brewing..... But then again, I'm not a guano guy.
KELP = 3.2 tablespoons of Kelp Meal for 5 gallons water.
kelp meal - 0.25% max. [Less is more!]
NOTE: This is a maximum amount of kelp and you can experiment using less. This is using regular grade kelp meal for livestock. If you have soluble kelp, I recommend using smaller amounts. As noted earlier kelp meal can initially delay bacterial multiplication and fungal growth in ACT.
SRP = Same as Fish see above. I also don't use this.
soft rock phosphate granules/powder - 0.063% Consider this optional. In the past 2 years I’ve become more aware of the possibility of polonium 210 and lead content in soft rock phosphate which is radioactive. This varies depending on how it was mined and where. If you wish to use this in ACT check all available data. Look for heavy metal testing
We grind up the granules into a powder with a coffee grinder
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
thanks MM... I realized after the fact, that a vortex would best be suited to a conical barrel, or one with an outlet tapped into the bottom, as to better circulate the sediment.
I am now thinking, I go out and build a bubble-blower. (correct me if I'm wrong, but smaller pipe diameter= higher pressure, no? - a 3/4" or 1" diameter pipe as opposed to the 1.25" I used for the airlift?)
OR
I get a solar powered air pump to run an airstone in conjunction with the airlift.
either one of these should help to keep sediment off the bottom of the tank.
Any thoughts?
I am now thinking, I go out and build a bubble-blower. (correct me if I'm wrong, but smaller pipe diameter= higher pressure, no? - a 3/4" or 1" diameter pipe as opposed to the 1.25" I used for the airlift?)
OR
I get a solar powered air pump to run an airstone in conjunction with the airlift.
either one of these should help to keep sediment off the bottom of the tank.
Any thoughts?
Nope. I did discuss this in the DIY thread (I think) You may find it by searching. It is no longer a sticky.
We experimented with 1" & 3/4" and all it did was reduce flow. Hydraulically you are working with volume, not pressure.
V
vonforne
MM I would like your opinion on an item I have recently purchased. It is Barley Malt Syrup. I was thinking of using it in place of the Molasses.
Have you experimented with it before? If so what was your results? Would this be something that could create an additional benefit? As it was created from Barley enzymes which convert carbohydrates to sugars and would it benefit the soil substructure as far as an enzyme input?
LOL That is the most questions I have ask in sometime.
Thanks in advance Uncle M.
Have you experimented with it before? If so what was your results? Would this be something that could create an additional benefit? As it was created from Barley enzymes which convert carbohydrates to sugars and would it benefit the soil substructure as far as an enzyme input?
LOL That is the most questions I have ask in sometime.
Thanks in advance Uncle M.
Hey Von; Sorry but I have no experience with this. It sounds as if it could be good to use on your soil but I've no idea regarding use in ACT.
M
MrSterling
Von, I have it and use it in place of molasses once in a blue moon. Seems to serve exactly the same sugar function. I talked it over with CC and the conclusion was for all intents and purposes the enzymes were broken down into simple sugars by the cooking process.
