Tea Article

[MrSmokeyMacPot]

Hey MicrobeMan, (or anyone else) when brewing huge batches of tea...say 500 gallons, how much air is required (pump capacity) to aerate that much tea? And furthermore, would watering with just tea be overkill? I am asking because I have a buddy who is brewing 500 gallon batches of tea, watering 50 plants with straight tea, and he only aerates with one pump split into 8 air stones... Any thoughts?

 

[mexcurandero420]

Also something to note about beet sugars is that much of the sugar beets are GMO. As far as I know sugar cane is still good. (who knows how long till they are too)

Not in the EU, stuff i use is made in Austria.

Keep on growing

 

[Microbeman]

Hey MicrobeMan, (or anyone else) when brewing huge batches of tea...say 500 gallons, how much air is required (pump capacity) to aerate that much tea? And furthermore, would watering with just tea be overkill? I am asking because I have a buddy who is brewing 500 gallon batches of tea, watering 50 plants with straight tea, and he only aerates with one pump split into 8 air stones... Any thoughts?

Mr Smokey; You will find most questions already answered on this guy's webpage.

http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer

You need a minimum 0.05 CFM (cubic feet per minute), open flow of air and an optimum 0.08 CFM per gallon (US) or higher to make aerated compost tea (ACT). ACT should have the DO2 sustained at or above 6 PPM. Generally, aquarium pumps produce around 0.02 to 0.16 CFM.

http://www.microbeorganics.com/#More_on_Compost_Tea_2013_

Frequency of Use;

You can use ACT as much as you wish. We often used it almost every watering. Just don’t waterlog your soil.

A friend of mine who used actual living microbial soil (ALMS) as opposed to truly living soil (TLO)…hehe, um used ACT for 7 years to beat back an erwinia infection caused by using chemicals in his one acre garden. The infection was gone in the first year but he liked the increased quality so much that he built a 5000 gallon ACT maker (venturi) and used it through his irrigation system. In the 8th and 9th years he only used it once as the microbial population was so well established and his soil had matured to the point where it was no longer necessary

Dilution;

This is another question I get all the time. How much should I dilute my ACT?
Now this is a difficult question to answer. I believe that SFI has stated that 20 gallons can be diluted to do one acre. In my opinion, this is stretching it but is within the realm of possibilities.

When diluting ACT it is not the same as diluting fish hydrolysate or molasses or (saints forbid) a liquid fertilizer. The water is not ‘weakening’ a solution so much as acting as a carrier for the microbes which you have multiplied. Logically though, if you do not have a ‘tea’ very dense with microorganisms, adding it to water will make it even less dense. So your 5 gallon ACT diluted down enough to cover the quarter acre is still going to get the microbes out there but in much lower numbers.

When we use ACT on our farm our usual practice is to apply it non-diluted, followed by irrigation water if necessary. When we were on the larger farm, we used a 1200 gallon multi-airlift brewer and pumped it straight into the irrigation system, then followed by water. We found that this was enough to do our greenhouse (20 x 64) and a quarter (approx. 750 sq. ft) of our outside beds. A total of just over 2,000 sq. ft. One acre is over 40,000 square feet.

For curiosity (on our little farm where we are now) we diluted 12 gallons of ‘tea’ into 40 gallons of water prior to use, this past season. I looked at it under the microscope before and after and although the microbes survived, they were indeed much more widely dispersed.

I guess the moral of the story is that you can dilute your ACT if you so wish but I think it is better applied non-diluted, followed by water ‘only if necessary’.

 

[MileHighGuy]

I guess the moral of the story is that you can dilute your ACT if you so wish but I think it is better applied non-diluted, followed by water ‘only if necessary’.

Thanks!

 

[MrSmokeyMacPot]

You need a minimum 0.05 CFM (cubic feet per minute), open flow of air and an optimum 0.08 CFM per gallon (US) or higher to make aerated compost tea (ACT). ACT should have the DO2 sustained at or above 6 PPM. Generally, aquarium pumps produce around 0.02 to 0.16 CFM.

is this true regardless of the amount of ACT being aerated?
... i questioned whether my buddy's 500gal batch was being properly aerated or not.... I believe he uses an Eco Airpump not much bigger than the Eco5 I use for my 50gal batch

 

[bugman52]

can I use hygrozyme in my EWC tea to jump start

 

[xmobotx]

i dont see any reason not to use hygrozyme separately

people tend to want to complicate the brew process & it is a 'simpler=better' process

the best recipe is water, compost, molasses, air

 

[BugJar]

I would imagine enzymes would be nothing but beneficial in a tea considering they are there naturally

enzymes are already a constituent of compost tea.

there are many approaches to compost tea. my personal approach is the more diversity the better.

Just one man's opinion though so take it all with a grain of salt

 

[xmobotx]

i agree; could be a good one to scope a couple batches and compare

 

[Microbeman]

Adding more stuff does not necessarily = more dversity.

e.g. I wish to ensure protozoa in my ACT so for 2 days ahead I follow a popular technique of 'brewing' a protozoa soup with some hay bubbled in water. I add this to my ACT (without having a scope). What I may not know is that my protozoa soup consists of a gazillion ciliates which eat everything in sight in my ACT and when finished I proudly apply a ciliate soup to my soil/plants.

 

[BugJar]

Adding more stuff does not necessarily = more dversity.

you are right but It doesn't necessarily mean less diversity.

It is pretty hard to be certain of what is in your compost. based on that when you are adding enzymes we can assume they are there when applied, or at the very least had some sort of catalyzing effect.

If I was to do this I might add half at the beginning and half at the end.

 

[bugman52]

thanks for the feed back

 

[Weird]

new tea article

what i found interesting is the refernce on the first page, basically a mantra I have been living by as I converted my chem soil from many chem soil grows to living soil in and around ym home

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/aerated-compost-tea-zebz1307zsie.aspx#axzz2aezrjoEX

this is the book they reference on the page for those who do not wish to click through

---------------------------------

http://www.motherearthnews.com/shopping/detail.aspx?itemnumber=6587
EARTH REPAIR



Millions of acres of land have been contaminated by pesticides, improperly handled chemicals, dirty energy projects, toxic waste, and other pollutants in the United States and Canada. This toxic legacy impacts the environment, our health, our watersheds, and land that could otherwise be used to grow healthy local food and medicines. Conventional cleanup techniques employed by government and industry are tremendously expensive and resource-intensive and can cause further damage. More and more communities find themselves increasingly unable to rely on those companies and governments who created the problems to step in and provide solutions.

Earth Repair describes a host of powerful grassroots bioremediation techniques, including:

• Microbial remediation - using microorganisms to break down and bind contaminants
• Phytoremediation - using plants to extract, bind and transform toxins
• Mycoremediation - using fungi to clean up contaminated soil and water

Packed with valuable, firsthand information from visionaries in the field, Earth Repair empowers communities and individuals to take action and heal contaminated and damaged land. Encompassing everything from remediating and regenerating abandoned city lots for urban farmers and gardeners, to recovering from environmental disasters and industrial catastrophes such as oil spills and nuclear fallout, this fertile toolbox is essential reading for anyone who wishes to transform environmental despair into constructive action.

 

[Microbeman]

On the compost tea article:

Unfortunately this contains a lot of misinformation.
Nematodes not usual in ACT
Humic acid suppresses microbial division in ACT
A mesh bag is not the best way to extract microbes.

For optimal extraction, it is also important that you put your inoculant in the bag and not just directly in the water

Why do know nothings keep on insisting on writing stuff to make themselves look in the groove or whatever it is?

 

[Weird]

wish i had read it more thoroughly, the book about bio remediation is what really caught my eye

 

[DARC MIND]

mycelium running has some really neat chapters on bio remediation

 

[murdergrow]

hello! been lurking icmag for a while, and decided to pull the plug and join the forums. im an active member of some other boards but this is my first post here. love this thread btw thanks for such an informative conversation. im only 40 pages into this thread too so forgive me if this has already been discussed.

any thoughts or experience using sucanat in teas instead of molasses? ive heard of people getting good results from using this product the last couple weeks of flower instead of molasses but wanted to see people's thoughts on using in teas. thanks in advance and thanks for having me!

 

[Granger2]

Some swear by Sucanat. I use it, along with MO, Extra Dark Barley Malt pwd, and occasionally, Blue Agave and Coconut Palm Sugar. Can't go wrong with Sucanat. But my main standby is MO. Good luck. -granger

 

[Microbeman]

I've not seen any data concerning the use of sucanat (raw cane sugar) but if one was unable to obtain molasses it may be a good alternative. I'm assuming that you are speaking of making compost tea. Whatever you use as foodstock in your tea is not intended to have direct results on your plants but to grow out microorganisms. I cannot see the correlation with the last two weeks of flower in reference to molasses or sucanat unless someone has observed that it somehow alters the microbial population.

 

[mexcurandero420]

Sucanat is pure dried sugar cane juice, comparable what they call in Colombia Panela, but then grinded.

[YOUTUBEIF]1K6XKadWWq8[/YOUTUBEIF]

Raw cane sugar is more refined.

Keep on growing