Douglas.Curtis
Autistic Diplomat in Training
While I understand the number of growers who keep rabbits is low, I wanted to provide a discussion area for various methods of making tea from the wonderful manure rabbits provide. The main discussions I would like to see are processes for making teas and the effect of dietary changes on the nutrient value of the teas. While I have no personal input on dietary changes, many studies I've read show diet has a direct impact on nutrient values of the manure.
I would like to start the discussion by posting the process I use for making what I call 'Liquid Gold.'
It can be made with various nitrogen levels depending on your needs. I'm not going to be making it a business, and everyone should know how to do this. It's shelf stable unless contaminated and lasts a good year when kept at room temp. This process leaves you with an organic nutrient which is chock full of extremely hardy microorganisms, ready to immediately go to town in your root zone. It was created through a lot of research, and a key bit of info deciphered from a story John Kempf tells about potato fields in Idaho.
INGREDIENTS:
Manure
I do my best to avoid using urine soaked manure and I prefer fresh over aged. Ideally you should have 'just' manure but small amounts of plant friendly materials is fine. (Have you come across materials which should be avoided like the plague?)
Water
I use r/o filtered water. You can choose differently, especially if you have a clean source of non-treated local water.
EMR1 Starter
This is an Effective Microorganism culture made from rice wash and super clean, super fresh, rabbit manure and water instead of milk. I figured, why not use the rice wash with manure to fast track the organisms I want?
Brown Sugar
At this point I have no input on quality making any difference. Unsulfured molasses may be a substitute but I personally do not like the smell difference, though I have no idea on the performance difference.
EQUIPMENT:
Bucket w/Lid
I use 5 gallon buckets for now, but essentially you need a food grade container or bucket of some sort. The lid should fit airtight.
Strainer
The crudest strainer I use is small holes drilled in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, set inside a second 5 gallon bucket. I lift the drilled bucket and hang it above the 5 gallon bucket it's sitting in until it drains completely. In the future I would like a press and finer filtration.
Sealable Storage Container
I use 5 gallon buckets, but again any food grade container which can be sealed will work.
Airpump w/airline
I use a 3.5 watt dual output airpump for a 5 gallon bucket. Too much or too little? I have no idea. I do know the end product works, so...
PROCESS
You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up! Oh wait, wrong script. heh Seriously though, this is rather simple so hang on and here we go...
EMR1 Starter Creation
Take a cup of rice (I use non-enriched brown and white rice combined. Yeah, I'm ok with being weird. lol) and put it in a pot. Add a quart of clean water, swish it around and dump this rinse water in a clear container.
Add at least 1 cup of super clean, super fresh rabbit manure and cover with a breathable lid. Let this container sit until a clear separation of layers can be seen and before it begins smelling foul.
Carefully siphon off the middle layer of liquid.
Mix the liquid 50/50 with brown sugar and put in a sealed container. This has a shelf life of about a year when kept at room temp.
Mix Manure, Water and EMR1 Starter
I use approximately 2.5 gallons of manure and fill the bucket to about the 4 gallon mark. This makes a very strong tea which can be diluted as needed.
Add 2 cups of EMR1 Starter and stir well
Set the container where it will maintain the temps you will be using it at, such as your grow space or in your field.
Let it steep for approximately 11 days. (Note: Stirring it twice a day will result in about 100% LESS nitrogen ((6/26/23 Edit: Oops... 100% would mean zero N, so I have to find the studies covering nitrogen losses. I want to say it should have read 40%? )) vs. letting it sit undisturbed, which has worked great as a terpene booster so far.)
Strain out the solids
Seal up the container and keep it somewhere cool (not cold) for 5 days. (All oxygen loving organisms will die)
Add air lines from the pump and pump air through the mixture for 24hrs? Not sure on this one but I did 24hrs and it worked. (All anerobic loving organisms die in the oxygenated environment.)
Bottle for use or use immediately, you'll need to test your own product to determine dilution rates. Enjoy
I hope this information gets spread quickly and efficiently, so the maximum number of growers can benefit from it.
I would like to start the discussion by posting the process I use for making what I call 'Liquid Gold.'
It can be made with various nitrogen levels depending on your needs. I'm not going to be making it a business, and everyone should know how to do this. It's shelf stable unless contaminated and lasts a good year when kept at room temp. This process leaves you with an organic nutrient which is chock full of extremely hardy microorganisms, ready to immediately go to town in your root zone. It was created through a lot of research, and a key bit of info deciphered from a story John Kempf tells about potato fields in Idaho. INGREDIENTS:
Manure
I do my best to avoid using urine soaked manure and I prefer fresh over aged. Ideally you should have 'just' manure but small amounts of plant friendly materials is fine. (Have you come across materials which should be avoided like the plague?)
Water
I use r/o filtered water. You can choose differently, especially if you have a clean source of non-treated local water.
EMR1 Starter
This is an Effective Microorganism culture made from rice wash and super clean, super fresh, rabbit manure and water instead of milk. I figured, why not use the rice wash with manure to fast track the organisms I want?
Brown Sugar
At this point I have no input on quality making any difference. Unsulfured molasses may be a substitute but I personally do not like the smell difference, though I have no idea on the performance difference.
EQUIPMENT:
Bucket w/Lid
I use 5 gallon buckets for now, but essentially you need a food grade container or bucket of some sort. The lid should fit airtight.
Strainer
The crudest strainer I use is small holes drilled in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, set inside a second 5 gallon bucket. I lift the drilled bucket and hang it above the 5 gallon bucket it's sitting in until it drains completely. In the future I would like a press and finer filtration.
Sealable Storage Container
I use 5 gallon buckets, but again any food grade container which can be sealed will work.
Airpump w/airline
I use a 3.5 watt dual output airpump for a 5 gallon bucket. Too much or too little? I have no idea. I do know the end product works, so...
PROCESS
You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up! Oh wait, wrong script. heh Seriously though, this is rather simple so hang on and here we go...
EMR1 Starter Creation
Take a cup of rice (I use non-enriched brown and white rice combined. Yeah, I'm ok with being weird. lol) and put it in a pot. Add a quart of clean water, swish it around and dump this rinse water in a clear container.
Add at least 1 cup of super clean, super fresh rabbit manure and cover with a breathable lid. Let this container sit until a clear separation of layers can be seen and before it begins smelling foul.
Carefully siphon off the middle layer of liquid.
Mix the liquid 50/50 with brown sugar and put in a sealed container. This has a shelf life of about a year when kept at room temp.
Mix Manure, Water and EMR1 Starter
I use approximately 2.5 gallons of manure and fill the bucket to about the 4 gallon mark. This makes a very strong tea which can be diluted as needed.
Add 2 cups of EMR1 Starter and stir well
Set the container where it will maintain the temps you will be using it at, such as your grow space or in your field.
Let it steep for approximately 11 days. (Note: Stirring it twice a day will result in about 100% LESS nitrogen ((6/26/23 Edit: Oops... 100% would mean zero N, so I have to find the studies covering nitrogen losses. I want to say it should have read 40%? )) vs. letting it sit undisturbed, which has worked great as a terpene booster so far.)
Strain out the solids
Seal up the container and keep it somewhere cool (not cold) for 5 days. (All oxygen loving organisms will die)
Add air lines from the pump and pump air through the mixture for 24hrs? Not sure on this one but I did 24hrs and it worked. (All anerobic loving organisms die in the oxygenated environment.)
Bottle for use or use immediately, you'll need to test your own product to determine dilution rates. Enjoy
I hope this information gets spread quickly and efficiently, so the maximum number of growers can benefit from it.
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