# manure tea or compost tea?



## kaotik (Jun 11, 2015)

so i had this pile of manure sitting composting for a few years now. was about 80% horse manure, with some hey and other stuff (and crap like metal and rocks i strained out)
now it's pretty nice rich looking stuff, almost more compost-like than manure-like.

my question; i was going to make some manure tea (for my veggies) but i'm curious if this will be more like a compost tea with an expiry on it instead? (horse manure tea is ok to let sit. not like AACT  *correct me if i'm wrong here. that's what i learned years back from mom*)
i'm thinking this likely has microbes that could go bad on me though?

any thoughts? (and how will i know if it was more AACT-like and does go bad?  *i've only made AACT in small batches, and never let it go bad/unused)

pcduck? anyone?
thanks for any input  


embarrassingly still haven't made that worm bin (though i've had a good excuse) i'll be starting on it today


----------



## Rosebud (Jun 11, 2015)

I bet the horse manure is just perfect for either a tea or top dressing the plants. Are you planning on making it and storing it? I don't understand your question, but i am medicated .


----------



## kaotik (Jun 11, 2015)

sorry, my long drawn out question 

basically; i usually toss a few shovels full of horse crap into a garbage can with water.. and i let it sit as i use it throughout the summer (just topping up with more water as i use it).. never went bad or anything.

the horse manure -from what i learned- was fine to let sit, as it's more a food tea than a microbe boost tea.
i just wonder if this time; might be a little more compost like, and go bad on me if it sits.

last few seasons i've been amending the soil.. but i think it needs a boost this year. was kinda lazy


----------



## Rosebud (Jun 11, 2015)

I think when stuff "goes bad" it is usually good for the earth.  Great idea for a boost. When i was a serious rose grower i used a manure and epsom salts and alfalfa meal for a tea. It did go icky after a while but i just threw it on a garden.

Your not lazy Kaotik.


----------



## next (Jun 21, 2015)

Hey Kaotic,

Just my 2 cents,
I think your composted manure would be great for either or.. if your looking for a food tea you should be able to use it the same as you were, if you want to use it to mass produce microbes in an AACT it would work great for that as well.

I believe the difference between something being "good" as apposed to something being "bad" is the difference in the microbes, whether or not they are aerobic, or anaerobic when dealing with tea's / compost. 

In an AACT your supplying mass oxygen so you get all the aerobic bacteria, if you let it sit un-agitated you get the anaerobic ones.


----------



## pcduck (Jun 21, 2015)

Kaotic....I think you may already have a worm bin.
Dig into your pile and check for worms.
You are making a seep tea which just leaches out the nutes. Seep teas feeds the plants, acts feeds the soil. 

I just recently went to an uplift brewer(diy) and what a difference it made compared to just air stones. Really boosted my teas.

A bad ACT tea will kill your plants in a day or so. Takes a few more days to kill outdoor in the soil plants, but it will kill them.

For a boost I would make make an ACT tea then add a little bit of AEM right before use.

The diy uplift brewer I constructed can be made for under $10, excluding the air pump. And has made one heck of a difference.


----------



## pcduck (Jun 21, 2015)

Not sure if that helps you Kaotic as I have been hitting Chucky pretty hard this morning 


http://microbeorganics.com/

https://logicalgardener.org/index.php
A couple of great links from one of your fellow Canadians, Tim Wilson.


----------



## kaotik (Jun 21, 2015)

thanks guys

next, yeah that was the thing, no airration.. why i worried a bit if it was more microbial
..been feeding the veggies (started on a few dill plants to test  ) and nothing's dead yet.. so i'm taking that to mean it's more manure tea  

pc.. you read my mind; i already tried that, and not succeeding to well though.. i guess i could go more indepth and physically go hunting for them sometime though.
i heard if you wet some cardboard, it will attract the worms up to it.. but it's not working yet 

i'll check those links when i got some time, thanks a lot    *gonna haveta check what this uplift brewer is too 

thanks for chiming in


----------



## Rosebud (Jun 21, 2015)

How can it kill plants by going bad?


----------



## pcduck (Jun 21, 2015)

Nothing is simple but the simple answer is. When a tea goes bad most of the time it is because of lack of oxygen. When this happens anaerobes make alcohols that kill plant tissues. The simple answer.There are more complex answers but I have smoked to much Chucky to explain it well. 

:bong:


----------



## Rosebud (Jun 21, 2015)

Thanks Duck.  I can tell when they go anaerobic but dilute them and use them somewhere, be it the ivy or in some cases pot.


----------



## next (Jun 22, 2015)

My old boss used to always say, "the solution to pollution is dilution" 

I never liked the idea, the guy was hired to spray noxious weeds in a protected park. When it came time to clean out the truck, holding tanks, or sprayers, he would just keep spraying with water until the green poison solution was diluted enough it wouldn't hurt the plants. - Atleast thats what he claimed.


----------



## pcduck (Jun 22, 2015)

Rosebud said:


> Thanks Duck.  I can tell when they go anaerobic but dilute them and use them somewhere, be it the ivy or in some cases pot.



A bad tea may also contain microbes that can sicken a plant as well as humans. Not sure if it depends what is in your teas or not or how many microbes it takes to sicken a human. Probably depends on the human.


----------

