Compost Tea Time

[kalikisu]

Tea is the greatest. I have noticed soil improvement and healthier plants. My first grow I did not use compost tea till the very end, This grow I have used it every other watering. So twice a month and like what I see. This is highly recommended.

 

[clonr]

I've been following the instructions on YouTube for the garden. It seems to have made a difference. I'll give it a year anyway. Search Compost Tea 2009 Bob Webster. 9 series vids. I enjoyed it!

 

[Sugarleaf]

This is a fantastic thread. I have learned much about fungal and bacterial compost teas. However, I have one pertinent question: I am an indoor gardener, and I must use GoGnat soil treatment for fungus gnats that continually breed in my soils, and Azamaxx foliage applications against spider mites. First, will the compost teas foment a breeding ground for pests indoors? Second, I understand that microbes will ward off common pests - will they ward off gnats and mites? And if so, will I be trading mites and gnats for maybe tripes and some other such?
My Garage is clean and sterile as I write. While I use Iguana in veg and Connoisseur in flower, the only beneficials I use are Microbial Infusion from Fox Farms.
I know I can use more than the the 4 basic enzymes contained in the Infusion.
What Tea recipe would be safe for indoor use?

 

[Emametootojag]

A random commercial made me think of this - it was for Hefty trash bags, and every single piece of trash they showed being thrown away was something that could have been composted instead. Do you compost?We do, for as long as I remember. We just have a pile by the back garden where Mom buries the kitchen garbage vegetable peels, coffee grounds, etc. every two or three days Id do it if I was living by myself, but since Im not I dont mind letting her do it And dump leaves, grass clippings etc. on it occasionally. We dont really do much gardening, we dont use the compost, but we end up disposing of quite a lot of material that way

 

[Rosenpetals]

I really appreciate the info & want to bump this up in case others are looking for an inexpensive organic feed for their plants. I own 2 worm farms that are housed in my garage& have been brewing tea in a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone & pump using molasses or honey. The worm castings (including eggs, babies & worms) are encased in a mesh paint strainer, put in the bucket over the airstone & left for 24 hours, then put back in the worm farm (yes, they DO survive the process)
The tea is wonderful, has been beneficial for my roses & orange tree which had horrible aphid problems. I pour it over the leaves. I've asked hubbie for one plant to experiment on & use the vermicompost tea on while he uses the fancy expensive stuff, then we will compare.

 

[DrFever]

making teas is rather easy instead of throwing away or placing your scrap left over vegtables into compost bin you can easily get your self a 5 - 10 gallon pail fill it half full of warm water and start throwing in eggshells , letuce carrots m all types potato peels , apples , everything green stir it up and let it ferment stiring it every day also adding little more luke warm water in like 3 days you will have over 2000 ppm of plant food if you get technical you can google nutrient values in what you throw in your little brewer to give you a break down of actual NPK your feeding your plants jus add it up
so in 3 - 5 days you got to stir the hell out of it either with blender or stick then strain it wa la you got plant food ready just remember you will need to water it back as it reads well over 2000 ppm so maybe a 1 to 4 ratio of fresh water

 

[pcduck]

Good luck getting those egg shells to break down. They are hard to break down even after making a slurry with them and then feeding them to my worms.

If you do not want to deal with the stench of rotting food, I would suggest using AEM either alone or make a bokashi with it and add your food scraps to this

 

[DrFever]

for sure egg shells is a nightmare i crush them up pretty good might add to total calcium

 

[Rosenpetals]

Egg shells-use a rolling pin to pulverize them. The worms love them, helps them digest or something.

 

[Rosenpetals]

making teas is rather easy instead of throwing away or placing your scrap left over vegtables into compost bin you can easily get your self a 5 - 10 gallon pail fill it half full of warm water and start throwing in eggshells , letuce carrots m all types potato peels , apples , everything green stir it up and let it ferment stiring it every day also adding little more luke warm water in like 3 days you will have over 2000 ppm of plant food if you get technical you can google nutrient values in what you throw in your little brewer to give you a break down of actual NPK your feeding your plants jus add it up
so in 3 - 5 days you got to stir the hell out of it either with blender or stick then strain it wa la you got plant food ready just remember you will need to water it back as it reads well over 2000 ppm so maybe a 1 to 4 ratio of fresh water

Worm composting sounds easier. You buy a worm farm, put in the coir, add worms & feed. They do most of the work. I have a composting tumbler & it's a pain in the butt.

 

[AllDayToker]

Hello tea makers,

I'm making a new recipe to use on my vegging plants. I'm wondering if anyone can give me a second opinion on what you think of it.

I'll be using 1/2 cup Earthworm Castings, 1/2 cup Alfalfa Meal, 1/4 cup Kelp Meal, and 1 tbsp. of Molasses. All in 4 gallons of water, aerated for 24 hours.

Just trying to keep it simple and effective. So just let me know what you think, good or bad.

Thanks... Stay high,
ADT

 

[DnSgenetics1]

You know. I have been seeing/reading allot here recently about these tea's your talking about bro. (ADT) break this shiznit down for me if you dont mind? I have some liquid Budswell, and also the new maxicrop liquid seaweed. What else would I need bro? Anyone? Thanks.

 

[AllDayToker]

You know. I have been seeing/reading allot here recently about these tea's your talking about bro. (ADT) break this shiznit down for me if you dont mind? I have some liquid Budswell, and also the new maxicrop liquid seaweed. What else would I need bro? Anyone? Thanks.

Your going to want some organic molasses, unsolphered or whatever. Access to either some kind of compost/vermicompost/earthworm castings.

Other things people use are mexican and jamaican bat guano, peruvian seabird guano, kelp meal, bone meal, alfalfa meal.

The point of the compost and molasses bubbling together is they create the microbes. The goal is to create a microbe/micro organism life cycle or colony that can become self sustaining. They feed off each other, leave waste, decompose, protect parts of the roots and allow more flow of nutrients. That's where they get living soil from. Let the microbes do the work.

The teas that introduce the meals and guanos are more extras if your soil isn't cutting it. You use these for feeds when your plant looks like it needs something, but more or less if your doing teas you should be building a colony in the soil that can later on be used by itself. Just keep it watered like super soil, but it's actually alive.

Study up on microbes if your interested in the real benefits of teas, it amazed me when I read it. Here is a great link.

http://microbeorganics.com/#Living_Soil

 

[AllDayToker]

Is that understandable Dank? I'm kind of buzzed and pretty stoned haha.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong on any of that, just going off memory, but I'm that's how I know it as a short version.

 

[renobymkus]

Hi!, I am growing a few outdoor plants, and am using the compost tea method. Was wondering if any seasoned users may have some advice for me on a question I had.
So I am brewing my tea for about 36-48 hours in an OG Tea Bag, and the plants are loving it!
My only question is, what do I do with all of the remaining material in the tea bag after I pump the liquids to the plants?

Do I discard all of the contents of the tea bag?

or...

Do I mix it in with the soil in the plant beds?


I feel like there is a + and - to either choice. My concern is that if I chose to mix in with the soil, the bacteria is no longer aerated and may produce harmful bacteria. Or should I just discard the remaining content?

Thanks for the help y'all!

 

[next]

The following recipes are made in 1-gallon containers, for diluting with an additional gallon of water before use. All water should be as pure as possible and chlorine/chloramine-free. You can bubble a tea for 24 hours, or a week, or even more. I like mine best at either 1 or 2 days and storage of teas has never gone well for me, so I don’t recommend it.

SEEDLING AND FRESHLY ROOTED CLONE TEA

2 teaspoons all-natural molasses

1 teaspoon liquid fish fertilizer

1 tablespoon alfalfa meal

1 tablespoon kelp meal

½–1 cup fresh compost or earthworm castings
1 teaspoon dry, soluble kelp or liquid seaweed

10 drops CaMg+ by General Organics, or comparable liquid mineral supplement

BUBBLE FOR 24 HOURS

Strain, dilute and apply the tea above. This is a really great 1-day tea recipe that also works well on true landrace genetics from exotic lands, as they usually prefer a lighter touch when it comes to feeding.

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VEGETATIVE HIGH-POWER GROWTH TEA

1 tablespoon all-natural molasses

1 tablespoon kelp meal

1 tablespoon alfalfa meal

1 tablespoon dry all-purpose fertilizer

2 teaspoons liquid fish fertilizer

2 teaspoons dry high-nitrogen bird or bat guano

1 teaspoon dry soluble kelp or seaweed

BUBBLE FOR 24 HOURS THEN ADD

1 cup of fresh earthworm castings or fresh healthy compost

¼ cup composted steer (or composted barnyard) manure

BUBBLE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 24 HOURS

Strain, dilute and apply the tea above. This 2-day tea is super powerful and if your soil mix is light on calcium in any way, then you will also want to add some liquid calcium supplement or add some dry calcium to the tea in the form of bone meal or oyster shells. Don’t add any magnesium because the molasses is covering that for you. Always remember to stir your tea between applying it to each plant, so all the small particles of TLO goodness can be spread out evenly to all the beautiful cannabis ladies.

====================================================

FLOWERING TEA

For use from the start of flowering to halfway through

1 tablespoon all-natural molasses

20 drops CaMg+ by General Organics, or comparable liquid mineral supplement

1 tablespoon dry, all-organic, all-purpose fertilizer (with N-P-K ratios close to 5-5-5)

1 tablespoon kelp meal

1 teaspoon dry, high-nitrogen bat or bird guano (with N-P-K ratios close to 12-8-2)

1 teaspoon dry, high-phosphorus bat or bird guano (with N-P-K ratios close to 0-5-0 or 1-10-0)

1 teaspoon liquid fish fertilizer (with N-P-K ratios close to 5-1-1 or 3-3-0.3)

¼ cup Big Bloom by Fox Farm

BUBBLE THIS FOR 24 HOURS THEN ADD

½–1 cup fresh compost or earthworm castings

BUBBLE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 24 HOURS

Strain with a regular strainer, dilute with pure water, and apply, remembering to stir it between plants, so that all the plants get an equal share of the tiny particles of organic matter that will tend to sink fairly quickly in a tea. That’s the golden part of the tea right there, besides the microbial life. The above tea is a 2-day tea, and the castings/compost is added during the second half of the bubble time, so the liquid can get equalized for greater survival rates of the life in the castings when it hits the tea solution. A lot of time making teas and looking at samples through my microscope has led me to believe this is the best approach for enhancing tea life.

===================================================

FINISHING TLO TEA

For use at the end of the life cycle—just before harvest

1 cup earthworm castings or compost

¼ cup Big Bloom liquid bloom nutrient from Fox farm (or similar N-P-K liquid)

1 teaspoon kelp meal

1 teaspoon all natural molasses

BUBBLE FOR 24–48 HOURS

Strain, dilute and apply the tea above. I normally apply this type of tea when the plants are about 2 weeks from finishing. Any watering during the last 2 weeks is done with pure R/O filtered water with nothing added. This is the indoor TLO version of the autumn rains! You can always customize your own TLO teas as well, just be careful not to overdo the liquid or dry nutrient additions. Any 1-day tea can be bubbled for 2 days, or even 3; however, don’t bubble a 2-day tea for only one day or the beneficial effects will be lessened to some degree. The rule is this: you can bubble more than the stated times, but not less!

 

[Joken]

My compost pile has some cow manure in it, maybe 10%. I don't understand why I can't use it for tea if its decomposed. Help me out here. OK, my tea was kind of stinky so I spent $35 on a pond aerator and overnight, the odor is completely gone. I like it!

View attachment Compost Tea.JPG

 

[sopappy]

My brewing has been going for 48 hours, so it's ready but I'm not, plants ain't thirsty. Can I just keep bubbling until I need to use it?

 

[pcduck]

No, The microbes begin dying after 48hours. Add more food.

 

[sopappy]

I crucified this batch. I did remember to add food. I heat up a cup of RO and drop in a Tbl of molasses. I guess the cup was pretty hot this time... brew shot up to almost 88 and then I forgot to put the temp probe lead back in the bucket and it was 65 this afternoon. At least they didn't starve, they froze during their after meal nap.