EWC tea in hydro
- Thread starter darkhollo
- Start date
robertmarley
Member
would like to know the same thing
A company called Natures Technology has a link to a 5-part article on using aerated compost teas in a hydroponic growing environment - here
Look to the menu on the left under 'Articles' for links to the various pages.
DISCLAIMER: This company, Natures Technology, is a manufacturer of compost tea brewers. They also manufacture and distribute a 'ready to go tea' of which I know absolutely nothing about. So the 'buyer beware' paradigm is important to remember.
HTH
CC
Look to the menu on the left under 'Articles' for links to the various pages.
DISCLAIMER: This company, Natures Technology, is a manufacturer of compost tea brewers. They also manufacture and distribute a 'ready to go tea' of which I know absolutely nothing about. So the 'buyer beware' paradigm is important to remember.
HTH
CC
i just added some compost tea i made with some broken down rich bokashi soil full of humic acid and some pond dirt from the bottom that smelt very earthy. If it had smelt bad i wouldnt have put it in. It was for the garden but i borrowed some for the ladies! . For food i used kelp and two tablespoons of rolled oats put in the blender. The little oat particles swelled up and had fungal growth all over i could see without a microscope after 3 days. Smelt good and fungaly too. i put about 500ml in a 6l dwc.
Compost tea is an innoculant for the life in your dwc which is its purpose rather than for its nutrient content which is low. You cant burn by adding too much of the aerated tea. Of course the chemical nutes really have bad affect on the microbiology. Some die and others go into hibernation but how do we do without chemical salts in a dwc? I have added bokashi juice for the past two weeks and its great stuff too. It cleans up the roots of all the dead stuff.
Compost tea is an innoculant for the life in your dwc which is its purpose rather than for its nutrient content which is low. You cant burn by adding too much of the aerated tea. Of course the chemical nutes really have bad affect on the microbiology. Some die and others go into hibernation but how do we do without chemical salts in a dwc? I have added bokashi juice for the past two weeks and its great stuff too. It cleans up the roots of all the dead stuff.
C
CT Guy
Our experience has been around 2% in relation to your reservoir. Any more than 5% and you're risking bio-film buildup. Be sure to flush the system as well.
There's good info. on tea over in the Organic Soil section, that's where a lot of us tea guys hang out. All the info. in relation to making good aerated compost tea is going to be the same, it would just be your application rates that will change.
Just a little background, I'm a commercial compost tea manufacturer, so you know where I'm coming from. There's a sticky in the Organic Soil section entitled "Tea Article" that may be helpful.
There's good info. on tea over in the Organic Soil section, that's where a lot of us tea guys hang out. All the info. in relation to making good aerated compost tea is going to be the same, it would just be your application rates that will change.
Just a little background, I'm a commercial compost tea manufacturer, so you know where I'm coming from. There's a sticky in the Organic Soil section entitled "Tea Article" that may be helpful.
robertmarley
Member
My tea turned to smelling funny after 48 hours.. read that 12-24 is optimal and risk funkies afterward
J
JackKerouac
Add some Subculture B or M, Oregenism XL, or Great White. It will be shelf stable after 4 days with all of the goodies available to plants.
C
CT Guy
Jack,
How do you know the tea is "shelf stable" for four days? Do you have any data or microscope data to support that?
How do you know the tea is "shelf stable" for four days? Do you have any data or microscope data to support that?
CC,
I found this not so much an article as an advertisement, besides they itemized the continued use of chemical fertilizers but mentioned the reduction of this 5 times in 5 different ways so it looked like 5 separate points and they mentioned soil several times......gawd. I gotta look at their tea in a bottle/bag.
J
JackKerouac
It's shelf stable AFTER bubbling for four days.
It's how General Hydroponics makes Florablend.
C
CT Guy
I've bubbled teas for 4 days and they never became "stable." I don't think Florablend would have even a fraction of the organisms in a freshly made ACT. They must have another process for making the organisms go dormant. They're highly aerobic, they have high oxygen needs. The length of the brewing time does not negate this principle.
I'm not trying to come across negative, but let's just say I'm highly skeptical.
I'm not trying to come across negative, but let's just say I'm highly skeptical.
i've been using a lot of tea just cuz i brew up 3 gals at a time; i put about 9 cups into a 30gal(aprox) rdwc system, 3 cups in a ez-cloner30, and about 4 cups in a 20gal recirculating batobucket/rockwoool system 2x a week... still got about 1.5gal left to water the outdoor plants with and various flowers and whatnot around the house
i probably don't need it in the recirculating system but i have it and it doesn't seem to hurt from what i can tell and keeps any smells from occurring in my res as i've been doing addbacks instead of changeouts because of space and the lack of a sump pump; there is always mix left in the res... i've been letting it get low and pouring another 20gal of nutes on top, working so far and i think the benes are keeping any funk at bay
i find that bi-weekly application of ewc tea with no additives; ie no guanos or humic acid, kelp, etc... just sugar and earth worm casings... keeps all my root rot problems a thing of the past... i think the frequency of application is more important than the amount applied from my limited experience so far and the limited time a brewed tea has viable polycultures of beneficial bacterias
as far as bottled products go i've yet to hear of anyone doing a side by side with and without to see if there are any differences... i'll use bottled enzymes like canazyme to eat dead roots if i slack off on watering but i've never spent any money on bottled beneficials
i probably don't need it in the recirculating system but i have it and it doesn't seem to hurt from what i can tell and keeps any smells from occurring in my res as i've been doing addbacks instead of changeouts because of space and the lack of a sump pump; there is always mix left in the res... i've been letting it get low and pouring another 20gal of nutes on top, working so far and i think the benes are keeping any funk at bay
i find that bi-weekly application of ewc tea with no additives; ie no guanos or humic acid, kelp, etc... just sugar and earth worm casings... keeps all my root rot problems a thing of the past... i think the frequency of application is more important than the amount applied from my limited experience so far and the limited time a brewed tea has viable polycultures of beneficial bacterias
as far as bottled products go i've yet to hear of anyone doing a side by side with and without to see if there are any differences... i'll use bottled enzymes like canazyme to eat dead roots if i slack off on watering but i've never spent any money on bottled beneficials
J
JackKerouac
The point isn't to have living organisms, it's to have the stuff that benes make available to plants after digesting. The stuff works great and you don't have to worry about pH swings from ebb and flows of bacterial and mycorrhizal blooms.
This is not very likely. Nutrients are provided to plants via the excretions from LIVE protozoa, bacterial feeding nematodes and rotifers [others?] after ingesting LIVE bacteria or archaea
OR
LIVE mycorrhizal fungi species deliver nutrients to the roots of plants symbiotically, provided that the roots are 'infected' by the fungi.
J
JackKerouac
I am first and foremost a hydro farmer before I am an organic farmer. Florablend, which is stabilized compost tea works wonders. It doesn't cause pH swings from live bacterial and mycorrhizal colony ebb and flow. I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree.
I actually was not commenting on the product but your perception of the microbial nutrient cycle. It simply does not occur the way you presented. If you have evidence otherwise, (not including advertisements) well let's see. I do not know anything about the product. For all I know it includes soluble nutrients.
Are they joking?? Fermented is the opposite of aerated compost tea.
"FLORABLEND ™
Vegan Plant Booster
We take a diverse mixture of highly bioactive microorganisms and feed them a feast of select food sources in a hyper oxygenated environment. These beneficial microorganisms multiply consuming these food sources and through bioconversion processes new organic compounds are formed. These highly soluble organic compounds increase and promote healthy root structures, build the plants immune system and provide carbon building blocks for plant processes responsible for color and flavor of fruits and vegetables.
FloraBlend is a vegan product and contains no animal derived ingredients.
FloraBlend is a completely digested ferment, which translates into a very stable product and long or indefinite shelf life.
FloraBlend is very clean product that can be utilized in all hydroponic systems.
FloraBlend is a compost tea that is fermented from a proprietary blend of plant materials, plus seaweed, rock powders and micronized leonardite . "
"FLORABLEND ™
Vegan Plant Booster
We take a diverse mixture of highly bioactive microorganisms and feed them a feast of select food sources in a hyper oxygenated environment. These beneficial microorganisms multiply consuming these food sources and through bioconversion processes new organic compounds are formed. These highly soluble organic compounds increase and promote healthy root structures, build the plants immune system and provide carbon building blocks for plant processes responsible for color and flavor of fruits and vegetables.
FloraBlend is a vegan product and contains no animal derived ingredients.
FloraBlend is a completely digested ferment, which translates into a very stable product and long or indefinite shelf life.
FloraBlend is very clean product that can be utilized in all hydroponic systems.
FloraBlend is a compost tea that is fermented from a proprietary blend of plant materials, plus seaweed, rock powders and micronized leonardite . "
