Tea Article

[Dignan]

Hey RudeDog-

9 hours is a very short brew time. In optimal conditions, shoot for 12-36 hours. Twelve hours is even super short.

General consensus is that the microbial populations of ACTs drop off quickly after 4 hours. I would say always use your teas within 6 hours.

 

[Skunkmiester]

Awesome post my friend. I do have question, I was wondering what if any beneficial or harmful effects that may come from making a Banana Peal tea. My thought was drying,crushing and soaking banana peals into a tea and giving it to the ladies directly in the res. prob with just water. Please advise with your exp.

 

[localhero]

why would you make a banana peel tea? is it something to do with potassium?

 

[Skunkmiester]

Yes. My thought was pure Potassium without other ingredients. But I am not sure if other ingredients are needed for proper growth.

 

[EatMoGrass]

I know redworms love to eat banana peels but brewing a tea made of dried banana peels I know nothing about.

 

[Albertine]

Skunkmiester, I just read some post somewhere (how bout that for validation?) that banana peels can be loaded with pesticides, so take care to use only organic.

 

[EatMoGrass]

I have read somewhere that aprox 85% of bananas in the U.S. have been treated with chemicals. I believe I was reading about that chemical Imid(sp?) that growers are using to treat root aphids.

I have been buying organic bananas for years now but I have noticed that they almost always have fruit flies coming from them in a day or two. I'm not sure if they live on or in the bananas but they sure do come along with the organic ones. Big fat fruit flies.

 

[EatMoGrass]

CT Guy, Earlier this week I put together a new 5+gal brewer from off the shelf parts as I didn't feel like getting too creative. I used a 6.5gal food grade fermenting/bottling bucket from a local beer/wine brewing store along with the EcoPlus Commercial air 1 pump and large Micropore double air diffuser.

My question is about the Micropore air diffuser. I have read that smaller bubbles can damage bacteria and or fungal strands in the tea. Is this something I should be concerned about as I have no microscope(yet) to check the activity of my teas?

So far I am on my third tea with the new brewer(I have used 2-3 one gal jugs for the past three years). I am getting massive foam at the top starting at about 15-17 hours and it seems to be working well with 1.5cups castings, 1/4cup alfalfa meal, 1/4 kelp meal, 4 tsp blackstrap molasses, and 2oz Dram fish hydroslate.

Also is the Eco Plus Commercial(edit) Air 1 enough of a pump for a 5.5gal brew?

 

[Skunkmiester]

Thanks guys, had feeling my idea was to good to be true. I may still do more research on this to see if the chem's can be removed somehow or if maybe I can dehydrate the organic ones before flies show up. Wish I could grow my own bananas.

 

[Chief]

I just made my first two batches of tea and it literally smelt like sewage. I used a organic premix by dr. earth called life, http://www.drearth.com/products/blended/ . Its derived from fish bone meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, feather meal, potassium sulfate, bat guano, kelp meal, soft rock phosphate, cotton seed meal, and seaweed extract.

The tea smelled anything but healthy, i bought a aquariam air pump that was rated at 25+ gal. and am only making 2 gal. I didnt add any suagrs the first 2 and am making a 3rd batch with added honey.

 

[CT Guy]

I just made my first two batches of tea and it literally smelt like sewage. I used a organic premix by dr. earth called life, http://www.drearth.com/products/blended/ . Its derived from fish bone meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, feather meal, potassium sulfate, bat guano, kelp meal, soft rock phosphate, cotton seed meal, and seaweed extract.

The tea smelled anything but healthy, i bought a aquariam air pump that was rated at 25+ gal. and am only making 2 gal. I didnt add any suagrs the first 2 and am making a 3rd batch with added honey.

Chief,

Find out what the cfms are on your pump to determine how much volume you can brew. My guess is that you added too many food sources and the tea was unable to maintain dissolved oxygen levels in the brew with that pump. If you ever get an odor like that, best thing is to dump the tea so you don't risk damaging your plants.

 

[CT Guy]

CT Guy, Earlier this week I put together a new 5+gal brewer from off the shelf parts as I didn't feel like getting too creative. I used a 6.5gal food grade fermenting/bottling bucket from a local beer/wine brewing store along with the EcoPlus Commercial air 1 pump and large Micropore double air diffuser.

My question is about the Micropore air diffuser. I have read that smaller bubbles can damage bacteria and or fungal strands in the tea. Is this something I should be concerned about as I have no microscope(yet) to check the activity of my teas?

So far I am on my third tea with the new brewer(I have used 2-3 one gal jugs for the past three years). I am getting massive foam at the top starting at about 15-17 hours and it seems to be working well with 1.5cups castings, 1/4cup alfalfa meal, 1/4 kelp meal, 4 tsp blackstrap molasses, and 2oz Dram fish hydroslate.

Also is the Eco Plus Commercial(edit) Air 1 enough of a pump for a 5.5gal brew?

No way to know for sure on your setup without a microscope, but I'm guessing your bubble size is fine. When Dr. Ingham made that statement about bubble size I think she was referring to "micro bubbles" or something along that line. I have yet to see a level of agitation or bubbles small enough to do any damage in my testing. MM might have more info. on this though.

About your recipe....is that 1/4 c. alfalfa meal and 1/4 c. kelp meal? That seems like a lot of kelp to me, but then I typically work with the extract powder. I'd probably halve all your foods and keep your compost (EWC) the same.

Ignore the foam, it doesn't really tell you anything, other than that you'll have a mess to clean up after!

 

[Chief]

Chief,

Find out what the cfms are on your pump to determine how much volume you can brew. My guess is that you added too many food sources and the tea was unable to maintain dissolved oxygen levels in the brew with that pump. If you ever get an odor like that, best thing is to dump the tea so you don't risk damaging your plants.

I do not see a cfm rating, it says 2800cc per minute and for 20-60 gal aquarium. It has two outlets conntected to two 1" air stones.

Thanks, Chief.

The directions on the fertilizer suggest 1cup to 1gal water, and let it sit for 24hr. Ive been using 1/3 to 1/2 recomended dosage and bubbling for 24-48hrs. The batch i let go 48hr is the one that stunk.

 

[CT Guy]

I do not see a cfm rating, it says 2800cc per minute and for 20-60 gal aquarium. It has two outlets conntected to two 1" air stones.

Thanks, Chief.

The directions on the fertilizer suggest 1cup to 1gal water, and let it sit for 24hr. Ive been using 1/3 to 1/2 recomended dosage and bubbling for 24-48hrs. The batch i let go 48hr is the one that stunk.

It works out to 0.0988 cfm. Therefore, that pump is really only good for up to 1.5 gal. of water. If you're adding that fertilizer to the EWC and bubbling, you're probably only going to want to use a little bit, like an 1/8 of a teaspoon.

 

[jaykush]

chief how long did you brew this "Tea"

 

[Chief]

chief how long did you brew this "Tea"

. Ive been using 1/3 to 1/2 recomended dosage and bubbling for 24-48hrs. The batch i let go 48hr is the one that stunk.

the first at 24hr didnt exactly smell good

It works out to 0.0988 cfm. Therefore, that pump is really only good for up to 1.5 gal. of water. If you're adding that fertilizer to the EWC and bubbling, you're probably only going to want to use a little bit, like an 1/8 of a teaspoon.

I havent been using ewc, as of yet. So i need roughly 3cfm for 5 gal? I have only made 2gal batches with this air pump, so it should be sufficient? 1/8 tsp per gal?

Thanks, Chief.

 

[jaykush]

what exactly is in that dr earth? i bet there's plant meals and manures and such. care to list? i bet with that stuff you only need to brew 12 hours or so because of all the hot amendments. it supposed to be mixed in the soil isnt it?

 

[schwagg]

JK, it's spreadable and can be mixed in the soil. good stuff from what i've seen so far. ran a test batch of soil mixed with it and it's pretty hot. wrinkled some leaves to say the least. i tried it on some virgin soil mix and no yellow halfway through flower. must hold up pretty good.... for now. most of the other dr. earth isn't spreadable but the "life" brand was sold as spreadable so you could go out and just huck some decent organic fert around. not putting my word on it but just what i've seen. seems alright for now. the op posted a link to the product.

 

[Chief]

I used a organic premix by dr. earth called life, http://www.drearth.com/products/blended/ . Its derived from fish bone meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, feather meal, potassium sulfate, bat guano, kelp meal, soft rock phosphate, cotton seed meal, and seaweed extract.

Thank you for your recurring help.

 

[Steven Hyde]

hey guys how much liquid sea kelp recommended for 5 gal batch. i was thinking 1-3 tsp? thanks