Tea questions..

[TheBudFather]

Hi... I have a few Q's on making Tea's...

I'm considering making Tea for the 1st time... I always bubble my water for 24 hrs before using, & I'm starting to think that I might as well throw in a few things I have hanging around....

I have some.... Biobizz Grow & Bloom, Maxicrop seaweed extract, Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses, Hygrozyme, Seabird guano, Epsom salts..... thats about it.

I have a 60L bucket and air stone.
SO, Q1...Could anyone suggest a method of creating a simple Tea using any of the above ingredients...

Q2, When I have my Tea ready... @ what application do I mix this stuff with water?...

Q3, Could I put 1L of Tea into a container, and pour it into another pre bubbled freshwater bucket, to create a new tea... if fed more molasses..?

Thanks!

 

[TheBudFather]

Anyone?

 

[grapeman]

You need a minimum of .05 cfm of air per minute per gallon of water. .08 is better. So you need to do the math and see how many gallons you can make with your air pump at one time.

I personally do not use too much guano in my teas. I am old school and believe manures should be mixed into the soil. But that's me. Some people do.

My typical mix in a 5 gal bucket (with 4 to 4.5 gal or water) is 1.5 to 2.5 cups of good fresh EWC, a few tablespoons of kelp meal and sometimes some alfalfa meal. The EWC is the key. I go to my local earthworm farm and get fresh biologically active product. In a nylon sock or a 400 micron mesh bag I put a flexible 2 foot air diffuser coiled up in the bottom of the sock or bag. I then fill over and around the diffuser the mix. I mix about 1 TBS/Gal of the molasses in the water. I use an electric drill with a paint paddle for that. I line the bottom of the bucket all around the round corners with another four 2 foot diffusers. I then coil one final diffuser in the middle of the bucket so it is directly under the sock or bag and turn on the pumps. I use 3 pumps to exceed the recommended minimum amount of air referenced above. In winter, I brew for 24 to 36 hours. In summer I think it is done in 12 to 24 hours. Sometimes I mix 3 or 4 to 1 in water. Sometimes I water with it straight.

I usually just use EWC to make my tea without the amendments or other meals... probably every other time I use amendments.

You should read the "It's Tea time" thread for more detailed info.

 

[Microbeman]

As well as reading the 'Tea Article' in the stickies have a look at http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer

 

[grapeman]

As well as reading the 'Tea Article' in the stickies have a look at http://www.microbeorganics.com/#So_You_Wanna_Build_A_Compost_Tea_Brewer

As MM said

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Redux

 

[TheBudFather]

Thanks for the info fellas... I will have a good read
I'm guessing I dont have the ingredients available to make any sort of tea...

hopefully next time will be my big tea adventure... I hope so to be fair!
Thanks for the reply's.

 

[Zendo]

tbf-- what you are really missing to start are the earth worm castings..easy to find.

Many good recipes in the threads mentioned above.

 

[EatMoGrass]

So was the paint mixer to mix that gooey molasses into the tea?

I have always put the needed molasses into a half filled liter bottle of water and shook the crap out of it. Then I dump the fully dissolved concentrated molasses solution into my tea.

I just never wanted to dump that thick gooey stuff right into my tea. Maybe I'm just creating an unnecessary step for myself though. Thoughts?

 

[stagehand099]

I have always put the needed molasses into a half filled liter bottle of water and shook the crap out of it. Then I dump the fully dissolved concentrated molasses solution into my tea.

I just never wanted to dump that thick gooey stuff right into my tea. Maybe I'm just creating an unnecessary step for myself though. Thoughts?

I put 3-5 TBLS into around 12 oz. of hot tapwater and stir the crap of it til its dissolved and add that to my 5 gal. bucket. I figure 12 oz. of chlorinated water won't significantly affect the process. The other 4.X gals are bubbled for 2 days to declorinate.

stagehand

 

[grapeman]

the paint mixer is only used due to my complete and utter laziness. But it works great.

 

[TheBudFather]

Hi... I have a few Q's on making Tea's...

I'm considering making Tea for the 1st time... I always bubble my water for 24 hrs before using, & I'm starting to think that I might as well throw in a few things I have hanging around....

I have some.... Maxicrop seaweed extract(bottle), Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses, Seabird guano, Biobizz Grow & Bloom, Hygrozyme, Epsom salts..... thats about it.

I have a 60L bucket and air stone.
SO, Q1...Could anyone suggest a method of creating a simple Tea using any of the above ingredients...

Q2, When I have my Tea ready... @ what application do I mix this stuff with water?...

Q3, Could I put 1L of Tea into a container, and pour it into another pre bubbled freshwater bucket, to create a tea in the new bucket... if fed more molasses..?

Thanks!

I bought a big bag of Worm castings today... Could anyone give me a few tips on creating a tea for flowering plants, with the ingredients above... as my girls are in wk1 flower, and I would prefer to feed them with guano n castings if possable
Im using a 60L bucket with Budget Air Pump (Single Outlet - 1.6 Litres/minute).


I will post links to the specific ingredients I have:
http://www.belfastindoorgardening.com/plagron-guano-peru-3kg-p-317.html

http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi...eridian_Organic_Blackstrap_Molasses_350g.html

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/original-organic-seaweed-extract-plant-growth-stimulant-p-8872.html

http://www.growell.co.uk/p/1661/Bio-Bizz-Worm-Castings.html

Thanks

 

[TheBudFather]

Ok.... Im going to go with some instinct.....
I will half fill a sock with Worm castings & Seabird guano... I'll leave it bubbling & bobbing in the water for a cpl days... I will also dissolve a cpl tbsp's of molasses to throw in & a few ml of Maxicrop liquid seaweed....

What rate do I feed plants Tea?.... Diluted or straight? Any help would be amazing, thanks!

There is a link in my signature to the plants I will be feeding this tea... They are wk2 flower...

 

[schwagg]

dont use a sock

 

[guest2012y]

dont use a sock

I've been thinking about this lately.
Not using a sock,but acquiring one of those bags/nets that CT guy uses. I think it would save time on clean up. Then again I'm doing 30 gallon teas.....this makes me want to go ergonomic.

 

[Albertine]

Paint strainer bags.

 

[CT Guy]

400 microns is the ideal mesh size for straining or brewing the tea.

 

[Cannasseur]

I definitely recommend you purchase Wayne Lewis and Jeff Lowenfels 'Teaming with Microbes', if you plan on pursuing the use of AACT and even "organics" in general. It's a great read and they definitely made an effort toward making the topic of microbiology manageable for those without an extensive background.

Happy Growing!

 

[schwagg]

i go to homebrew shops and get the big mesh bag that fits in a 8 gallon bucket. once you get done with the tea, pull out your pvc or whatever you use and then raise the bag out.now you got "clean" tea.

 

[Cool Moe]

I went the microbeman diy route with good results, big ups to MM for sharing his expertise. My aerated compost tea recipe for 4-4.5 gallon tea is simple:

1 cup worm castings
1 cup cotton burr compost or homemade organic compost
2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon kelp powder

I put all tea ingredients directly into 5 gallon bucket and run the pump for 12-24 hours, stirring occassionally, then pour the contents of the 5 gallon bucket through a filter/screen that fits over a smaller 2 gallon bucket, then pour from there into the pump and spray, or into a shower can for soil soak.