Tea Article

[OPT]

Brewed up my first tea today, hopefully by tomorrow it'll be ready!

My girls Just got switched to 12/12 a couple days ago, and they were transplanted about a week ago, so it's perfect timing for a good tea I think. Also will be adding some soluable Myco also since I didn't use that at transplant time.

I also got a little aquarium heater to get my water up around 70 degrees. It's cold as hell coming out of the tap this time of year....

To the 1 gallon bucket filled about 85% of the way up I added:

1 TBS molasses
1 tsp Alaska fish fert
1 cup EWC's
1 TBS Kelp meal
3/4 TBL Liquid karma

I now have it bubbling and will be diluting it approx 4:1 with normal water tomorow when I give my girls a drink. They should be more then ready to get more water by then. Will also add the soluable myco right before I water them as well.

Wish me luck!

OPT

 

[C21H30O2]

Brewed up my first tea today, hopefully by tomorrow it'll be ready!

My girls Just got switched to 12/12 a couple days ago, and they were transplanted about a week ago, so it's perfect timing for a good tea I think. Also will be adding some soluable Myco also since I didn't use that at transplant time.

I also got a little aquarium heater to get my water up around 70 degrees. It's cold as hell coming out of the tap this time of year....

To the 1 gallon bucket filled about 85% of the way up I added:

1 TBS molasses
1 tsp Alaska fish fert
1 cup EWC's
1 TBS Kelp meal
3/4 TBL Liquid karma

I now have it bubbling and will be diluting it approx 4:1 with normal water tomorow when I give my girls a drink. They should be more then ready to get more water by then. Will also add the soluable myco right before I water them as well.

Wish me luck!

OPT

id ditch the liquid karma and the alaska fish fert and replace it with fish hydrolysate and perhaps some soft rock phosphate.

 

[Microbeman]

That is also a high percentage of kelp. In compost tea kelp is very potent and can suppress microbial growth. I'd use 1/4 teaspoon in less than a gallon, depending on the type of kelp meal (eg. soluble or....)

 

[OPT]

I'll keep that in mind for my next tea Microbeman thanks. I use Algamine Kelp Meal (dry).

As far as the liquid karma goes, I seem to read here and there it's good then hear other places not to use it....guess I'll just see how it goes...I do have soft rock phosphate though which is already in my soil at a smaller rate then advised so maybe next time i'll add a little of that also.

I'm not too worried about getting things to perfect right now, just as long as I can give them something more they can use to help them is my goal, live and learn right....

I've also began reading Teaming with Microbes, and so far it seems like a very straight forward and easy book to read, that'll help me in the long run as well.

Basically all the ingredients I have at my disposal are the following:

Kelp meal
bone meal
blood meal
alfalfa meal
Soft Rock Phosphate
Greensand
Earthworm Castings
Molasses
ground oyster shell
dolomite lime

I understand there are different time to use different teas whether it be fungal or bacteria dominated, I think at this point in time I will just get the basic brewing down to where I feel I'm doing shit right, then try to tweek my mix to get me the additional things I might need.

I've also been reading quite a bit into 'The Rev's articles and I'm kinda using that as a guideline for the first tea I listed above minus a few ingredients. I know he stresses that less is more when you have a nice rich potting mix so i'll only be using this 2-3 times max over the next 8-10 weeks I think.

OPT

 

[OPT]

Holy shit, though I don't think my tea was totally ready, wow do my gals look good the next day! Almost all of them are standing tall now, and look to me like they are really loving life.

How often should I give the a tea, I've read in numerous places not to overdo it, but other people do it every watering. I shouldn't have to water again for at least another 4 days but I want to be ready, what do you all think?

OPT

 

[mapinguari]

Holy shit, though I don't think my tea was totally ready, wow do my gals look good the next day! Almost all of them are standing tall now, and look to me like they are really loving life.

How often should I give the a tea, I've read in numerous places not to overdo it, but other people do it every watering. I shouldn't have to water again for at least another 4 days but I want to be ready, what do you all think?

OPT

Fire up that brewer, OPT! I understand it's pretty hard to overdo it. I've been making teas this winter with pretty good results, even tho the lack of sun bollockses everything up. Our greenhouse is pretty cold so I'm not sure how active they are getting, one I let go about a week. Smelled good, that's important.

And you can use it for foliar, too.

 

[Corpsey]

i just got the Keep it Simple 5 gallon brewer today and fired it up, and man is this thing loud...haha

so looks like im upgrading to the quieter extended life motor.

just a heads up to anyone looking to buy this unit. go for the extended life unit right from the start, i wish i had.

 

[CT Guy]

Holy shit, though I don't think my tea was totally ready, wow do my gals look good the next day! Almost all of them are standing tall now, and look to me like they are really loving life.

How often should I give the a tea, I've read in numerous places not to overdo it, but other people do it every watering. I shouldn't have to water again for at least another 4 days but I want to be ready, what do you all think?

OPT

You're not going to "overdo it" by applying every 4 days, it won't hurt your plants. However, at some point you're going to maximize your benefit. I think every 10-14 days would still be an aggressive ACT schedule. It's also going to be dependent on how much micro-life you have in your soil already. Play around with it a bit and see how your plants respond.

 

[CT Guy]

i just got the Keep it Simple 5 gallon brewer today and fired it up, and man is this thing loud...haha

so looks like im upgrading to the quieter extended life motor.

just a heads up to anyone looking to buy this unit. go for the extended life unit right from the start, i wish i had.

Give them a call or email and they typically give you a deal if you want/need to upgrade your motor.

 

[schwagg]

Holy shit

HAHA!!! those were the words i used when i saw my plants the day after using my first tea.

 

[MrFista]

You're not going to "overdo it" by applying every 4 days, it won't hurt your plants. However, at some point you're going to maximize your benefit. I think every 10-14 days would still be an aggressive ACT schedule. It's also going to be dependent on how much micro-life you have in your soil already. Play around with it a bit and see how your plants respond.

Thoroughly agree! The microbes increase efficiencies in the soil and save you $$ from ferts and bottled crap. While saving money, why not save time? Time is money as the saying goes. Fortnightly is more than sufficient for teas.

 

[Bulénath]

edit

 

[thatgreenstuff]

So normally I would add half wormcastings and half organic compost (both e.b. stone brand) to my tea, but today i got a deal on a couple bags of vermiblend soil amendment. I was wondering instead of using the eb stone stuff would it be better to just use this by it self ? I always read, "a good tea comes from good compost" so im hoping this is the good stuff.

http://vermicrop.com/products/item/vermiblendproduct

TGS

 

[Mountain High]

Thatgreenstuff, I've used Vermiblend as a 20% amemdment into my Sunshine #4, I'm sure it works just great to brew tea with.

 

[Zarezhu]

Hey guys. So I've read through just about the first 25 pages of this thread just to learn as much as I can, but it has me thinking now.

I have an 800gph pump that I used for a failed vertical grow (it would water 4 shelves of 64 plants per), and it seems like it'd save me so much money to just use my current pump instead of try to buy an air pump for a large (25-50 gallon) brewer.

Would a submersible water pump, with the filter removed, and the setting turned on as low as it can be to just lift the water a few inches above the top and have it dump back into the bucket. Low enough to just break the surface tension and hopefully low enough to not shred all the beneficials with unnecessary force?

I have a few of the cheap ($10 walmart air pumps for fish tanks), I think they have 2 outlets each. I can run a little bubbler through those and into the stocking with the EWC/compost/molasses as well.

 

[mad librettist]

I would have the water fall farther. No worries about killing any micros, they will be fine. Churn it up!

 

[jaykush]

either that or loom into aquaponics

 

[Zarezhu]

I'll have to go buy a large garbage can or barrel and give it a go at brewing a few teas. I got 6 plants going outside this year in 150 gallon containers of some pretty rich soil. Been wanting to give them a thorough soil drenching at least once a month with AACT.

I just read that some people were saying that the propeller in a sub. pump might tear up any fungus in the teas, which is why people use air lifts instead of water pumps. I'm just hoping thats not completely the case =/

 

[h.h.]

So why are we using air pumps for tea? Is it the fungus that suffers from the impeller? I couldn't see the filter hurting. Would it or would it help preserve the pump and give the miceobes a place to cling on to?

 

[mad librettist]

propeller hurting the microbes in a sump? I don't buy it. show me the photos of slides done with each and show me a difference. The stuff you are growing out can easily fit in the water flowing around a prop.