I think it works fine top dressed, but I've used a modification the flowering tea recipe in the "Organics for Beginners" thread a bunch.
That recipe calls for:
- 2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
- 2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
- 2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
- 5 tsp. Acadian powdered kelp extract
Mix with water @ 2 cups of dry mix into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
I use Indonesian guano and substitute high N. guano for seabird guano. I also mix in a bit of molasses (teaspoon per gallon) and sometimes a teaspoon per gallon of fish.
Pine
I've always looked at that recipe and shook my head. I made nutrient teas with far fewer nutrients and had burning. And now I've read adding guano to microbe tea can kill the microbes, so it's just top dressing guano for me. I'm sure it works for others, but I have not had luck with guano teas.......scrappy
C
CC_2U
Scrappy
The guano tea product (Budswell) that kicked-off this concept 30 years ago don't use straight guano in their mixes, i.e. the bat guano concentrate is fermented thereby making the elements somewhat available.
Regardless, the breakdown time for bat guano approaches 8 months meaning that re-using your soil will give the gardener the greatest benefit from these amendments.
CC
The guano tea product (Budswell) that kicked-off this concept 30 years ago don't use straight guano in their mixes, i.e. the bat guano concentrate is fermented thereby making the elements somewhat available.
Regardless, the breakdown time for bat guano approaches 8 months meaning that re-using your soil will give the gardener the greatest benefit from these amendments.
CC
Perhaps you could make a slurry. Add your guano to a jug of water, shake it up well the pour it on your soil. I do that with ewc at times. But part of the beauty of top dressing is the slow steady rate it gets used, the same thing you want to avoid, different strokes, I suppose.....scrappy
Hmmm, good to know cc2. Thanks Maybe I'll start another fermentation. I'm going to have to start labeling all these old milk jugs I have fermenting, it seems like they are multiplying.....scrappy
The every watering recommendation had me shaking my head. I've only used this 2 or so times during a flowering cycle. I see no reason why there would be dramatically different results brewing a guano tea - or mixing up guano with water - versus top dressing with a similar amount of guano.
I wish I had a microscope so I could check stuff like this out.
Are they all the same? I ask because I've top dressed (scratched in) Mexican (high N) guano on plants that were clearly N deficient in small containers and have seen them improve in days. P is a little harder to figure out as genuine P deficiency is less common.
Pine
C
CC_2U
Pine
That's an interesting question because the source I'm referencing is from the importer of ABG (Archipelago Bat Guano 0-20-0)) in this article: Is “0-20-0” Phosphate Bat Guano 3 Times Better Than “0-7-0” Bat Guano?
Obviously the comparison he's making and discussing is a 'P' guano source.
Interesting question indeed.
CC
Here is another source that implies a longer breakdown time for the high P guano, saying it last 2-3 years versus 2-8 months for high N.
http://www.grow-it-organically.com/npk-fertilizer.html
At the onset of my current grow I accidentally top dressed 2 cups of Indonesian guano, thinking it was the dry guano-based mix that I posted above. It didn't burn anything which leads me to to think, independent of any sources, that it does become available rather slowly.
Pine
http://www.grow-it-organically.com/npk-fertilizer.html
At the onset of my current grow I accidentally top dressed 2 cups of Indonesian guano, thinking it was the dry guano-based mix that I posted above. It didn't burn anything which leads me to to think, independent of any sources, that it does become available rather slowly.
Pine
The 'breakdown' time of any type of manure or other organic matter topdressed is dependent on the microbial activity and the nutrient needs of the plant [if no chemical fertilizers are involved]. So the availability of the nutrients are not so dependent on the actual substance but on the microbial team which is available to process it [this is assuming non-processed organic matter] For instance, if the topdressing is wood shavings, it is primarily fungal microbes which will take the first step in degrading the organic nutrients, then passing on to bacteria/archaea or in some instances, directly from fungal hyphae to root plant cell. If manure is used then typically it is bacterial/archaeal teams which begin degredation and pass it [partially processed nutrients] down the line. The plant usually acts as the director in this process by attracting and feeding the microbes required to initiate the job.
G
greenmatter
there are a couple of things that have changed since the last time i purchased these from home depot
1. now they are 4 for $1
2. now there is a "rust-oleum certified protection" label on the package. i am not really sure why you would have to protect stainless steel but i do worry about any chemical that i get near the garden. i would suggest soaking anything with a rust-oleum protected label in pure bleach or something along those lines before using them. that should dissolve anything that we would need to worry about.
the coating on one 1/4" 20 nut would most likely not even measure in parts per billion in a gallon of water but i would rather be careful than have any problems with my plants ( we have all read about the plastic hoses off gassing and the negative effects)
thought i should throw that out there. i hope it helps.
I've been experimenting with Beneficial Indigenous Microorganisms as a soil conditioner and foliar spray. I've just started a compost tea brewing with some BIM in it, along with compost(s). Thing is, it seems like folks only recommend adding this kind of thing at the END of brewing. Anyone ever try this or know about it? What might happen adding the BIM / LAB serum at the outset?
I always recommend adding things at the onset of a brew.
Thanks, Microbeman. Yeah, I've heard horror stories of adding molasses after brewing a while and stuff. Hey, the fact that you didn't say "Noooooooooo! Not BIM in compost tea!!" makes me a little more comfortable.
Full disclosure: I used the BIM partly because I'm using a bit of not-quite-fully-composted chicken manure from our chickens in the tea, figured the LAB would cut down the smell and assist processing.
I'm still open to hearing about people's experiences, but I guess I'll just go ahead and try it.
this is a bit confusing as BIM is an aqueous culture similar to ACT, but starting with native humus rather than compost or vermicompost.
perhaps you are talking about EM? effective microorganisms?
One reason for experimenting this way is to introduce primarily bacteria/archaea which may not be in your [vermi]compost; another that you are introducing local microorganisms. The one organism which you will not have in BIM or AEM and should have in ACT is protozoa, the primary nutrient cycling organism.
Good compost and good vermicompost.
That is one reason why all these microbial benificial mixes from various companies are mostly a joke. Although a lot of them are valuable for disease control and soil conditioning and some N fixing, they do not even address the microbial nutrient loop which cycles nutrients to roots.
