What type of bag do YOU use for compost tea?

[IncredibowlBoss]

I've used pillow cases, turkey stuffing bags, burlap sacks, and am now considering a 400-micron mesh drawstring bag.

What do *you* use to make your tea?

If you don't use a bag, how do you run your free suspension? Do you strain before you feed?

All responses are very welcome!

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I don't use a bag during the brew cycle and I use the standard paint strainer bags from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. which come in 1-gallon and 5-gallon sizes.

Something like $3.00 for 2 and if you clean them they'll last a long, long time. I need to start doing that perhaps.

CC

 

[Gascanastan]

I used a couple types of bags in the past before abandoning the practice. It seemed that the 'goodies' were restricted behind the mesh...and since I'm not lazy I figured I'd just clean the damned brewer instead. work smart not hard..whatever...what do I know...I'm drinking rum and coke right now~

 

[ClackamasCootz]

GC

I don't do the AACT deal much but it's the residue from steeping Comfrey for several weeks - the leaves themselves are pretty much gone and there isn't much of a branch, per se. But the stalks that grow out that have the flowers on the end (sterile in the Bocking 14) - those stalks have enough fiber (lignin) that prevents them from 'dissolving' like the leaves.

So the bags are a good way to grab this material and either run it through a worm bin or use it as a mulch on the raised beds and then I cover it with a bit of compost or worm castings - whatever. Nothing very ritual at all.

CC

 

[OrganicBuds]

I second the paint strainer bag. Home Depot has them for cheap.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Grab 'em when they're running a sale in the paint department......

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

Huh! I've never seen em there - will def have to ask next time! So you brew free suspension and then filter through the bag before feeding, or brew with your ingredients in the bag?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

IB

About 75% of the time I have to ask for them which means the poor clerk has to get the ladder out and dig around on the 2nd or 3rd shelf. Since they're about $2.75 for 2 of the 1 gallon I usually try and be fair and get several packs.

Better to ask MM about which is better for an AACT deal - free-floating or bagged.

HTH

CC

 

[gOurd^jr.]

Airlift w/ vortex action ftw baby! There's some discussion of filtering for larger scale applications right in this thread too, which is a must read if you haven't...

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=200274&page=37

Free suspension as you can see and I only filter it through a 800micron filter bag if I wanna use my watering can to "rain" it over a plant for foliar and drench at the same time. That's messy for indoors though I Usually only do that on the veggies outside. Pretty much always just pour it unfiltered on the roots of indoor plants. I bet they would like some foliar too though I should start spraying it on or something...

 

[BurnOne]

Knee high womans nylon stocking from the dollar store. Three pairs for $1.
Burn1

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

Aw yeah - that thread's a gold mine - I picked up a pro air pump bout a month ago - lovin the difference it makes even with an air stone - hoping to get an airlift put together according to that design in the next couple weeks. That, of course, leads to the next question: 24-48 hour brew, or perpetual brew?

 

[Ground Up]

reusable shopping bags from walmart...19 cents

 

[SneakySneaky]

I don't use a bag during the brew cycle and I use the standard paint strainer bags from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. which come in 1-gallon and 5-gallon sizes.

Something like $3.00 for 2 and if you clean them they'll last a long, long time. I need to start doing that perhaps.

CC

What he said. My friend bought the expensive BounTea kit, it uses the same paint strainer mesh clack mentioned.

 

[Microbeman]

Nylons are a little too fine. Paint strainers are good for brewing. 400 micron nylon monofilament is best. Free suspension ACT is usually more active.

800 to1000 micron is good for filtering

 

[John Deere]

I'm only brewing basic EWC/molasses tea (sometimes a bit of kelp meal) and using it as a root drench so I don't strain. There's good stuff in those solids.

 

[h.h.]

I use knee high women so I don't have to strain.
Strain it enough to get it through your sprayer, otherwise don't. I do more of a drench from a watering can. I gave up on sprayers.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The concept of buying women's hosiery to do a manly-type job is just too weird for me and other testosterone-laden stud-muffins in the PNW

Reminds me of an old from Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground

Holly came from Miami, FLA
Hitchhiked her way across the USA
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was she - she said:

Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side,
Said hey honey, take a walk on the wild side

 

[rckymtnthuglife]

None. 15 gallons at a time...last gallon or two along with the goodies goes back to the worm bins

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

Thanks (as always), MM for knowing more about this than the rest of us combined!

Do you have any input as to the brew time/length? I've come to understand (perhaps incorrectly) that a 24-48 hour brew fed with molasses will be higher in Bacterial & Fungal life, but a perpetual brew fed with kelp & earthworm castings will, after a week or two, strongly dominate with protazoans and nematodes.

Any feedback on this?

Thanks again!

Nylons are a little too fine. Paint strainers are good for brewing. 400 micron nylon monofilament is best. Free suspension ACT is usually more active.

800 to1000 micron is good for filtering

 

[SeaMaiden]

I brew free, but strain before it goes into my NorthStar tank sprayer from Northern Tool. The paint strainers from the hardware store fit perfectly onto the opening, so I just tie it so it doesn't fall inside and pour the tea through it.

I think I need a better worm casting source, though. I'm just not getting the same activity I see on MM's DVDs.