Compost Tea - A Complete Guide

bradybunch · Sep 3, 2013

Whats your take on buying the CT formulas from John Evans "Bountea" and using their Humisoil + Fungal Activator + B3 for flowering or their Humisoil + Bio Activator + M3 for veg?

My friend swears by this product and is happy with his yields, but has told me that he would like to make his own CT's. I'm completely new to this and I would like to get started on CT's on the right foot.

Jclee133 · Sep 6, 2013

How often?

How often?

How often do you give your plants this tea during flower? How much do you give each plant?

weeddaddy50 said:
Tea formulas....in flower.....my garden very happy.....what a difference......thanks....I am using

this one....
Mix # 3

I use 2/3 cup of
Peruvian seabird guano
Jamaican bat guano
Worm castings.
5 tbs of maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract.
I also add 5 tbs of liquid karma
5 tbs blackstrap molasses.
Mix into 5 gallons of dechlorinated water.
I let it brew for two days and then use.

This is the flower mix I use with every watering. The veg mix is the same except for 1/3 cup of each and instead of jamaican bat guano use Mexican.

watts · Sep 6, 2013

He said every watering. it's right there in the quote you posted.

Doc_Marley · Sep 13, 2013

i think so...

i think so...

Can to much humic acid hurt? The bottles of carbs and humic acid look 100% the same.

from what I've read on that microbeorganics.com site Humic Acid suppresses growth...

haven't done my own test cuz I'm super new to brewing and don't have a scope..nor do I know what to look for..yet...

Snow Crash · Sep 17, 2013

How has this not been stickied?!?!?! Who do I have to screw around here?

weeddaddy50 · Sep 23, 2013

Yep.....watts is right.....every watering

Yep.....watts is right.....every watering

If your make your proportions correctly.....it will come out at 5.8 ph and 1100 ppm.......I make it In in a 5 gal bucket with 2 air stones and let it brew for 24-48 hours prior to mixing in my res......every third watering I just the Jacks Professional Hydro 5-12-26 line as well.....my plants have never looked better.....

In fact......just looking at them today....and was thinking that all they needed....was cooler tempts and they would pop with some of the wildest trichomes & colors I have ever grown....) :dance013:

watts said:
He said every watering. it's right there in the quote you posted.

tennesseetoker · Apr 8, 2014

How long will my organic tea last? Can I keep it refrigerated for a week in the fridge? Or is it only good for those 3 days after brewing

Jbomber79 · Apr 8, 2014

I have heard 3 days after brewing..

jackel · Aug 4, 2014

Compost teas are best used within hours after brewing.

tree3lf · Oct 7, 2014

Cayenne said:
its all about achieving that biomass, if you think its anerobic, dump it; however, if the tea doesnt stank like molasses 12 hours after you add a bunch, use it.

What if the tea does smell like molasses after 24 hours of brewing? Too much molasses?

And what do you think of this recipe?

4 gal distilled water
.75 gal fresh fish tank water
1 cup vegetable compost
5-7 tbs molasses
.25 cup liquid kelp extract
pinch each of AN tarantula & piranha
Lots of O2.

newkid · Nov 24, 2014

Hey, very informative thread!! Going to brew up something tonight after putting it off for a while.
I have some EWC, high P guano, kelp, humic acid and molasses I have lots of recipes to choose from. My last tea appeared to be a success, it was foamy on top and still smelled sweet after 24 hours(not sure if micros had time to eat all carbs or just over did it with molasses).

I will decide on a recipe however I just wanted to see if anyone knows about canola meal. Does anyone have information on this meal or if it could be beneficial to add to a tea? I understand the difference between building micro herd and just feeding soluble nuts in tea. I am just wondering if anyone has experience adding canola meal to teas or would I just be better off using as top feed???

PEACE

NEWK

Mikell · Nov 26, 2014

Top feed. Canola meal is fungicidal, IIRC.

Hard to tell without a recipe re: sweet smell.

tree3lf said:
What if the tea does smell like molasses after 24 hours of brewing? Too much molasses?

And what do you think of this recipe?

4 gal distilled water
.75 gal fresh fish tank water
1 cup vegetable compost
5-7 tbs molasses
.25 cup liquid kelp extract
pinch each of AN tarantula & piranha
Lots of O2.

Recipe looks pretty good, looks as if you've read over MM website hehe. Quite restrained compared to the nutrient slurry recipes so common

Try leaving out the kelp extract and see if smell improves, or halving the amount. If you use air stones to agitate/maintain DO2, I find half the recommended amount of molasses produces a much more earthy smelling tea around 30-40hrs.

The Tarantula and Piranha are better employed as a root dressing/soil additive.

Mykos is around 1/6 the price of Piranha and contains no ecto (useless for our purpose) or trichoderma (counterproductive).

I'm sure this is posted within the thread already, but microbeorganics.com and gardeningwithmicrobes.com are two great places to start reading.

newkid · Nov 26, 2014

If I mixed it in with my soil for transplant will that kill mycos in soil? Also if I top feed won't that leach down and kill mycos? Thanks for your response hard to find info on canola meal out there.

Also what do you think about this recipe: Per gallon of water --1 tbsp of molasses, 1 tbsp kelp, 1 tbsp humic acid, 2 tbsp of EWC and 2 Tbsp of high P bat guano.

CHEERS

NEWK

Mikell · Nov 27, 2014

Whoa-ho-ho, here comes some speaking out of my ass.

You're right, there's not a whole lot of information down that alley. I believe incorporation into to the soil buffers the effects (microbial degradation of glucosinolates), similar to what I must assume happens with neem. I have used both canola and neem, in addition to one or two other meals, in some mixes and still observed fungal growth above and below the surface. It was a concern I had at the time, and later in the season with additions through top dressing. Still more or less unresolved, beyond my own anectdotal findings.

Topdressing must dampen fungal growth to some extent, obviously with greater effect on the top few inches. Any application in a tea would have a more immediate effect, with less time to buffer.

CONTROL OF SNOW MOLDS BY BRASSICA GLUCOSINOLATES

Appears quite potent, I might rethink using it at all short of as a natural fungicide. I can't convert 25gr/m2 to something relevant to us, but looks to be quite a light dose. I believe EF420 has a rough formula, I may pop back in with a workable conversion.

I follow MM tea recipes (microbeorganics), with the above mentioned tweak on molasses. I can't quantify changes at home and it's one of the few cases I prefer to just follow along. Tailoured for prime microbial growth, to differentiate from of the hybrid or nutrient slurry teas around.

re: no humic/guano(top dress?), 2/3 the amount of kelp (assuming you use meal), three times the amount of castings,

newkid · Nov 27, 2014

Thanks man, great link!

newkid · Nov 27, 2014

That seems to be the issue with fungicides you can't really pick which it destroys good or bad, I guess thats where being proactive comes into play. Have to set the environment up for success. I just hope canola doesn't effect my mycos too much, I like your note on buffer time makes sense. I was just happy to find canola meal a cheap organic abundant source of N. Only with experience will I be able to weigh out having beneficial mycos vs great source of N.

Also sick website I'll have to get my hands on a decent microscope!

Mikell · Nov 27, 2014

Using myco/innoculants during seedling/clone stage is the most effective re: successful innoculation wise and by price. Short of applying a broad spectrum fungicide in concentration, the addition of neem or canola meal should not so much sanitize as temporarily dampen. Mostly my own conjecture there.

I did find this last night after realizing I never replied to the question of mycorrhizal fungi.

Link

Go on a general internet search, end up back at IC. This time it was beneficial at least hah. The post only deals with neem. Canola, from what I gather, is much more potent. The linked single post by Spurr has a number of references to a beneficial relationship between neem and mycorrhizal fungi, the thread as a whole is a decent read-a-long.

I'll poke around today and see if I can't drum up something regarding canola meal.

newkid · Nov 28, 2014

so neem is beneficial whereas canola is a fungicide??

Scottish Research · Nov 28, 2014

I pre-mix mycos into my soil mix, and now just feed with seabird guano during veg. I place the pellets in a large pour container cover with warm water I then use a hand held immersion blender to break up the pellets. I can store this in the fridge for weeks if needed.

newkid · Dec 3, 2014

Hello again,

quick Q, can I use white coffee filters for tea bag for EWC and P guano ??

Thanks

Compost Tea - A Complete Guide

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