Has anyone used compost tea in coco?

Lostclusters · Mar 3, 2016

Has anyone used compost tea in coco? I picked some up at my local hydro store and used it thinking it would help with the uptake of nutrients with my plants. My plants are happy and all but they lost their usual smell for some earthy smell. They are slowly loosing that earth smell, too slowly for my taste. They were in the 4th week of flower and I am using the Botanicare Pro line of nutes. I am hoping my plant's normal smell comes back and this does not affect the overall taste after my harvest is dried and cured. Any thoughts out there?

CHEFfy · Mar 3, 2016

As long as the tea was properly brewed, it should do nothing but help.

Lyfespan · Mar 3, 2016

im using teas and enzymes with my coco. i have been reusing my coco from hempy buckets i run, and using the enzyme when im remixing things to help the break down of left over root matter. the teas i have just started with, but have been using EM-1 in my buckets for awhile with great success.

my thinking here with the coco and teas and enzymes. coco is just organic matter waiting for further break down, im hoping its going to provide a far better "organic" ecosystem than soils?

anyone else care to give it a whack

_tessarecting · Mar 3, 2016

Is it like a hay smell? That would indicate too much N.

phazer · Mar 4, 2016

compost teas work great for coco, a mix of organics and biominerals creates some tasty herb

Mikell · Mar 4, 2016

Up to the plate Granger, this thread was made for you

Try to make that the last time you buy tea.

rasputin · Mar 4, 2016

I've used compost tea in coco many times. It works just fine. Have you grown these same plants before or are they new from seed?

Fourtay · Mar 4, 2016

I haven't done any side by side tests, but I do know when I have used tea in the past my plants rocked.

Granger2 · Mar 4, 2016

Don't buy ACT. For several reasons. How it's made is important, even critical. Most store bought ACT, from what I have read, is a brew that they make and add to as needed. Before long you end up with a crappy mix of micro organisms.

To make good ACT that makes your plants thrive, it needs to be fresh. Needs to be brewed 24 to 48 hours. After 48 hours the balance of critters starts to head towards anaerobic. You don't want that. Good tea will smell good. Odors vary from the smell of raw ingredients in the beginning, and changes over time-Beerlike, yeasty, but always good. If tea doesn't smell good, don't use it. I usually brew mine till the pH is where I want it. I'm in coco so I want it between 5.8 to 6.2.

A great basic ACT or AACT is made from good water [no chlorine], Blackstrap unsulfured Molasses, and an inoculant to "seed" it with critters, such as Earth Worm Castings, good compost, and similar. I like using a mix of EWC, a good local compost, and my 35 year old compost. This needs to be bubbled aggressively, then applied right away. Other ingredients can be added for whatever reason. Microbe Man says not to use Humic Acids or Seaweed as it slows the multiplication of the microbes. They multiply exponentially. That's what it's all about - thousands of strains multiplying to vast numbers that inoculate your medium. Many die, providing food for your plants and other microbes. Others form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, with plants giving them things they like in exchange for the things the plants like. It's very complex, but ACT is simple to make.

Microbe Man's site is a great resource http://www.microbeorganics.com/
Also there's a sticky here in the Organic Soil Forum called "Tea Article."

You can also make nutrient teas. I use Earth Juice, and usually brew the EJ mixes to raise the pH, plus all the other benefits. Read up and good luck. -granger

Lyfespan · Mar 5, 2016

Granger2 said:
Don't buy ACT. For several reasons. How it's made is important, even critical. Most store bought ACT, from what I have read, is a brew that they make and add to as needed. Before long you end up with a crappy mix of micro organisms.

To make good ACT that makes your plants thrive, it needs to be fresh. Needs to be brewed 24 to 48 hours. After 48 hours the balance of critters starts to head towards anaerobic. You don't want that. Good tea will smell good. Odors vary from the smell of raw ingredients in the beginning, and changes over time-Beerlike, yeasty, but always good. If tea doesn't smell good, don't use it. I usually brew mine till the pH is where I want it. I'm in coco so I want it between 5.8 to 6.2.

A great basic ACT or AACT is made from good water [no chlorine], Blackstrap unsulfured Molasses, and an inoculant to "seed" it with critters, such as Earth Worm Castings, good compost, and similar. I like using a mix of EWC, a good local compost, and my 35 year old compost. This needs to be bubbled aggressively, then applied right away. Other ingredients can be added for whatever reason. Microbe Man says not to use Humic Acids or Seaweed as it slows the multiplication of the microbes. They multiply exponentially. That's what it's all about - thousands of strains multiplying to vast numbers that inoculate your medium. Many die, providing food for your plants and other microbes. Others form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, with plants giving them things they like in exchange for the things the critters like. It's very complex, but ACT is simple to make.

Microbe Man's site is a great resource http://www.microbeorganics.com/
Also there's a sticky here in the Organic Soil Forum called "Tea Article."

You can also make nutrient teas. I use Earth Juice, and usually brew the EJ mixes to raise the pH, plus all the other benefits. Read up and good luck. -granger

crap, lol i have been not using worm castings , and have been adding the kelp, humic, and fulvic

.. everything smells great? but could that be the EM-1 kicking ass in there?

Granger2 · Mar 5, 2016

EM1 is a good product, but I want as wide a variety of microbes as I can provide to the tea. Using EM1 and compost, EWC, etc. would give you a much bigger array of them. Seaweed, humics are good products to use, just don't brew them. Good luck. -granger

Lostclusters · Mar 5, 2016

_tessarecting said:
Is it like a hay smell? That would indicate too much N.

No. As I said above it is an earthy smell.

Lostclusters · Mar 5, 2016

rasputin said:
I've used compost tea in coco many times. It works just fine. Have you grown these same plants before or are they new from seed?

Grown from seed.

Fourtay · Mar 5, 2016

Microbe man advocates the use of molasses. However, Dr Elaine Ingham suggests the opposite, not to use it. From what I read, brew times depend on your inputs, environment and desired result.

Lyfespan · Mar 6, 2016

Granger2 said:
EM1 is a good product, but I want as wide a variety of microbes as I can provide to the tea. Using EM1 and compost, EWC, etc. would give you a much bigger array of them. Seaweed, humics are good products to use, just don't brew them. Good luck. -granger

into my last batch went
EM-1
powdered water sol. molasses
endo and ecto Mycorrhizae and Trichoderma
Water Soluble Enzymes derived from the Pepsin family of Enzymes
kelp
humic
mexican bat guano
veg. and soy protiens

Granger2 · Mar 6, 2016

Mycorrhizae don't cotton to teas and brewing. They need to be utilized by making direct contact with roots, at transplant being the easiest time to do that. -granger

Lyfespan · Mar 6, 2016

Granger2 said:
Mycorrhizae don't cotton to teas and brewing. They need to be utilized by making direct contact with roots, at transplant being the easiest time to do that. -granger

oh i have them there too go through bags of it here for transplanting.

i couldnt think of any reason why not to toss a lil in to the brew?

TheyCallMeJJay · Mar 7, 2016

Compost Teas in any medium will not hurt a thing! It really shines if there's a food source such as guano and meals. By itself, it's deficient (nutrient wise) for what we're doing.

What you're looking for is nutrient teas. Nutrient teas (guano is my favorite) are bad ass in coco. Labor intensive but lord does it produce results.

bigshrimp · Mar 7, 2016

Granger2 said:
my 35 year old compost.

bully xD

LyryC · Mar 8, 2016

Compost tea the shit out of your babes in coco.

Its best twice a week at most, couple foliars in veg, one pre flower.

Couple dope compost tea products are OG Tea and OG BioWar along with the usual barrage.

When using compost teas, I generally mix 1 gallon of tea per 5 gallons of feed. the EC and PH will change, just make sure your nutrient mix was at the proper ec/ph before you mixed in the compost tea and you are golden.

COMPOST ON!!!

Has anyone used compost tea in coco?

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