Problem with making EWC fungally dominated

For making compost teas that are fungally dominated I have read on a few forums/threads/posts that you add oatmeal to your ewc 2 days before making the compost tea, and the oatmeal is food for the fungus and gives it a chance to get establised. Fungi don't multiply apparently the way bacteria do, they just grow.

Heres the problem, the last 2 times I added my cooked porridge to my container of ewc, it starts smelling something horrible.

I don't think its going anerobic, because it happens so quick, and gets plenty of air, and isn't that wet. Maybe its fermenting or maybe thats the smell of the oatmeal breaking down by bacteria. I also see no fuzzy mycelium on the oatmeal.

The oatmeal is made with water only. Any ideas? This smell does not go away and makes the whole compost tea smell as well. Maybe I will add dry oatmeal flakes without cooking it next time and let it soak up moisture from the ewc, and see what happens after a week or so.

The way to have fungi present in vermicompost [VC] is to feed the worms carbon based ingredients way before you harvest the VC or consider using it in ACT. (cardboard, woody debris, sphagnum peatmoss, etc.)

Sorry to disappoint but the fungi you grow by adding oat or other flour to finished VC is most likely the same fungi you get by keeping bread for too long.

IMO, no amount of trickery or special recipes will make the correct types of fungi magically grow in finished VC. It has to grow/evolve over time,

BTW the recipes for this call for flour, not cooked oatmeal, which likely accounts for the wicked smells. I do use wheat bran to pre-feed VC sometimes 24 hours ahead of making ACT.

"and moistening with very diluted black strap molasses, loosely covered with cloth or paper towel 24 hours ahead of brew. (approximate ratios, wheat bran 1:30 [vermi]compost & BSM 1:300 water).

This has, so far resulted in (most of the time) attaining the desired microbial population at 24 hours brew time rather than the usual 36 to 42 hours."

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Microbeman said:

The way to have fungi present in vermicompost [VC] is to feed the worms carbon based ingredients way before you harvest the VC or consider using it in ACT. (cardboard, woody debris, sphagnum peatmoss, etc.)

Sorry to disappoint but the fungi you grow by adding oat or other flour to finished VC is most likely the same fungi you get by keeping bread for too long.

IMO, no amount of trickery or special recipes will make the correct types of fungi magically grow in finished VC. It has to grow/evolve over time,

BTW the recipes for this call for flour, not cooked oatmeal, which likely accounts for the wicked smells. I do use wheat bran to pre-feed VC sometimes 24 hours ahead of making ACT.

Click to expand...

I would add that Microbeman has noted an increase in bacterial feeding nematodes using this method too (feel free to correct me on this though).

Microbeman said:

The way to have fungi present in vermicompost [VC] is to feed the worms carbon based ingredients way before you harvest the VC or consider using it in ACT. (cardboard, woody debris, sphagnum peatmoss, etc.)

Sorry to disappoint but the fungi you grow by adding oat or other flour to finished VC is most likely the same fungi you get by keeping bread for too long.

IMO, no amount of trickery or special recipes will make the correct types of fungi magically grow in finished VC. It has to grow/evolve over time,

BTW the recipes for this call for flour, not cooked oatmeal, which likely accounts for the wicked smells. I do use wheat bran to pre-feed VC sometimes 24 hours ahead of making ACT.

Click to expand...

Ok that actually makes sense. I will not do it this way anymore, and instead focus on just increasing fungi in my ewc as you have suggested. I already throw all my stems back in the bin and it takes awhile to break down so a fair bit is already in there. Thanks You

KIS said:

I would add that Microbeman has noted an increase in bacterial feeding nematodes using this method too (feel free to correct me on this though).

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To qualify, this is over 8 to 14 days and does not relate to ACT.

Yes, feed the oats to your worms. use the resulting ewc in your soil and teas. worms love oats. I keep a container of raw oats near my worm bin and when I make additions to the bin i often sprinkle in a handful of oats as well.