[ziggestardust]

After brewing some fermented plant extracts it is time to test them out.



The test subjects are 16 random bagseed-seedlings. Randomly placed in four groups of four.

The four groups:

1. Control
2. Fermented Aloe Vera extract
3. Fermented Basil Extract
4. Fermented Alfalfa Sprout Extract (with small amounts of lentils)

The subjects are randomly placed on a styrofoam sheet.



The subjects are placed under a 400W HPS and will be weighted wet as soon as I get a scale (old one broken :S).

They are planted in cheap potting soil and, until transplanted, will receive only the assigned serum. After transplanting to final pots in organic soil they will be given homebrewn fish hydrolysate and some other goodies.



The final soil will probably be Ganokalong complete mix, if I dont get around creating my own mix anytime soon.

Lets get ready to RUMBLEEEEE!!!!

[ziggestardust]

Oh, I mix the serums at a ratio of 1 to 100

[ziggestardust]

So here they are, a few days in. They will soon be transplanted into 1gal pots and put into flower. As soon as the bigger ones with good genetics can be cloned.

They will be getting handmade fabric pots to support the wick watering system beneath them.

[Scrappy4]

Fermented aloe vera is not something i would use. You might want to research this more.

I like to use basil tea occasionally for insect controls. Not sure how valuable fermenting it would be for plant food. I''ll look foward to your results.

Alfalfa meal makes a nice extract, but if you want the benefits of using sprouts use it quicker than fermenting it. Fermenting will eventually break down the compounds into elements and you will not benefit from what the sprouts can bring to the table.

My favorite fermented extracts after a couple years of experimenting are dandelion in both flowers and whole plants including roots, alfalfa meal, comfrey and horsetail. I just cover the plant material in water, cover and let it sit for a month or two.

I also use alfalfa meal, nettles, yarrow, comfrey, kelp meal, neem meal in quick soak teas, where the object is to maximize each inputs secondary metabilites, something lacking in ferments.....scrappy

[RanchoDeluxe]

This is my take on it.

Fermenting for a few weeks to a few months will give you nothing but the NPK of the material being fermented.

Quick soaks say up to 72hrs w or w/out aeration will give you a small amount of NPK w/ the added benefit of all the secondary metabolites.

So I use quick soaks when everything is grooving along, but I don't want to give em just plain water.

I use FPE's when the girls look like they need a slap in the ass to get things going. When I use an FPE I will typically water it in w/ plain water and whatever FPE. I finish that watering w/ an AACT tea, in the hopes of getting the girls grooving again. Just what I do.

[ziggestardust]

I think it is very convenient to have the FPE's ready to go whenever I need them, and the teas on occasion.

The problem for me right now is that I really have no source of bacteria. I could go with some forest mulch or the organic premixed soils I have. But I don't know about that; I have a vermicompost but it has a long way to go before being usable, further I don't know anyone in my city that composts.

Municipal compost was another option but they ship no less than four metric tonnes (it was pretty cheap though, like $200 including transport within the municipal borders) and I have no place to store such a pile of compost.

I bought some pre-bottled humic acid (local brand), it does not mention anything about microherd though. Only humic acid, minerals - yada yada...

What I hope to achieve with this comparison however, is to determine how effective the FPE's are. We'll see about that

[Oregonism]

maximize each inputs secondary metabilites, something lacking in ferments.....

I have found fermentation produces just the opposite, MORE potential to isolate secondary metabolites, even if mineral compounds are produced as well. How did you come to that conclusion?

There is no "take", it is really just comparing plant materials between two chemical processes, fermentation and hydrolysis. That's it in a nutshell. Probably the most important difference? One is exposed to oxygen [soaking] and one isn't [fermentation]

Oxygen = soak, hydrolysis, aerating, aerobic
No/Oxygen = fermentation, FPE, anearobic

[W89]

I have found fermentation produces just the opposite, MORE potential to isolate secondary metabolites, even if mineral compounds are produced as well. How did you come to that conclusion?

So what you saying tha the secondary metabolites dont break down in the fermenting process?

Wank89

Alright, buster, what happened?

[ziggestardust]

No noticeable difference unfortunately. Due to crowding issues the plants had different conditions. I will probably have another shot at it when I have more experience.