A Basic Compost Tea Guide

[jaykush]

unless you add comfrey to your compost ct guy!!!! i know i do and it works amazing as a flowering based compost(along with tons of flowers). and then you get the benefit of both nutrients and microbes.

it does work great as a liquid soak fert as well, but then thats not a compost tea like said.

 

[princess cronic]

Thanks for the link. I want to try this.

 

[hdn155]

been browsing the organics forums and this thread here for some time now. made my first tea about 30 minutes ago and here is a picture of the results so far

i used grandmas all natural molasses 2tbsp. 1/3 cup mexican bat guano 1/3 sea bird guano, 4tbsp kelp extract, 1/2 cup worm castings. I cannot wait to see the rusults of this shit.

 

[CT Guy]

I'd up the amount of water (fill the bucket), up the amount of worm castings, cut the molasses to 1-2 tsp., and consider skipping the guanos altogether. Oh, and up your O2 levels by a lot if you can. Get another pump or two. Do you have an air stone at the bottom then I'm guessing?

The reason I'd cut out the guanos is because if your tea goes anaerobic (which i'm guessing from the photo it probably did, then you've selected for the anaerobes and I'm sure there's some in the guanos). You can get a perfectly good tea just from using the worm castings.

 

[hdn155]

I only have the water half full because i dont need 5 full gallons of water for my grown. even 2 and 1/2 gallons is plenty for me. you would advise me to cut out the guanos.. please elaborate more on why you believe my tea is anaerobic (lack of air?) Thank you CT guy.

 

[Suby]

Basically guano doesn't have any benefits when making a microbial tea.
Guano teas are fertilizer, they provide NPK.
Make your guano tea seperately and add it to the compost tea, this way the guano doesn't sway the microbe balance of the tea.
I agree 2TBS molasses is too much, 1TSP per gallon or less will give you a better balanced tea.
The amount of WC and kelp you used is fine IMO, you can make more tea and use it on your house plants of better yet to freshen you composting or recyled soil.

 

[CT Guy]

You need to get your aeration up. For a visual clue, check out this link to someone using our brewer. Skip to 3:31 in the video if you just want to see the aeration.

http://blog.douggreensgarden.com/2008/07/27/how-to-make-compost-tea/

 

[hdn155]

Ok, so Make my compost tea, Earth worm castings, kelp meal, molassess? is that a good basic start?? and then brew the guano tea's seperate and add them to the basic tea's as needed for veg/flowering? Also CT guy, that aeration device he uses in the video, would you have any idea where i could that? or an air pump similiar to the one he is using. Thank you suby and ct guy!!

 

[MrFista]

EWC, kelp, molasses - is an excellent start hdn155. You're in good hands now.

I only brew in 2.5 gallon lots, is this still too much for you?

Thinking maybe a narrower taller container could assist the aeration for you with a smaller amount.

 

[hdn155]

2.5 gallons is still a little too much for me. but i just use the left overs on my roses in the front yard and also pour the rest into my compost pile out back. If one airstone is not good enough, would two be? Or should i go a different route for aeration?

 

[candamo]

this is how my tea looks like:
25ml high p bat guano
1/3 cup worm castings
1/3 cup PSG




does it look alright?

 

[Mt Toaker]

I've never used teas before and am probably going to for this grow. Though a friend gave me some FoxFarm "GrowBig" plant food, is this to be used with the teas? Or should I just use the plant food. The way it was explained to me at the local hydro shop was that the GrowBig activates the nutrients in the soil and helps the bacteria and such. I am using FoxFarms Ocean Forest soil as well.

 

[jaykush]

^^^ no. ive done it before. stick to compost for teas.

 

[Mt Toaker]

No not mixing them together. . . I mean water with tea then water with growbig, on different watering days.

 

[vonforne]

I've never used teas before and am probably going to for this grow. Though a friend gave me some FoxFarm "GrowBig" plant food, is this to be used with the teas? Or should I just use the plant food. The way it was explained to me at the local hydro shop was that the GrowBig activates the nutrients in the soil and helps the bacteria and such. I am using FoxFarms Ocean Forest soil as well.

The whole thing with teas is to give the soil substrate some fresh bacteria and fungi......not so much nutrients. You have nutrient in the OF. I would not use the Grow Big at all. And if you do use less than the recommended dosage.
And please do not go by the sales bullshit some wanna be Hydro fag tells you.

Do some further research and replace those items. A great place to start would be the OFC sticky. Eveything you ever wanted to know about organic growing is in there. Just take alot of time and read it.

V

 

[phineas fogg]

Hi folks I am just about to start growing in soil so am looking for some advice/ help. I am going to use Bio buzz It consists of 20% spagnum peat moss, 35% garden peat, 10% high quality organic worm manure, 30% perlite and 5% Pre-Mix. I have also ordered some worm casts and some bat guano ( but don't know the P levels ). I can get seaweed and kelp from the local chinese wholesalers. I was wondering what kind of feeding regime you would recomend I intend to flower quickly and keep them under 24" then recyle/compost the soil. Sorry if this has been covered before but have had a lot of reading to do recently . Thanks for any help

 

[Sam Slambam]

Howdy Folks,


This may be a verrrrrrry stupid question, errr, thought rather, ...

Does anyone have any thoughts on using Kombucha tea in a compost tea recipe?
I mean, it is rather vinegary, which could help on the lowering of the PH tip, AND it's full of all kinds of probiotics such as Lactobacilus.


Feel free to lambast me if you see fit...

 

[vonforne]

Hi folks I am just about to start growing in soil so am looking for some advice/ help. I am going to use Bio buzz It consists of 20% spagnum peat moss, 35% garden peat, 10% high quality organic worm manure, 30% perlite and 5% Pre-Mix. I have also ordered some worm casts and some bat guano ( but don't know the P levels ). I can get seaweed and kelp from the local chinese wholesalers. I was wondering what kind of feeding regime you would recomend I intend to flower quickly and keep them under 24" then recyle/compost the soil. Sorry if this has been covered before but have had a lot of reading to do recently . Thanks for any help

Hey PF I would address this line of question to the Organic for beginners sticky.

You could save some money and make your own soil. Check in with Burn1 he will get you going and then you can supplement with the teas later.

V

 

[marali]

Any tips and inputs about not aerated compost teas? Just a barrel, compost, molasses, ewc and water. Stirring it every once in a while?

???

 

[hdn155]

brewed up some tea couple days ago and today it had lots of white slimy looking things bobbing about in the tea... 1 cup ewc, 1/4 cup high p bat guano, 4tbsp molasses, 2tbsp kelp extract, 1 tbsp liquid karma and 1 tbsp dolomite lime into 5 gallons of water.