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A Basic Compost Tea Guide

Vash

Ol' Skool
ICMag Donor
Veteran
[B said:
vonforne] [/B] my fellow Organic growers, here is another small essay I have put together. This is another of my favorite subjects and one of the most important and useful means for nutrient delivery to the plants we grow whether it is MJ or your normal garden out the back door of your home.

What is a Compost Tea?

A Compost tea is an aerobically-brewed liquid extract made from quality microbial foods. When a tea is brewed correctly, it contains only beneficial organisms and nutrients that are essential for the soil and plants well being. Since MJ is normally a nutrient hog this is one of the most effective delivery systems available to us. It can be applied in several ways. I will address this later in the article.

Benefits of using an aerobically brewed tea are:

1. It improves soil structure.

2. It helps aid in retention of nutrients.

3. Aids in the cycling of nutrients into available forms.

4. Reduces plant stress due to environmental conditions.

5. Disease organisms are displaced by the good organisms contained in the
tea.

6. Has the ability to break down compacted soils with repeated uses.

7. Prevents anaerobic (bad bacteria) organisms from gaining a foot hold in
your soil.

8. Compost tea replaces micro-biology back into the soil that we have
removed because of our over-development and chemical applied
nutrient and herbicides.

9. When applied as a foliar spray it covers the plant surfaces and prevents
harmful material from reaching the plant, including disease organisms. It
will increase the time the stoma are open and allow foliar nutrients to
be absorbed into the leaves.


10. When applied to the soil, it will improve the soil structure, increase
nutrient uptake, break down pollutants and reduces water use.

What is needed to make a Compost Tea?

Compost tea is made with different ingredients, depending on your brewing method and ingredients available to you. Minerals, food sources, and humic acids are added to sustain the growing population of micro-organisms.
A quick over view of the materials:

Seaweed- Supplies all the extra trace elements. Seaweed can contain up to 70 trace elements and lots of growth hormones. Seaweed is a beneficial fungal food source for soil microbes. I prefer to use liquid seaweed.

Compost- this supplies most of the beneficial aerobic organisms (the good guys) and soluble nutrients. Worm castings are your best bet here. Guanos and manures fall into this category. You can either use them separate or together.

Unsulphered Molasses- this feeds and breeds the aerobic bacteria. Sugar products are mostly carbon which is what the micro-herd consume quickly. To extend the life of your tea, add a little more molasses. Besides feeding the micro-herd, molasses supplies a good amount of minerals also. Sulfur being one of them which acts as a natural fungicide. Molasses is also a natural deodorizer for your tea. For a more fungal tea add less molasses to your aerobic tea. You can use more complex sugars, starches and carbohydrates like seaweed, rotten fruit, soy sauce or other fungal foods. Molasses substitutes are brown sugar and corn syrup.

Alfalfa meal, corn meal, cattle food, horse feed and fish feed- these will supply extra proteins and bacteria. Corn meal is a natural fungicide and supplies food for the beneficial fungi in the soil.
Good old garden soil is an excellent free bio-stimulant- Garden soils are full of beneficial aerobic bacteria, fungi and other great microbes. An even better one would be Forest soil, sometimes known as Forest humus.


You can expect different microbial population levels in your tea based on weather, climate, temperature, seasons, etc. In the summertime you can expect your teas to brew faster and get to your optimal microbial levels faster than in cooler fall weather. Also tea odors, color, and foaminess on top of the tea, will vary based on temperatures too.

Here is a list of materials you will need:

1. 1 or 5 gallon container, I use a 5 gallon bucket.

2. Fish tank pump and an air stone.

3. A pair of old socks or a # 2 panty hose.

4. Some type of measuring device…Tablespoon and Measuring cup ( one
that reads ml or ounces).

5. Quality compost and liquid additives.

Once you have gathered all of your usable materials you are ready to begin. First, take and fill the container of choice up. Let it bubble for 48 hours to ensure that all the chlorine is “burned” off. I call this “tepid” water. Once this procedure is complete you are ready to add your organic material. Take your sock and place in what materials you choose to use. Place the sock with the organic material in the container and agitate it vigorously. After about 24 hours you will see foam start to form at the top of the solution. This will let you know that the micro-population of beneficial bacteria are starting to breed. Continue to brew for another 24 hours. Once this process is complete you will have an excellent foliar feed or a soil drench.

Here is a basic tea recipe:

Guano Tea and Kelp:

Seedlings less than 1 month old nutrient tea mix-
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
1-cup earthworm castings/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering

Vegetative mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Liquid Karma (optional)
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
@ 1-cup mix/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering.

Flowering nutrient tea mix:
2/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano
2/3 cup Earth Worm Castings
2/3 cup High P Guano (Indonesian or Jamaican)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses

Dilute as needed. Generally, 2 to 3 cups per 5 gallons of water @ every watering.

When you talk of diluting, what are the ratios that you speak of? I've made the veg tea(pretty dark stuff) and I'm wondering at what ratio I should begin.
 
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I just made a very very simple tea for my house plants and my girls.


It worked great. In two days the house plants exploded and the girls put out a new set of leafs.

3 Ingredients:
1 Teaspoon of texas bat guana
1 Heaping Teaspoon of dried comprey
1/2 drop of superthrive

Let steep overnight in 1/2 gallon of hot tap water.
SPRAY AND WATER AWAY.
 

ThaiPhoon

Active member
Hey brewers! I have been brewing teas for a little while now. I am wondering if any of you check the Ph of your teas?

I have run into a bit of trouble using the home brewed teas on my plants...I don't know if I give them too much or too little or if the Ph is out. I am in a very under developed part of the world and it is quite a trip to a big city that may have Ph meters etc.

I still have MUCH to learn. Vonforne, Suby and Muddy Waters your posts are very helpful!
 

Pimpslapped

Member
TP, I personally haven't been monitoring PH on my teas. I'm operating under the philosophy that a well built organic soil will manage to balance out any reasonable variations in PH of teas. I've still got a good bit to learn, but from what I've read most people don't seem to worry about the PH of teas much.

I dilute my teas anywhere from 1:1 - 1:10 (tea:water), so far I've had few problems and none of those seemed to be PH related. If dolomite lime is used in the soil, it tends to buffer the PH a good deal as well.
 

ThaiPhoon

Active member
Yeah, thanks pimp. I have diluted some times as well, others not. I have the recommended 2 tbsp/gal of dolomite in the soil mix... some of the new growth is very "crinkled" and it is not as green as it should be. Anyways this isn't the right thread for help is it... I will just continue reading, and learning the hard way - the only way!
Thanks
 

Suby

**AWD** Aficianado
Veteran
Hey TPh whaddup,

I don't measure the ph of my teas but I know the quality of my water source, I use dolomite and I have a soil recipe and transplant strategy I'm used to, in a nutshell if all these things aren't resolved for the strain your growing then there's always a possibility of problems along the way.

I know your in no-man's land so a practical thing to do would be to post some pics, and maybe just topdress the soil with some quality compost and give them plain water, sometimes there's something in the soil mix that is in pockets or too strong and a microbe tea can make it worse by making even more of it available.

This is a perfect place to ask for help seing as a good compost tea can "fix" alot of inconsistencies in soil recipe.

Peace
S
 

Duppy

Member
Okay vonforne, there is still one thing I haven't figured out. Let's look at one of your recipes for an example:

Vegetative mix-
1/3 cup Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/3 cup High N Bat Guano (Mexican)
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings (EWC)
5 TBS. Maxi-crop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract
5 TBS. Liquid Karma (optional)
5 TBS. Black Strap Molasses
@ 1-cup mix/5 gallons of water every 3rd watering.

Are you saying here to use one cup of the brewed tea per five gallons of water? Or is it one cup of the ingredients per five gallons? (Given that what you have listed there is about 2 cups.)

Thanks
 
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Vash

Ol' Skool
ICMag Donor
Veteran
From what V told me, that mix makes one cup. I've made that tea, and it does do that. That's why the base of the tea is in thirds. Nevertheless, that ONE cup mix is put into 5 gallons of water, brewed, then diluted as per plant needs. Hope this helps.
 

Duppy

Member
Vash,

Thanks. So while it may or may not need dilution, it won't be as extreme as 1 cup per 5 gallons.

Guess I'll just whip out the old TDS meter and see how hot the final product is, then decide.
 

Duppy

Member
Now for my next question.

vonforne, you said you preferred liquid kelp. Then in the recipe, you used powdered maxi-crop. How does the dosage differ for liquid maxi-crop? Or is it the same?
 

ThaiPhoon

Active member
hey Suby! Thanks for that advice. I have done some more reading about soil/tea bacteria fungus stuff. mainly from links in the OFC. Things are looking up out there in the garden now. The leaves are greening up.

Here is the Thai I was most worried about...



I think what happened was that I was watering with microbe tea too much. I have read that bacteria will beat out the roots in the competition for the N. It could also be something to do with Ph, and or using dolomite and coco combination.

What I did to remedy the situation was STOP giving them microbe tea and water for a few days. I also top dressed with a tablespoon of dolomite, bat guano, and sugar cane compost. I lightly watered that in with some liquid I made from fermenting cow manure and rice husks for a month - supposed to be high in silica and build strong plants.

Today I mixed up a feed to give them in the morning. For 10 litres of water I added: 1 liter of my urine, 1 tbsp of a local soil conditioner containing humic and fulvic acid, 1 tbsp fish emulsion and 2 tbsp homebrewed seaweed liquid (porphyra fermented in water and molasses). I am going to bubble that overnight and feed them at dawn. I have read that is the best time to feed them...

Peace
 
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judas cohen

Active member
Duppy: High! I can't speak for Von, but i can offer my understanding of his recipe.

1/3 cup + 1/3cup + 1/3 cup + 5TBL + 5TBL + 5TBL= 1 cup+ 15TBL= 31TBL(almost 2 cups) of ingredients. (32 TBL=2 cups exactly)

I believe he says use 1 cup of ingredients in 5 gal of water. (leaving almost 1 cup of ingredients to be used later?)

When you get to the FLOWER tea, amounts are different. (but you didn't ask about that.)LOL

Regarding kelp: The directions that came with my Maxicrop 1-0-4 concentrated wettable powder says use 1/4 tsp in 1 gal of water and use undiluted.

The directions for liquid Maxicrop says use 1-2 oz (=2-4TBL) in 1 gal of water and use undiluted. This would imply that 1/4 tsp of 1-0-4 wettable powder is equal to 2-4 TBL of Liquid Maxicrop in strength.

The concentrated wettable powder (1-0-4) is MUCH stronger than the liquid! I prefer the powder because of the longer shelf life, and because it is much cheaper.

As per the manufacturer, 10.7 oz of wettable powder is equal in strength to almost 4 35 oz bottles of the liquid. The powder is about $13.95. 4 bottles of liquid is about $31.80. When mixed as per mfg. instructions, both (10.7 oz powder or 128 oz liquid) make the same amount of ready to use product.

To add to the confusion: although the concentrated powder, the liquid kelp concentrate, and KELP MEAL are all derived from ocean kelp; Kelp Meal used as a soil amendment (and sometimes used to make tea) is different from the two kelp products discussed above.

I may be using fuzzy math. Hopefully Von will straighten this out. The ingredients look good, perhaps the amounts just need to be edited. (so dummies like me can understand it.) LOL

Hope this helps. I'm still confused! LOL

Edit: Although dolomite lime and compost teas are both Good Things, perhaps we should stop and think before using the amounts recommended in some cases. We all have different soils, with different amounts of different amendments, in different size containers, growing different strains, under different lights, etc. I think "one size fits all" regarding lime and tea is not always true.

What is perfect for one grow might be too much (or not enough) for another Organic Fanatic's situation. There seems to be some problems popping up that may or may not be related to excessive use of lime and/or tea. It would be a darn shame if some new peeps abandoned organic growing because they had too many problems.

Just a thought...... any other opinions on that subject?
 
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Suby

**AWD** Aficianado
Veteran
Hello boys,

Edit: Although dolomite lime and compost teas are both Good Things, perhaps we should stop and think before using the amounts recommended in some cases. We all have different soils, with different amounts of different amendments, in different size containers, growing different strains, under different lights, etc. I think "one size fits all" regarding lime and tea is not always true.

What is perfect for one grow might be too much (or not enough) for another Organic Fanatic's situation. There seems to be some problems popping up that may or may not be related to excessive use of lime and/or tea. It would be a darn shame if some new peeps abandoned organic growing because they had too many problems.


I can't stress this enough guys, although the OFC is a huge thread it is meant for fun, I would never expect anyone to think they have to read and understand everything in there to understand organics.
Above all organic is meant to be simple, what we are trying to reproduce in our pots happens naturally given the right ingredients.
The real problem is the recipe part, it's easy to cheat and have too much fun and add this and that and add more of this and less of that and next thing you know your cocktailing soil recipies without following the basics.
The recipies folks post around the forum work for them (lol or not) but they learn from it and tailor something that works for them, the key here is to be patient and use ONE PARTICULAR METHOD for more that one grow cycle, get a feel for the recipe for one given strain and your environment.

Your A)water source, B) soil mix and, C) strain will dictate have to work together and that can take a little tweaking but on the whole good results are achieved even by beginners.

I don't do teas everyday, but I've never burnt anything with a tea either.
The trick here is less is more, start light and work your way up.

As for lime MOST of the problems I have been seing had to do with users who had either not properly composted their soil mix, or had used it on seedlings (the same goes for teas and seedlings go easy here), and finally some had a water source that required less that the recommended 1-2 TBS per gallon of soil mix of dolomite lime.
Others are using the WRONG lime or a blend and finally others are using an out of the bag mix that already contains lime.

Good discussion peeps, keep it up :rasta:
Peace

Suby
 

Duppy

Member
I believe he says use 1 cup of ingredients in 5 gal of water. (leaving almost 1 cup of ingredients to be used later?)

JC - That's what I thought, but if Vash is right then all of that goes into 5 gallons. And I suppose that the liquid ingredients might soak into the dry ones and result in not much more than a full cup. It doesn't make sense to me that vonforne would have given a recipe and then told you to use half, so I think Vash is right. I guess vonforne will have to settle it once and for all.

Suby - For me, the water is the real wild card. My well water is fairly hard - 250 on the TDS right out of the ground, and alkaline as well. I have been buying water to grow with, but I am wondering if I can't make that hardness (which is primarily Ca and Mg!) work for me.

It's good to know that it's hard to burn the girls with tea, as that is always my primary fear.

Anyway, thanks guys. This has been an illuminating discussion.
 

ThaiPhoon

Active member
Well put Suby, I guess I am guilty of cocktailing my mix. Less is more I totally see that now!

Where's V, we kinda jacked his thread...sorry! :joint:
 

gromer

Member
Ive found I get a better head of foam when Iuse my well water [its 130 ppm and 7.5 ph this time of year]and if I use ro I get no foam at all.The micro beasties like the minerals in the nice well water.Brewing tea with tap water from the city would be foolish but if ya got a well and the ppm is mostly cal and mag your all set hell just short of foliaring that water should be all right for regular use.Just doesnt give you a whole lotta room for other nutes.Its funny people ro their water then get deficencies and end up adding like a cal mag supplement which is what they stripped out with their filter.Plants and beasties alike love cal and mag so I say brew away!!
 

jolene

Member
To 2 gallons of rainwater (preferably)

1 tablespoon of hi P bat guano
200ml (a cup perhaps?) of worm bin runoff (I guess you could use 1/2 a cup worm casts instead)
1 litre of pre-brewed comfrey tea [ rot down 1/3 of a rubbish bin full of chopped comfrey leaves topped up with rainwater - stir it every day and then cover it for 2 weeks at least - dear god it stinks like shit but its worth it ]

Bubble it up for a day then go wild. It has a good proportion of nitrogen in it from the comfrey so not much worm castings (more for bacteria and funghi), it is better for early - mid flowering
 
V

vonforne

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I have been neglecting my duties to the OFC.....my apologies.

Here is their feeding schedule and ingredients.

Every 5 days they receive a good drink of about 1/2 gallon of solution. they are on about week 4 of flowering.


5 TBS Indo guano(P)
1 TBS of Mexi guano(N)
1 TBS of K-mag natural (Minerals)
3 TBS of Rich Earth or Activator Humic ore (minerals)
2 handfuls of EWC
5 TBS of Molasses (Tree of Life)
1 handful of Mushroom compost (fungi)

this was added to a 5 gallon bucket of water and bubbled for 2 to 3 days


These plants are fed only with organic teas through out their life cycle.

V
 

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