Sadhu Sciences
Member
Thanks Gram, So much info on this thread
Hello fellow compost enthusiasts. I just built my first airlift brewer, and harvested my first batch of tea at 24hrs (ambient temp 71-73 degrees). Although I'm still a noob at this, I was able to identity tons of flagellates and other bennies under my microscope. My plants are going nuts after just 12 hours of application. Microbial life, is good.
My question however, is this. At 24 hrs my tea is great. I water at night in my garden when the lights come on, and my tea smells good (or lack of smell, I suppose). I would love to be able to use the left over tea on my outdoor veggies the next day, tho, and at 36 hrs, my brew has gone anaerobic. Is there any way to extend the tea life by adding a small amount of food stock like more fish, molasses, or kelp? In order for my brewer to properly work, I'd probably have to add more water, but that is a problem I will worry about later. My recipe is as follows:
4-5 gallons RO'd H2O
1.5 Cups EWC
.25 Cups California Humus
.25 Cups Alfalfa Meal
1 Tablespoon Kelp Meal
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1 Tablespoon Fish Hydrolysate
Aerated for 24 hrs at 71-73 degrees.
Here's my setup. Thanks in advance for your input.
https://vimeo.com/94884583
My question however, is this. At 24 hrs my tea is great. I water at night in my garden when the lights come on, and my tea smells good (or lack of smell, I suppose). I would love to be able to use the left over tea on my outdoor veggies the next day, tho, and at 36 hrs, my brew has gone anaerobic. Is there any way to extend the tea life by adding a small amount of food stock like more fish, molasses, or kelp? In order for my brewer to properly work, I'd probably have to add more water, but that is a problem I will worry about later. My recipe is as follows:
4-5 gallons RO'd H2O
1.5 Cups EWC
.25 Cups California Humus
.25 Cups Alfalfa Meal
1 Tablespoon Kelp Meal
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1 Tablespoon Fish Hydrolysate
Aerated for 24 hrs at 71-73 degrees.
Here's my setup. Thanks in advance for your input.
https://vimeo.com/94884583
Just using the tea all at once… not trying to add food stock, or dilute with more water in order to make my bioreactor function properly. I finally was able to find some info from Microbeman that it is a bad idea to fuck with the components once a tea has started brewing...
C
ct guy2
You can have "dead zones" if the water is not being fully circulated and agitated. Also important to actual strip the microorganisms off the soil particulate. It requires quite a bit of agitation to achieve this.
I've been adding the left over particulate as top dressing or sometimes puting into an aquaponic systems water resivoure. Is this a good thing? What are some other things a guy could do?
C
ct guy2
I typically dump it back into my compost pile or top dress a plant with it.
analogcricket
Member
if my water is 8.0-8.5 should i adjust the ph before brewing my ACT?
thelaughingman
Active member
If you have dolomite limestone mixed into your soil 8.0 ph range will be fine
analogcricket
Member
and if not?
I've seen fish hydrolysate preserved with phosphoric acid but not molasses. Are you sure?
There's a regional company that makes and markets bottled organic products. I've known the owner since the 70's. That's what he told me. I also read on the OMRI site that it is acceptable to preserve MO and other products with Phosphoric to take the pH down to 3.8.
I have Soil Mender MO that lowers the pH of any mix I add it to, a lot. The Wholesome Sweetener brand MO doesn't affect pH, so I assume it has no acid added. My guess is that food grade has no added acid, unlike feed and horticultural grades. -granger
I have Soil Mender MO that lowers the pH of any mix I add it to, a lot. The Wholesome Sweetener brand MO doesn't affect pH, so I assume it has no acid added. My guess is that food grade has no added acid, unlike feed and horticultural grades. -granger
