AACT strength question

BluntMoniker

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
So I've been really looking into living soil and organics for a while now, and I've just started my journey into brewing teas, so I can introduce beneficial fungi/bacteria to my soil

I made a concentrated 1gal tea, using about 1 cup of high quality homemade compost, 1/4 cup fresh worm castings from my worm farm, 1 tbsp molasses, 1 tbsp crushed seaweed.

My reasoning for doing a concentrate, is so I can use what I need for my indoor garden, and then apply the rest to my veg garden outdoors, as I figured concentration rates would be different for indoors/outdoors use.

But at what rate would you guys suggest diluting my mix? I see people make 5gallon batches and feed them straight, I've seen other people say dilute even a non concentrated batch.

So I just wanted others opinions on what they would do as far as dilution for the mix I've brewed up. I was thinking 5:1 water:AACT, but figured I'd ask people with more experience what they thought
 
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chakup

Well-Known Member
The point of brewing a tea is for the microbes to "take over" the base-water. A concentrated brew may just bite you in the butt by not allowing the room and oxygen they'd need to grow.
 
BluntMoniker

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
chakup said:
The point of brewing a tea is for the microbes to "take over" the base-water. A concentrated brew may just bite you in the butt by not allowing the room and oxygen they'd need to grow.
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Why would water volume have any effect on my brews ability to multiply organisms? Brewing tea is simple fermentation...

Same concept as brewing beer. You only use so much innoculant (yeast), and then based on the amount of food provided (sugar), the yeast is able to multiply and ferment. For example, when making a high abv beer, you dont use more water, or more innoculant, you use more sugar, so the innoculant is able to multiple and ferment well beyond where a lower abv brew would.

Why would less water, need more oxygen, or hold less oxygen by volume, than more water? Wouldnt the opposite be true? I mean sure, water can only be oxygenated so much, so 5gal can physically hold more O2 than 1gal can.. but 1 gal of water will have higher dissolved O2 than 5gal of water, using the same pump/airstone. So the oxygenation shouldnt be an issue, in terms of quantity by volume.

That aside, water is the growth medium, nothing more or less. The water allows the transfer of the microbes between food sources, and allows us to oxygenate the environment to prevent bad bacteria from taking over. So long as the water is inoculated with the proper bacteria/fungi, and the mix holds enough food source, a 1gal mix can hold just as many beni's as a 5gal mix.

I was moreso concerned with burning my seedlings, not the amount of microbes in my tea. My compost itself is pretty hot in terms of nutrient content, so I wasnt sure how that translates to tea. But I ended up doing a 1:4 mix for indoor use, and a 1:2 mix for outdoor use, and all the plants seems pretty happy with it, in terms of vigor.. so I'll keep experimenting around
 
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waktoo

Well-Known Member
BluntMoniker said:
Why would water volume have any effect on my brews ability to multiply organisms? Brewing tea is simple fermentation...

Same concept as brewing beer. You only use so much innoculant (yeast), and then based on the amount of food provided (sugar), the yeast is able to multiply and ferment. For example, when making a high abv beer, you dont use more water, or more innoculant, you use more sugar, so the innoculant is able to multiple and ferment well beyond where a lower abv brew would.

Why would less water, need more oxygen, or hold less oxygen by volume, than more water? Wouldnt the opposite be true? I mean sure, water can only be oxygenated so much, so 5gal can physically hold more O2 than 1gal can.. but 1 gal of water will have higher dissolved O2 than 5gal of water, using the same pump/airstone. So the oxygenation shouldnt be an issue, in terms of quantity by volume.

That aside, water is the growth medium, nothing more or less. The water allows the transfer of the microbes between food sources, and allows us to oxygenate the environment to prevent bad bacteria from taking over. So long as the water is inoculated with the proper bacteria/fungi, and the mix holds enough food source, a 1gal mix can hold just as many beni's as a 5gal mix.

I was moreso concerned with burning my seedlings, not the amount of microbes in my tea. My compost itself is pretty hot in terms of nutrient content, so I wasnt sure how that translates to tea. But I ended up doing a 1:4 mix for indoor use, and a 1:2 mix for outdoor use, and all the plants seems pretty happy with it, in terms of vigor.. so I'll keep experimenting around
Click to expand...
If you're just getting into brewing compost tea, you may find this site helpful. Fermentation is an anaerobic process, not what you want for multiplying beneficial soil biota.

I'm pretty sure the whole dissolved oxygen thing is covered there. You have to scroll down a ways to get to the proper section...

 
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loco41

Well-Known Member
BluntMoniker said:
Why would water volume have any effect on my brews ability to multiply organisms? Brewing tea is simple fermentation...

Same concept as brewing beer. You only use so much innoculant (yeast), and then based on the amount of food provided (sugar), the yeast is able to multiply and ferment. For example, when making a high abv beer, you dont use more water, or more innoculant, you use more sugar, so the innoculant is able to multiple and ferment well beyond where a lower abv brew would.

Why would less water, need more oxygen, or hold less oxygen by volume, than more water? Wouldnt the opposite be true? I mean sure, water can only be oxygenated so much, so 5gal can physically hold more O2 than 1gal can.. but 1 gal of water will have higher dissolved O2 than 5gal of water, using the same pump/airstone. So the oxygenation shouldnt be an issue, in terms of quantity by volume.

That aside, water is the growth medium, nothing more or less. The water allows the transfer of the microbes between food sources, and allows us to oxygenate the environment to prevent bad bacteria from taking over. So long as the water is inoculated with the proper bacteria/fungi, and the mix holds enough food source, a 1gal mix can hold just as many beni's as a 5gal mix.

I was moreso concerned with burning my seedlings, not the amount of microbes in my tea. My compost itself is pretty hot in terms of nutrient content, so I wasnt sure how that translates to tea. But I ended up doing a 1:4 mix for indoor use, and a 1:2 mix for outdoor use, and all the plants seems pretty happy with it, in terms of vigor.. so I'll keep experimenting around
Click to expand...
I think you kind of answered your own question in all that. From my understanding, the larger volume content of 5 gallons vs 1 gallon directly allows for a larger microbe population, but I don't think either will necessarily be more or less "concentrated" as far as what you are looking for in a successful brew. That said, I doubt you would burn your plants by using the amount of compost/ewc/molasses/kelp you did even by watering it in at full strength.

I could be off, just my take on the whole situation. I think without proper microscope analysis on your specific brew/techniques, it's really just a best educated guess kind of thing ( edit: which is how you should take what i just said, minus the educated part..).
 
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chakup

Well-Known Member
The last two replies helped sum my thoughts up. I very well could be wrong. What I was saying is with 1gal you have very limited growth space, brew your 5gallons, learn your recipes and use accordingly. "concentrated" teas can go anaraeboic very quickly due to overpopulation.
 
BluntMoniker

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
waktoo said:
If you're just getting into brewing compost tea, you may find this site helpful. Fermentation is an anaerobic process, not what you want for multiplying beneficial soil biota.

I'm pretty sure the whole dissolved oxygen thing is covered there. You have to scroll down a ways to get to the proper section...

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Aerobic Respiration :p.. Same difference when were talking about an aerobic fermentation, thats just wrong terminology.

But that is a killer link! Thank you, tons of useful info in there! Really appreciate it... yet another rabbit hole of organics to fall down into xD.

I thought growing weed in general was scientific, but organics is a whole other level, so every bit of info helps!
 
BluntMoniker

BluntMoniker

Well-Known Member
chakup said:
The last two replies helped sum my thoughts up. I very well could be wrong. What I was saying is with 1gal you have very limited growth space, brew your 5gallons, learn your recipes and use accordingly. "concentrated" teas can go anaraeboic very quickly due to overpopulation.
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Yea, actually, now that you say it in that way, it does make some sense. Back to my abv comparison, sure you can make a brew with 18% abv, but the amount of time and sugars involved make it a much longer process.

Plus, brewers yeast, and even bread yeast, is already ABUNDANT in terms of what your adding to your brew. 1 cup of compost likely doesnt have the concentration of microorganisms that a yeast will, so having to brew tea with higher food content for longer periods IS probably likely to cause issues.
 
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