Compost Tea Question.

purpz

Well-Known Member
I've been looking into making my own compost teas for my grow set up & had a few people tell me that it's really hard to make compost teas, while others said it wasn't.

The people that thought it was hard said, "that you have to use a microscope in order to tell if you made a good or bad batch & that there is no other way to know without a microscope".

While others say that you can tell when when you made a good batch just by looking @ it & smelling the tea?
 

snew

Well-Known Member
I've never heard any thing like that. put a couple of cup in 5 gallons of water, aerate with an aquarium pump and your done. Good compost makes good tea. Keep it aerated and it won't go wrong.
 

harry larry

Active Member
Its easy to brew an effective compost tea.

  1. Use water that does not have chlorine. Tap water is generally fine as long as it has been bubbled with air for 24 hours. Chlorine kills microbes. Teas are designed to feed microbes.
  2. Add worm castings, you can go crazy with worm castings, but its not often more than 2 cups to a five gallon tea are fine.
  3. Add some guano if you plan to fertilize with the tea.
  4. Add a natural fish fertilizer, I use an Alaskan fish emulsion.
  5. Often a kelp product is nice as well, so is adding mineral product like yucca.
  6. Add molasses, I use black strap molasses, I found it for 3 dollars at the grocery store. This feeds the microbes with energy. I cant say how much is best here its well into debate at this point. I like to pour 4-5 tablespoons in my 5 gallon mix.
  7. Aerate the water for 12 - 24 hours. The best time is also in debate as well. I prefer 24 hours at this point but that is only because that is what I'm doing and it seems to work.
  8. PH BALANCE YOU TEA BEFORE YOU FEED YOUR PLANTS. Its really important. I grow in soil so i go for a PH of 6.5.
Basically I throw stuff in a bucket and let it bubble for 24 hours and it works great. As good as any fertilizer product. BUT it isn't as sure fire as a premixed fertilizer. But if you PH balance your tea its awesome. Once you get your feeding program down its awesome. I also recommend to learn about what your plants need as far N-P-K ratings and such first if you plan to use organics inside your tea to fertilize with the tea.
 

bobbypyn

Well-Known Member
I agree with all of that but the needing to pH balance the final brew. the pH is self modulating in organics. just for shits & giggles I dug out my old pH meter & tested the run off from a tea feeding. 6.6- perfect for soil. I've never adjusted anything; the myco & microbes do it for you in a well balanced organic set up. but all the rest of that is spot on. :)
 

South Texas

Well-Known Member
Good info, Harry Larry. The Dirt Doctor's site, Click His Library, then compost tea may have good info, also. 4 to 5 tablespoons sounds perfect. Supposingly, 2 table spoons = 1 Oz., and for feeding I use 2 Oz's per gal, and for first time, virgin soil, double strenght, 4 Oz's. The "Black Strap" has more trace minerials than regular molasses, which is better. Also, once the tea is made, the ratio to use is 1 gal to 7 to 10 gals. of good clean water. The Micoscope info is some Nursery's has Compost Tea classes and gives it out. Plus they have a scope to see the various types of microbes. But it certainly isn't nessesary. Nice work Harry.
 

Brimi

Well-Known Member
There's a guy on youtube that has won so many prices for growing the largest vegetables. He claims his secret is his compost tea. Check him out - i think he tells his recipe too.
 

Gopedxr

Well-Known Member
Yea i seen someone do the teas and his plants smelled so goof and the bud came out great as well in my opinion. Teas for the win!
 

Matt Rize

Hashmaster
credit: ctguy
It's Tea Time!

Compost tea has become increasingly popular in the last few years as part of a grower's program. In fact, current world record holder was grown using this technology. I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss different types of compost teas and share some of the knowledge we've gained in the industry over the past 5 years.
Let's start by looking at some of the different types of teas you can make for your plants:

Plant Tea - This is where plants are soaked directly in water for an extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and any bacteria or fungi on the surface of the plant will be extracted. May contain some soluble nutrients.

Manure Tea - Typically manure is placed in a permeable bag (burlap) into a bucket or barrel and left to soak for an (# of days) extended period of time. Compost is not involved, and will be dominated by anaerobic organisms (bacteria and ciliates). Pathogens will be present in most instances, and may burn the leaf surfaces of plants. These teas will contain some soluble nutrients, but may also contain antibiotics and growth hormones such as tetracycline, that are not broken down during the composting process.

"Put To Sleep" Tea - These teas are typically advertised as "instant" compost teas. Specific organisms are cultured or extracted from compost and then put into a dormant state. Even with hundreds of different species, it won't contain even 1% of the diversity or quantities you would find in properly made aerated compost tea. These teas may be helpful in certain instances when you wish to combat certain diseases and know the proper microbe that has been documented to prevent or suppress it (eg. trichoderma).

Compost Leachate - These teas is sometimes referred as "worm tea" as it is the liquid that leaches out of the base of worm bins or compost piles during the composting process. Leachates will consist primarily of soluble nutrients, but will contain some small amount of biology. This can serve as a good food substrate for the biology in your soil.

Compost Extract - Compost extract is where the microorganisms are stripped from the soil aggregates using water and extracted into a liquid form. This process will contain good biology for soil drenches, and can be made very quickly, as it does not require a brewing process. It does however require a large amount of compost relative to the final liquid product, and is primarily used in large commercial productions.

Non-Aerated Compost Tea - This is where compost is put into a container with water and foods are added for the microbes. The tea is then stirred occasionally or left to sit for a period of time. These teas may or may not produce beneficial results and could potentially harm your plants depending on the anaerobic organisms in your starting compost.

Aerated Compost Tea (AACT or ACT) - Similar to the tea above, this process involves adding oxygen to the tea and a food source for the biology in the compost. By creating optimal conditions for aerobic microbes, AACT allows you to multiply the biology in the starting compost by over 10,000 times. Many plant pathogens are anaerobic and prefer low to no oxygen conditions. By making sure the tea and the compost itself are well oxygenated and highly aerobic, you can potentially eliminate 75 percent of the potential plant-disease-causing bacteria and plant-toxic products.
For the past 5 years, AACT has become the standard within the organic industry in regards to compost teas. It's currently being used by golf courses, vineyards, farmers, and homeowners as a means of growing healthier plants. Here's a list of some of the benefits:

Compost tea has been shown to help in disease-suppression (pythium, phytopthera, powdery mildew, fusarium, etc.) when applied as a foliar spray and soil drench.

Helps extend root systems

Increases water and nutrient retention

Is 100% safe and natural

Creates healthier plants

Helps breakdown of toxins in the soil and on the plants

Enhances the taste of fruits and vegetables

Reduces or eliminates the need for chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers

Occupies the space around the infection sites so disease-causing organisms cannot penetrate into the tissues of the plant

Cannot be over-applied because it is completely natural and organic

These benefits are all attributed to well-made AACT. If the tea is not made properly, you will not see all of the benefits listed above. Let's take a closer look at what goes into making quality aerated compost tea.

1. Good compost is very important! Without good biology in the compost, you really have no chance of getting high-quality tea. You can only multiply what you put into your brewer, therefore good compost that has been tested to have high numbers and a diversity of beneficial organisms is essential. A lot of science goes into making good compost, and unless you test your compost you really have no idea if what you are putting into your brewer is truly beneficial. By adjusting the type of compost you put in the brewer you can control whether your tea is going to be bacterial or fungal dominated. We use a mix of 3 different composts (Alaska humus, vermicompost, and a fungal compost comprised of woody materials) to increase the biological diversity in our teas.

2. Food is critical for the microorganisms so that they can reproduce and grow in numbers. The goal is to maximize your output of beneficial biology without giving the bacteria and fungi too much food that they over-replicate and cause the tea to go anaerobic. It's important that dissolved oxygen levels stay above 6 mg/l during the entire brewing cycle. There are many different recipes out there, each of which will give you different biology in the end and some are much better than others. It is important to see the lab results of the recipe you use to make sure that you are indeed maximizing your final product.

3. Oxygen! If you're not getting enough oxygen in your brew, then your tea will go anaerobic and you will start brewing the "bad" organisms (pathogens such as e.coli or root feeding nematodes) that may have existed in your original compost. If your tea has enough oxygen and stays aerobic for the entire brew cycle, what you'll have at the end will be the good biology that you want for your plants.

In addition to these variables, other things to consider are elevation, temperature, brewing time, and water quality. All of these variables can have a significant impact on your final tea. With significant elevation, you may need to increase the brewing time, due to the lower oxygen content in the air. With high temperatures, where the water temps are 90 degrees or above, you'll want to shorten the brewing cycle and possibly cut back on the foods you're using. In cold temps., you'll want to increase the brewing cycle to give the organisms time to reproduce. In regards to water quality, different sources will have different mineral or chemical content, which will affect your final tea. In the case of chlorine or chloramines, these chemicals will need to be removed prior to adding the compost to the brewer.

In next month's article, I'll be discussing application rates, recipes, basic pointers, and common mistakes people make when building a brewer or in making AACT. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at tad@simplici-tea.com.
credit: MM
1 gallon = 16 cups = 256 tablespoons

2.38% by volume compost or vermicompost (EWC) per gallon = .38 cups or around half a cup max or about 2 cups in 5 gallons max.

0.5 to 0.75% molasses by volume per gallon = 1.28 to 1.92 tablespoons per gallon. 0.75% is the maximum I use. It is a good bacterial and fungal food.

0.063% fish hydrolysate by volume per gallon = 0.16 tablespoon = 0.479 teaspoons or half a teaspoon

0.25% (max) kelpmeal by volume per gallon = 0.64 tablespoon or half a tablespoon
 

Matt Rize

Hashmaster
Base Recipe:
1 gallon RO water, 0.4 cup compost, 1.5 tbsp blackstrap organic molasses,

optional: fish hydrolysate 0.5 tsp.
kelpmeal: 0.5 tbsp
organic yucca juice: 1 tbsp
 

TDM

Active Member
Very easy and inexpensive,
one aquarium pump w/airator, ($5.95,
one 5 gal bucket ($2.95) w/water,
2 cups worm castings wrapped/tied in cheese cloth
1/3 cup molassas
1/3 cup vetable oil

Let water sit overnight
Mix sall amount of warm water in bucket to mix molassas
Add molassas veg oil, mix well
Fill rest of bucket with water
Add worm casting cheese cloth
Add pump and airator and let run for 24 hours.
Makes eneough for 100 sq feet
That's it, under $10.00

Fantastic results, plant love it.
 

valjean

Well-Known Member
if it smells sour and nasty its bad, if it smells like dirt its good!

you only need a microscope if your nose doesnt work.
 

jonblaze420

Well-Known Member
at our nursery they sell compost tea BAGS, you just let one sit in a bowl of water overnight and it swells up like a big turd, and the water is ur compost tea. our ladies love it
 

woodsmaneh!

Well-Known Member
IMHO just going with worm castings and humic and fulvic acid with 1 tbs brown sugar works very well and reduces the risk when adding all kinds of stuff. Any manure or bat poop will give you a better bang for your buck if you just top dress and work into the top 1 inch.When you put the tea on it works with the top dressing to help feed the plant and the microbe and fungi armies your trying to build.
 

farm dawg

Member
There's a guy on youtube that has won so many prices for growing the largest vegetables. He claims his secret is his compost tea. Check him out - i think he tells his recipe too.
You didn't put a link to the guy on you tube. I want to check it out.
 

harry larry

Active Member
Bobbypyn:
In my experience it is absolutely necessary to PH before you feed. Maybe not with a worm casting based compost tea, but bat guano is acidic. My strong organic fertilizer teas often have a PH of 6.0 after brewing, and consider the water I start the tea with has a PH 7.4. I PH everything before I feed, so in my experience I have found organics don't PH balance themselves.
 

Nullis

Moderator
^^ I don't want to say you're doing it wrong, but you could probably be doing it...better? What are you using to adjust the pH anyways?

I find it totally unnecessary to adjust the pH of teas or fertigation solutions. It seems to me that after brewing sufficiently even the most acidic solutions tend to raise to a pH between 5 and 6. I can help it out some and end with a pH between 6 and 7 (usually 6.5) with a couple choice ingredients, but never anything like pH Up.
I also brew with guano, bat and seabird. Peruvian Seabird Guano (10-10-2) is my favorite because it helps balance out the pH of the brew from the start. If you were to dissolve Seabird Guano in water, let the pellets dissolve and check the pH of the solution you would find that it is quite high (upwards of 8 ). I thought that kelp/liquid seaweed had pH above 7 also but I could be wrong.

Furthermore, the bacteria in the brew also prefer an alkaline environment so they produce bio-slime which should cause a raise in pH.
 

luckandleather

Active Member
I use a mesh ball tea strainer, fill it with manure(cow or horse), put it in a gallon of rainwater and let is soak overnite. I use it as a foliar spray. Now, after reading this thread I feel like I have to go out and get an aquarium pump aerator stone and molasses.
 

purpz

Well-Known Member
Bobbypyn:
In my experience it is absolutely necessary to PH before you feed. Maybe not with a worm casting based compost tea, but bat guano is acidic. My strong organic fertilizer teas often have a PH of 6.0 after brewing, and consider the water I start the tea with has a PH 7.4. I PH everything before I feed, so in my experience I have found organics don't PH balance themselves.
If your having PH problems try mixing in oyster shell flour & dolomite lime into your soil. I do this all the time & never have had a PH problem.
 
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