My organic tea has bubbled over the bucket rim and looks like a huge brain!! why?!

I made a 5 gallon bucket tea bubbler with 2 air hoses and a walmart air pump. Mixed my compost and alfalpha and molasses and let it bubble for 24 hours and then decided to let it keep bubbling. Now at the 40 hour mark it decided to bubble way over. I thought u could bubble for up to 48 hours?

Yeah, it tends to foam\froth... AFAIR this is in part due to protein or amino acid metabolism or something. You can aerate it for another 8 hours, but it is probably fine to use now. In the future leave more room in the bucket or I would recommend having it within another container.

I've noticed that even a little splash of fish hydrolysate cuts down on froth. Must be the fish oils (oil reduces foaming).

Cool, thanks alot guys i was curious about that. Luckily to the foam went down when i unplugged and didnt get as messy as it looked. Accept theres was more leakage then I wanted down the side and onto the floor. I'll try those ideas out though. Everything seems a ok now. I'm going to water tomorrow and I'm thinking probably not a good idea to go full strength with the tea (compost manure, alphalfa meal,molassas). I need to read some more but was thinking 50/50 would be safe. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm going to read into it.

Hope you aren't planning on letting that tea sit with your air pump off...

bAD IDEA!!!!

The bacteria in your solution have fed and are off-gassing. They are in the process of dying. The foam is likely full of solids material which is necrotic (dead) bacteria. Once you notice the foaming, take it off aeration to preserve the life of the bacteria. And use the solution as quickly as possible. If you continue to aerate, the bacteria will consume all the oxygen then it becomes a smelly anaerobic soup. The buggies will no longer be interested in the available resources in the soil or on the roots, because they are not hungry anymore. They will expire in the medium and create more necrotic material. Keep those bugs hungry.
Bacteria dominated tea. Fungus dominated soil (root).
(PS when not in use place the air stones in a water bath with hydrogen peroxide. 2 tablespoons to 1/2 gallon water, every few days, depending on use. Keep the pump running. Change water and stones when coated with a mass and air flow becomes restricted.)
Also make sure you are not using too much molasses. Cut back on it to extend aeration time. Add more and continue a short aeration if aact solution starts to become anaerobic.
If not using the solution asap, refrigeration is suggested. Even then, the tea will continue to expire, just slower.

I have had foam develop in teas almost instantaneously, with Alaskan humus, Peruvian seabird guano, blackstrap or Earth Juice Catalyst and humic acids. There has to be more to it than that.

SpicySativa said:

I've noticed that even a little splash of fish hydrolysate cuts down on froth. Must be the fish oils (oil reduces foaming).

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this is correct.

awesome great advice guys. u had me pegged spicysativa. yea i think i screwed up by letting it sit to long. im going to make a fresh batch. i guess just throw the first batch outside on some flowerbed or something. but next time ill know to use it immediately.

Nullis said:

I have had foam develop in teas almost instantaneously, with Alaskan humus, Peruvian seabird guano, blackstrap or Earth Juice Catalyst and humic acids. There has to be more to it than that.

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Yes, I'm sure there is. This is just one scenario. But he did aerate for 40ish hours, so I hypothesized that this particular time it was probably the bugs getting old and over activated.

My Finishing formula with bat guano, Nature's Nectar Phosphorus, molasses, and a dash of a couple other things neither foams during aeration, or smells bad even after a week. Maybe we should start a thread on foaming. lol

Ps yummy, I also use my old formulas on house plants and roses, and other outside greenery. Just make sure they can tolerate the nutrient content during the phase they are in. I had a prolific bloomer drop all its flowers and grow little tiny leaves for a couple years after dumping the plant wastewater on it. yike, little booger didnt like that stuff at all.

"Foam. The presence of foam on the surface of tea is considered a positive sign, but just means there arefree proteins, amino acids or carbohydrates present. This can occur as the result of adding fish hydrolysate,certain organic acids or carbohydrates. If worm compost was used, excessive foam suggests a few earthworms were in the compost and their dead bodies are providing this source of protein/carbohydrate.Excess protein or amino acids should not occur if bacteria are growing well, although dead worms maycontinue to release proteinaceous materials throughout the brewing cycle. Foam can be suppressed by usingorganic surfactants, such as yucca or vegetable oil (not olive or canola oil!). Don’t use commercial de-foamers – every single one we have tested kills the organisms in the tea."-Dr. Elaine Ingham


I've actually experienced the opposite effect from fish hydrolysate (less froth), but I'm sure its not all created equal.


Source:


http://ecologiesurleweb.free.fr/docs/Docs_agir/Lombricomposteur/Brew Manual compost tea.pdf