Reviewing the Basics...Making Compost Tea

I've had to resort to the tea, 'cause I'm kinda' short on b.d.compost for the amount I'm growing. luckily I have enough black dirt on the ranch...I'd prefer to do 20% coco coir, 40% bd compost, 40% black dirt...that'll be my indoor mix from now on...but the compost tea is just what I need to fill in the gap.

i dont know whats wrong with my plants, can you help? 4 of the fan leaves are wilting. on 2, the tips completely died, and fell off. on 1, there is yellow spots, and one brown spot. do you know what could cause this? over fert? not enough fert? kiss-ass

KDD123... Most probably overfeeding & overwatering..... post pics please....
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I recently switched to organic teas from standard fertilizers...Anyway im in the middle of nowhere....Over 200 miles to get bat guano....etc. I used ebay and ordered some guano, worm castings, and SPT.... the ordered got tied up for 9 days.

While waiting for the delivery to water...i think i let them get to dry? Does anyone know if this is a sign of too little water?

slipperyP said:

I recently switched to organic teas from standard fertilizers...Anyway im in the middle of nowhere....Over 200 miles to get bat guano....etc. I used ebay and ordered some guano, worm castings, and SPT.... the ordered got tied up for 9 days.

While waiting for the delivery to water...i think i let them get to dry? Does anyone know if this is a sign of too little water?

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SlipperyP..... I notice you have a link in your post ref a 600 watt HPS. If you are using a small grow space and using lots of air flow trying to cool it down, because of the heat generated by this light, the combination can cause, heat stress & dehydration.
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This will reduce the effectiveness of nutes, since Mary is constantly transpiring (sweating) trying to cool down, she will not be able to use the nutes efficently. It does look like they've been shocked. Another possiblity, the pH of your soil or water is too alkaline (above 7). Your fertilizer teas should be in the 5.8 to 6.4 range. Soil 6 to 6.8 If either is above or below those pH numbers, this will cause additional problems, due to specific nute lockouts.
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Nine days to get your stuff, whoa.... did you piss the mailman off or what. I usually get my stuff from BMO in two or three days max.
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Anyway, back on subject, before, you start adding stuff, check those pH's. If they are out of bounds, send my a PM and I'll help you dail them back in.
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Hope this helps....
Keep it Real...Organic.......
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Ohsogreeen

Thanks for the help...We did have a scab mailman....BMO put a track out on it to see why i didn't recieve it...I thought that was cool of them.

I have a 600 watt in a flower room....it isn't that small 7 feet by 11 feet...my temps reached 85 one day....but i added an oscilating fan and it didn't get above 79 after that. I forgot to turn the heat on in there and it got down to the mid 50's twice...I'm sure that will shock them a bit... I have a small veg room with a 150 watt metal halide....

I think i should have watered a bit more...I will be watching it closely.

I added a few tablespoons of dolomite lime to the soil when i transplanted and i think my soil is in the right range...

What would you use to raise and lower your PH in your organic tea?

-I used 2 gallons melted snow water (08 ppm) 7.1 PH
-2 teaspoons High P bat guano
-1/2 oz Molasses
-1 cup of worm castings
-1 ounce of SPT

I didn't PH it after it was mixed...I didn't have any idea of the range to be in. That gives me something to shoot for now.

Today I am going to make a grow tea similar to the bloom tea...I bet the info on ph is same same for that...Thanks for your help

I tried to send a PM to you Ohsogreen concerning the soil PH....It is the first time that i have used the PM...I don't know if it went through?

Bump...... let's recycle this old thread. Maybe it will help someone else.
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that b.d.compost tea works like magic! my plants are going bananas over it!!! I did a very minor amount of thinning on maybe 10 plants, without even much handling, I came up with 1/2 a gram of finger hash..they're getting really fuzzy, even the branches... and it's june 1st.! the compost tea is IT!!!! I use the same air stone, alternating between the compost tea, algae water bin, and then all night in the ultra cheapo cloner(gladware disposable caserole).

The best advice I can give is to use large amounts of compost and the better than that is too use as much large air bubbles as you can. I went from one air pump to a few with multiple air tubes and no airstones and a got the frothy goodness I crave of aerobic bacteria action. A few brews I have had nothing and at first I suspected that it was not wenough compost, then I realsied that was impossible as I use bacterial agents like BMO and fresh wormcastings. It is air that matters. Lots of air.

Could someone clarify something 4 me? Do you use these teas in conjunction w/ other organic nutes? Could you run strictly an organic tea in a recirculating aero/nft setup w/ airstones in your resevoir? Thanks 4 ne input,peace......

dutchfunkle said:

Could someone clarify something 4 me? Do you use these teas in conjunction w/ other organic nutes? Could you run strictly an organic tea in a recirculating aero/nft setup w/ airstones in your resevoir? Thanks 4 ne input,peace......

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DutchFunkle...... We are basically making Fertilizer Tea (a direct replacement for fertilizer) when we brew up teas with cow manure, bunny manure, etc...
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Compost Tea is less of a fertilizer and more of a tea containing beneficial bacteria and fungi. It has more of a tonic effect.
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So to answer your question. You could make up a single gallon of concentrated fertilizer tea using organic manures, then add it to a reservoir (a little filtering would be advised). Just forget using a TDS meter. pH will also drift more. In Organic Hydro, you just have to have some acidic teas brewing and some alkaline teas brewing, using one against the other, to level out the pH drift. Dumping & flushing every two weeks will also be a must.
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Most sources of Nitrogen, are acidic, most sources of P & K tend to be more alkaline.
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Read the thread, Making Tea is E-Z and cheap for more info.....
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Hope this helps...
Keep It Real...Organic.....
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