Soil Food Web Gardening with Compost Teas

Rrog said:

There's nothing wrong with ACT per say. Just not needed. But we all do a lot of things that are not needed. No harm, no foul.

I just drop these little comments so that the anonymous readers out there don't get the impression that ACT is a requirement.

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Your drop these little comments for no reason...It's just confusing. Of course you don't need AACT. You don't need aloe or barely as a foliar either..But still you discuss it because you do it. Drop all the knowledge. Don't skew it from your POV. Drop facts.

And of course you don't need AACTs but it's proven that we(organic growers) have our own DIY solution for the bottle nutrient.
I've got literature suggesting that it's just that and you can read it if you like. It's posted right here on RIU. I'll bring everything that I have regarding the AACT over to this thread when I get a minute.

Look at what happens when you use them....
Of course you don't need and AACT, but it obviously helps.
Just takes time and fine tuning like everything else

As I said, I just drop these little comments so that the anonymous readers out there don't get the impression that ACT is a requirement. If I personally thought it would help, I would use it. The growers that I respect most on this planet don't use ACT, but there's nothing wrong if they did.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139310001332

www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda chalker-scott/horticultural myths_files/Myths/Compost tea 3rd time.pdf

Some perspective from others on this.

headtreep said:

I make use ACT for a few reasons. I love it to kick start seedlings and since I'm a pheno hunter, I'm always playing with new gear. I also like use it as a sort of IPM and since I add a tad bit of kelp meal I love to use it to foliar. My leaves are very green

I do have old soil in a bin that I like to feed ACT to and some new stuff that I keep moist with ACT. I still for now will have ACT around until I see that it's no longer needed. If anyone has any issues with my plants or tips please let me know.

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Nice

I brew AACTs to feed the plants. In my mind, I knew it was sure even when they said it wasn't a few months ago or something....
This based on just everything I've learned as well as some observation..When I got I literature....That calm breeze came over me just confirming that I'm headed the right way, and that I just gotta keep learning and diggin for info.

In AACTs, when you add things like Bat Guano and Molasses and Kelp Meal and Neptunes Harvest(Fish hydro), things DO without a DOUBT get solubilized. So why not take advantage of the best buffer available?

I'm thinking more along the lines of pushing to the limit with the AACTs....Potentially growing a more vigorous and rewarding plant

Rrog said:

As I said, I just drop these little comments so that the anonymous readers out there don't get the impression that ACT is a requirement. If I personally thought it would help, I would use it. The growers that I respect most on this planet don't use ACT, but there's nothing wrong if they did.

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Then drop the comments about everything that's not a requirement. Don't be biased. This isn't the place for that.
And I doubt anyone joined RIU to earn your respect lol. Just drop the knowledge.
I knew a few brilliant growers that you wouldn't respect lol but they wouldn't give one bro

DANKSWAG said:

I think the assumption here is that one way is better then the other, which is farthest from the truth. When something starts to go sideways nutrient wise, one must ACT pardon the pun, who want's to subject their plant's health to a couple of weeks for the top dressing and it microbes to work their way through. I see ACT as a quick boost to address a nutrient situation and to provide additional nutrients to push the edge. Where as the soil is the entree and a top dressing seconds, ACT is like having a juice man juicer for instantaneous boost of readily absorb-able nutrition with no bad after effects. Just MHO... didn't realize I walked right into a turf war (pardon the pun again) as to whose method works best or doesn't. I believe each method is viable and sustainable for maintenance and growth. And since you can't really over ACT except the over watering part, I would say combo it, use the top dress with super soil and boost and address deficiencies with ACT.

So I am calling this procedure TOP ACT!

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No turf war boss! Sorry for my tone. I need to TURN IT WAYYYYYYY DOWN!

And it's not about whose method works best...You interpreted that wrong..
It's about saying something is pointless and spreading that message around, when that's not the case.

This threads title is Soil Food Web Gardening WITH COMPOST TEAS lol.

Not Soil Food Wed Gardening WITHOUT COMPOST TEAS BECAUSE THEY'RE POINTLESS! haha

The more I learn about them(AACT) the more I realize I have to AACT! lol the puns dont really work with the right terminology!

Rrog said:

I don't disagree at all. My strategy in many things in life is to strip things down to the basics. Only do things that make a big difference, and focus less on things that may or may not provide a small improvement. A lot of precious waking hours can be lost chasing little things. So if I can avoid processes and devices, then that's my choice.

I wouldn't blend a fruit that I could eat whole, but there's sure nothing wrong with a smoothie!

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Apple juice is one of my favs lol! Always has been! But I never really had a thing for Apples ....

They just never hit the sweet spot for me...But hey, to each his own right?!

Knowledge IS power.

One thing is clear: It's very possible to have very civil discussions about ACT!

Haha it's either that or don't mention them at all apparently..

I dig your new avatar S420!

But hey, you're obviously pretty knowledgable and I feel like I know a good bit too, so I'm not here to fight or flame you about what you said and didn't say...This isn't the place for that too lol. I love it here too much to get banned for bad behavior!

It's just that I feel the polar opposite of you regarding AACTs. And the more I learn, the more I feel it's gonna go that way!
But lets just say to each his own and call it a day because I don't think we can have a civil discussion regarding the AACT lol

Sorry- My post was essentially saying we can discuss ACT without fists. That what I meant. Everyone is being nice and civil. Yaaay!

Haha and thanks bro! We need all growers to move to Colorado and form a Union lol.

Flex some muscle man! Rally for months on out showing the benefits of our work, especially the effects of oil on cancer!

For the fed not to look away anymore.

And on that Note...I get a little stressed when the "he said she said" starts...bummer! On a side Note, Rrog and headteep your Avatars are so much a like...I thought Rrog was Talking to His Self for a Min. I hope Everbody the best in "What Ever" they choose...lots of Great Info to choose from. Relax and Enjoy the Ride!

Rrog said:

One thing is clear: It's very possible to have very civil discussions about ACT!

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if your soil is dialed and living then Rrog makes a great point. especially in no til. i think if your constantly disrupting things by re-amending and digging around in your soil then aact is probably more useful

very well said KK. that is the essence of what we are trying to say. use ACT as a tool when things aren't perfectly dialed. it is very good in those situations.

kushking42 said:

if your soil is dialed and living then Rrog makes a great point. especially in no til. i think if your constantly disrupting things by re-amending and digging around in your soil then aact is probably more useful

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Bump the other response! Deleted it. I'll just say cool! I agree to disagree with you too!
Simply because I don't think a soil has to be no-till to be dialed in

headtreep said:

I make use ACT for a few reasons. I love it to kick start seedlings and since I'm a pheno hunter, I'm always playing with new gear. I also like use it as a sort of IPM and since I add a tad bit of kelp meal I love to use it to foliar. My leaves are very green

I do have old soil in a bin that I like to feed ACT to and some new stuff that I keep moist with ACT. I still for now will have ACT around until I see that it's no longer needed. If anyone has any issues with my plants or tips please let me know.

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Such a good point, come to think of it if the Noobs out there that are killing their seedlings by overfeeding with too rich of soil or chem nutes, would just take note and see a seedling in the proper soil with a nice drink of an AACT will thrive while they are busy just getting theirs to survive. Not to mention aiding in many other things... If we can just save one poor seedling from overfeeding it will be worth every post I can blog supporting AACT!

Thinking about brewing a tea. This looks like it will work for me anyways.
Add 1 cup to 8 gallons of compost tea. I use bat guano, earthworm casting and this Gardentone as the main microbe colonizer. Then to make the sweetest of teas, get a fairly powerful aquarium pump with a bi or tri splitter and the little round stone aerators, and then along with the Gardentone feeding ingredients add several ounces of non-sulfured molasses. The living microbes introduced to the water feed on the sugars in molasses and the gardentone. Some pour just the compost ingredients (earthworm castings, bat guano) into a sock, stockings etc. to keep the tea more clear for later spraying so the sprayer never gets clogged up with debris, but I pour everything into the water and stir and agitate several times daily even with constant aeration. Then I strain it out as I pour into my sprayer. This makes the tea more potent as ALL the microbes are released instead of trapped in a sock. Brew 48 hours minimum, and add more molasses if brewed much more then that. Use immediately (actually a several hour window exists as microbes will die within several hours and the tea will begin to smell foul. Spray plants completely, poke holes all around plants prior to spraying. Pour tea into the holes.***A very important note about the water you use....
Call your water service like I did and ask what treatment process they use to clean the water where you live.
Chlorine and Cloramide (sp) is widely used...
Aerate the water in your container for several hours up to eight before any ingredients are added...Just the small amounts of chlorine in public tap water is enough to kill the very microbes you hope to colonize and grow.
Capture all the rain water you can for garden - under downspouts, off roof etc...
Fill many large containers with your tap water and allow them to sit in the sun or just outdoors for 24 plus hours, agitate several times daily to help evaporate the chlorine before watering your microbe filled compost tea'd garden.
Gardentone is absolutely the best compost tea additive, and molasses is a food that invigorates the microbial multipliers and air keeps it alive....if you can keep the tea in the 70 to 85 F range it will become tea more quickly....Not too warm....85 to 90 is top needed....enjoy the results....

Rrog said:

There's nothing wrong with ACT per say. Just not needed. But we all do a lot of things that are not needed. No harm, no foul.

I just drop these little comments so that the anonymous readers out there don't get the impression that ACT is a requirement.

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how about blackstrap molasses, needed? I plan on experimenting with no-till pretty soon, thanks.

Some of the brewers here might want to chime in, but (cane) molasses is some mighty fine stuff. Someone here can recommend a good recipe, I'm sure.