Aerated compost tea

I'm a organics noob, but from what I've read you could do that and it would separate the microbes from the castings, making them more available for the soil, but the point of the tea is to grow the microbes and make them stronger. The lack of ingredients would neglect to give them the proper food to grow and become super microbes.

 

Awesome bro. I have decided to to the fully organic microbe thing also with supersoil, and AACT. I am currently searching out books so I can learn all the in' and out's.

 

ewc's and molasses and you're good for bacteria. Some kelp meal (not fish emulsion) and a bit of rock dust for more fungal growth. Of the two, the fungal growth is the most difficult to achieve.

Read the sticky at the top of the organics forum on compost teas. For books read Teaming With Microbes. If you have a good soil mix with high quality ewc's and good compost, the bacterial tea is a bit superfluous. Multiple applications of high fungal tea is what I would recommend.

 

Here's a couple of places online that would be worth reading if you want to learn about aerated compost tea:

Gardening With Microbes: Articles
Microbe Organics
Soil Foodweb

I highly recommend doing some research and reading before diving in and trying to build a brewer. ACT is great, but it's not a silver bullet....

 

Eco 12, what a re the potentail hazards of attempting to brew act's/breweing incorrectly?

Also what kind of conditions in the Act would support e. coli or other human transmitted pathogens?

thanks,..

I also thought the thread "new compost tea brewer" on page 2 of organicx is a decent read/view

 

by using a microscope.

look at maina's journal in the organic journals. It's pretty coole. I highly recommend the new compost tea brewer and KIS's design because there's on;y a few ways to get an authentic ACT going and those are a few of the authentic and scientifically approved designs/models

 

Here is a link to a very informative web site on soil microbes and microscopes.

Microbe Organics

 

Especially when it's brewed incorrectly, it's not... have you found any pathogens anaerobic bacteria or other harmful crud in badly brewed teas? what would I have to do to brew a bad tea?

 

Bad teas usually come from inadequate aeration and water movement. Certain areas of a bubbling tea may not get enough aeration and water movement, and will grow pockets of bioslime. These can become anaerobic, with bacteria that release alcohols into the tea, killing microorganisms and damaging roots if they get that far.

Also, some unmixed material may form a pocket of material that doesn't get adequately oxygenated. Same thing happens. I brew up about 5 litres at a time and use a 4 gang valve aquarium pump and air stones. I find I have to stir the brew a few times, just to break up such pockets.

I like to aim my air bubbles down, if I can, to increase water turbulence. The next time I make a tea, I'll be using drip emitters with the holes pointing down at the base of the vessel. That should ensure adequate water turbulence.

 

dude... look up the possum ball. it's your recipe to the correct ratio's of EWC/nutrient for the ACT. Don't put peat moss or fish scraps in there, it will not be good. A fish hydrolysate on the other hand is acceptable for the Act. also don't put the rock phosphate in there. IT's a soil amendment not a tea ingredient. The commercial air 3 air pump will be more than enough for your 5-10 gallon brew. did you look at the thread "new compost tea brewer" ??? ?? ?

also Eco 12 I looked at the Keep it simple website and saw the tidbit about e-coli. so I got the info I was looking for- aighty see ya round

 

I'd say a 10X objective with a 10X eyepiece would be the minimum, depending on how good your eyes are and the quality of the objectives. That would give you a total of 100X magnification. In order to see bacteria, you would need a higher objective. I typically use 10X, 20X, and 40X when looking at compost tea.

 

I'm new on the forum, but anyone tried a Vortex Brewer yet? I purchased one and its dope! The best compost tea I've ever used, and I've been brewing for a long time. If the VB is too pricey, the same company has a bundel called Compost Tea in a Bucket that breaks down the recipe and provides everything you need to brew tea in a 5 gallon bucket. You can get more info here www.VortexBrewer.com/microbe

They have a recipe that includes biodynamic compost, a sea mineral catalyst, a kelp with 2 kinds of kelp in it and a molasses-based product also. They're a relatively new company, but you can find it at most grow shops. I think you can buy online too?

As far as testing it, labs don't tell you how good compost tea is, the only way to evaluate this is through the results. All labs or microscopes can tell you is if you have pathogens in your tea. They come from bad compost or bad conditions. Even with bad compost, I've heard of studies being done where bad microbes are non-existent after only 4 hours being brewed in the right conditions.

fdiosus

 

spam....

 

I want one!!!

 

I'll buy you one for your birthday.