Compost tea question.

From what i can see you seem to have the ingredients to make a nutrient solution that some people call a compost tea. First and foremost, to correctly aerate a 100 gallon barrel to correctly reproduce microbes your going to need one hell of an air pump...like industrial size. As for the contents of your nutrient solution/compost tea, generally if your trying to go for a ''microbe tea'' less is better. Im going to add a link to microbeman's website, it's full of useful information on compost tea's and microbes.
That being said, the product could very well brew a great compost tea...only way to know for sure is if you look at it under a microscope...if you can send me a video i could identify the microorganisms for you. Hope this helps.
Ohh just noticed...you'll definetly need some sort of compost, EWC would be best.

 

Just read the directions on the bag...it's funny they say 8 hours max brew time....i have NEVER havd a good microbial brew after 8 hours...i go 24 minimum before having any real microbe population...i would like to get my hands on one of these bags and try them out...i'm skeptical

 

If i follow microbe man's instructions...for a 100 gallon barrel you'd need more or less 20 GPM...you could brew in a smaller container though. And you cannot just brew it longer...seriously....go read the link i sent compost tea's are not simple and can very well brew microbes that are detrimental to your soil

 

Oh shit i forgot...sorry that's embarrassing...stoners....
Microbe Organics

 

It's hard to tell TBH, in the lab we mesure dissolved oxygen to be sure...it seems to be enough but i would suggest looking into some brewers for a barrel that size, there's a couple you can build from pvc piping that are a lot more efficient. Just for full disclosure i've never brewed anything larger than 20 gallons in the lab, so i would still check my brew under a microscope before using it (BTW i ALWAYS scope my brew if i aerate it). TBH ''correct'' usage of compost teas requires a microscope and at least some knowledge of microbiology, if not your basically just guessing. But i've seen many people never scope their brew and have good results....i think it's mostly because most compost teas are really nutrient solutions.

 

i think you misread it. it says 8 hours MINIMUM brew time for MAXIMUM tea. I misread it the first timehtrough also and my brain told me something was really strange with what I just read and I went back to re-read it. Very odd way to phrase something, kinda confusing I can see. But I read it as they are suggesting 8 hours as the minimum time to brew, not the maximum.

 

4 large air stones for a 100 gal water tank?? I bet that will barely bubble any water at all. I doubt any air pump will work efficiently enough for 100 gal tank. I wouldn't even consider air pumps and stomnes for something that large, plus with the weight of ingredients in a compost tea, like the actual compact, ewe's or whate3ver else you will use you are just going to clog up the stones and all the sediment will sit on the bottom where the stones aren't. air pumps and stones will work "ok" in a 5-gal bucket - in a 100 gal tank you are wasting time, money, compost/ewc, and whatever tea stuff from Malubu you are buying.
BTW, when I used to grow in DWC, I used to 2 large air stones and 2 medium air stones for each 5-gal bucket.
for something as large as a 100 gal tank to aerate I'd suggest a good submergible water pump and some pic pipe. and create a vortex motion in the tank for the best aeration and O2 retention.

BTW, most people don't realize that the bubbles in the water are not what's putting O2 in the water, it's the bubbles breaking the surface of the water when they reach the top that cause the O2 to be dissolved the the water. All you need to do is break the surface of the water by moving it and splashing it. I vortex in a tank exposes a lot of surface area to the air. Sending water up a pipe from the pump in the water and causing it to break and cascade on the surface is much better than stones making bubbles

 

If you've never used a microscope to identify microorganisms i would suggest finding a youtube course on the basic usage of a microscope, buy a good quality microscope 40X-1000X(you can pick em up used for more or less 300$) then you'll need to start studying microbiology. It's not the kind of thing you can learn over night, i had to go to college for 4 years before i could ever identify any microorganism with any amount of precision. I've almost got a masters in biology and still often end up asking the microbiology Ph.D's to identify my critters. I know people who have learnt it all on their own though, you just need to be very motivated.
As for the foam, the foam can be misleading, could very well be saponins or other substances. You cannot rely on foam to tell you if your brew is good or not.

 

Well, you could just brew it and gamble, try a small quantity on one plant and go from there. In most cases, when i use the same inputs and brew for the same amount of time i get similar microbe populations (If i'd have to guess i'd say 7 times out of 10).