Compost tea??

Unless you absolutely need to make a small amount of worm compost go a long way, and you gear up with a correctly designed compost tea brewer, it would most likely be worth simply top -dressing the worm compost. The marigin of error (anaerobic bacteria) for brewing is large with a typical 5 gallon bucket and airstone setup. IMO of course.

to answer your qustion, a cup of sieved worm compost per several gallons with proper aeration, should do the trick. then sometime i add small amounts of fish hydrolysate, soft rock phosphate, sphagnum peat moss, kelp and alfalfa meal, and molasses, at the start of the brew. I run 2-3 gallon brews with a 38 LPM air pump, and rince the PVC bubbler out thoroughly between every brew.

 

Microbeorganics.com

 

On this site you are probably best to read the sections on building a brewer and the recipes, then go back to the theory of why/how it works.

 

[quote name='"Microbeman"']

On this site you are probably best to read the sections on building a brewer and the recipes, then go back to the theory of why/how it works.[/quote]

^^^
agreed! By far the best straight forward information on anything to do with compost teas! Information on necessary items like brewers and microscopes as well as items to purchase if needed.

 

Hi Sean.

One of the biggest mistakes I find people new to aerated compost tea make is the lack of adequate dissolved oxygen in thier brew. Too many will go to Walmart and buy a $15 or $20 fish tank air pump expecting it to work, when the reality is that it will not work - at least properly.

I don't remember if it applies to you or not, if it does - Happy Father's Day.

J

 

Jerry

That small anecdote sounds almost identical to my early attempts at compost tea brewing. I started brewing guano teas in a milk jug with a $15 pump that i got from petco lol. when i purchased the pump i initially thought i was so smart for getting a small sized pump that i assumed would pump more than enough air and create the best quality tea for a very thrifty price lol. How ignorant i was (and i still have a lot to learn).

After acquiring a decent microscope, and taking a look at what i had. I thought i was doing something wrong with my microscope. Turns out there wasnt anything wrong with my microscope rather than my brew as a whole (no real surprise there). Everything i was doing was wrong! The recipe, not even close!. The brewing method, How did i even imagine to get anything out of that?

What i am amazed about now is that its so much easier to find completely inaccurate information than it is to find good quality information. Im sure you just like many others including I, have found information that was so... Wrong! And when we learn something first impressions last longest. So getting ourselves out of that brainwashed mentality is kind of difficult really.

Since then I've learned a lot about compost tea brewers, recipes and other stuff. After seeing your brewer, stankies, MIW, and others I decided that I wanted to make a real compost tea brewer and do it right. Even after I made my brewer, I was still very curious to see other blades brewers and even more the pro's and con's of these various designs. So I thought why not make one thread where we can all share our ideas. And so i did How do you brew?

I was even lucky enough to have the microcosmic god himself (MM) show up and share a little about various different things to consider while brewing or building a brewer. If you would like to Jerry, you are more than welcome to come over and share your brewer, other designs thoughts, pro's / con's of your brewer and or others there.

Also thank you very much for the fathers day wishes. I am not a biological parent, although i do care for one very close to me. I'd also like to wish you the best of fathers day as well my friend.

Sean.

 

Sean -

I've seen the thread and will stop in soon. MM and several other pro's helped me build my own, which, now that the decent weather is here, has been getting quite a workout!

I still dont have a microscope *lol* one of these days I'll break down And get one.

J

 

The first compost tea that i scoped with my original brewing methods and recipe yielded four total protozoa on a microscope slide. Looking at Microbeorganics.com and looking at a few videos i came to the conclusion that microbeorganics.com had to be completely fraudulent lmao. I completely believed that a compost tea that looked like that under the microscope could not be attained lol. Oh man what a joke! lol.

Anyway, after using my current brewer. With a revised recipe that came from microbe organics and a proper brew time. Voilà! A proper compost tea! Ive been a mosquito in the ear of any gardener in my area ever since lol. I've been more of a pest than spider mites lol.

My point is. Without a microscope, you really are in the blind about it. The draw back is that once I got it right, I didnt really use it so much afterward lol. See if you can barrow one from a school, or library or something. It'll save you some money . Also, I'll try to drop by your GJ later n say hello

 

are you running a hydroponic system?

 

Why do you feel like you need to add expensive bottle nutrients to soil?

Don't let all the microscopes and brewers and recipes scare you. Organic skin be very simple - all you need is a good compost(or)earthworm castings, some sphagnum peat and some basic dru organic fertilizer to get started with. It's just that easy.

I used the Canna products. While they do work fairly well, they are very expensive and very unnecessary with even a basic, solid, organic soil.

I say do a little bit of light reading on soil construction. Can the Canna.

 

^^^ fo sho!