Tried to find these questions in past posts but came up with nothing...so if anyone knows where the answers might be without having to type it all over again, please direct me, thanks. I was reading some information in a past issue of a gardening magazine today and ran across an article about brewing compost tea in hot weather (or hot environment). The article pointed out that there is a maximum recommended temperature of 78-80F degrees for brewing...otherwise you get massive amounts of microbial life dying off...so I decided to google this and find a second opinion. I found another forum thread where someone else suggested that the max temp was closer to 93F (dont ask me how they got that number)...even more peculiar was a follow on statement about not using molasses in any brew when the temps are above 80F...did not really say why though but somebody later in the thread speculated that it would have something to do with too much microbe population and not enough oxygen... Can somebody help clear this up? I brew in my garage but I have not done and AACT since the summer began simply because Im never at home for very long. The temps in the garage are always well over 100F (actually 110-115F) but I have never tried to get temps of water out there so i dont know how warm water would get out there. I do keep my botanical tea out there in a container...is this too hot for the tea to store? Thanks, DDD
Good thread and hope the organic gods have some input.... Not sure what the maximum temps for brewing are but, dose make a difference in the brew time. From these brew times I would denote that warmer is better for microbial activity but, read somewhere that one should not exceed normal body temps. 86 degrees = 24/hrs 76 degrees = 48/hrs 66 degrees = 96/hrs 50 degrees or less = will not work
Thanks for the response. I was beginning to think that I should just delete the thread since there are so many views and no one had any input. I realize that there are so many threads about compost tea here that they kind of get annoying for some people becuase often times the information being sought after is alread posted in previous thread...I wouldnt have even given these questions much thought had I not found a second source stating the same information (somewhat). One of the things that I plan to do this weekend when I get home is fill up a bucket with water and let it sit in my garage so I can get a temp on the water. I never thought about max temp in relation to micro-life dying off...at least not like that. I too hope that I can get some input for those specific questions.
DDD, I lifted this excerpt from microbeorganics.com and hope the author won't mind. He's done the hard research and I think his findings can be taken to the bank.
DumDum, IDK the answer to your Q and suggest that whatever MM or Chunk suggest would be well served advice. But in the spirit of spatial thinking lemme throw this out and see if it sticks. We're spitballing here and I have little specifics except general understanding and casual reading on the subject of the micro-world and extremophiles specifically. So, how about this. There are ~42 known strains of bacillius of which only 14 have been fully documented. There are many more to go. There are ~23 strains of archaea of which only 8 have been fully documented. There are many more to go. Bacteria, fungi, arcahae, and a host of other critters for which I have no specific knowledge live, in fact thrive, in a wide spectrum of environments that range from extreme hot to extreme cold, highly acidic and highly alkaline, and are so phrikkin' small that to think of their size from a human perspective is seemingly impossible to comprehend. At least for me anyway. I suggest following the advice of those I've already mentioned. In lieu of their advice or in addition to keep your water temperature in a range that is comfortable for you to stick your hand in. Colder temps might slow things down but it certainly won't stop things (depends on the specific critter). Hotter temps might hasten things but all things being equal (sufficienct resources for life) it won't kill everyone off or create a population overload. Tell ya the truth about it as I see it through my rose colored glasses. Compost teas and all of the flavors of that genre have only been popularized and studied for the past ~10 yrs. There are certainly protocols that have been well established to be "best" on the better/best scale. General common sense, a little bit of KY windage, and a wild-assed guess can get one to 'better' and the constant pursuit of the goal sometimes results in 'best'. Perhaps the point being, don't overanalyze yourself to inertia. Throw the goop in a bucket and turn on the pump and start throwing some bubbles. Any temperature you choose short of any temperature you wouldn't want to expose yourself to will work! Personally I don't think you are going to find an absolute answer to your Q because only now on the timeline of knowledge pursuit are the scholars finding all the data points they can identify as "don't know" when discovering all there is to discover in the world of brewing biologically active teas for use in the garden. It's still a wide open filed of pursuit with a lot of followers chasing the goal of "best". I'm baked.
If you go to my page> contents > compost tea recipes; I address the temperature issue. I start a brew at 63 to 70 F normally, however where I lived before I had ambient temperatures over 100 all summer and never noticed any big problems. Usually a brew is done in 36 hours. If you think temperature is a problem toss in some icecubes or float some frozen water filled pop bottles.
Nice microbeman....I live on the desert where it's also hot(110*) but, do the brewing indoors at 75*or, so most of the time....
thanks for the responses everyone. Sorry it took me so long to come back. I was out all weekend doing the family thing...now Im all sun burnt and tired....time to get back to the grind. MM, I checked out your page a few times and have soaked in as much as I can. I learn a bit more here and then go back to your page and more things make sense to me so its a back forth thing...but Im gettting it. I only decided to make this thread because of the whole molasses thing. I know that there are alot myths out there in the grow world surrounding this stuff but since I had found the two sources, I felt it was worth asking about. Thanks!