But would properly composted manures constitute a microbe laden ingredient in AACT? I definetly use my horse manure as a compost ingredient in my pile/heap, which then gets used in my AACT's. Jerry.
I don't know enough to comment on that. But I'm sure someone does and I hope someone can answer that because I would like to know as well. I just remember another memeber on another thread saying that a manure tea is not the same as a compost tea. That's why I said that.
If your composting was a hot process you should be fine using it. Some even nastier chem type compounds are supposed to broken down into harmless elements with hot composting. I know folks that use cheap municpal compost, and you have to believe some real nasty shit goes in that, but their plants seem fine......MIW
Properly composted manure should be full of microbial life. I've been doing A LOT of reading on compost trying to find a good small time commercial brand. BeZ...V
Thermophilic composted or vermicomposted horse manure is excellent. I prefer horse manure to cow manure....just a gut thing.
Good news since my wife has a horse...*lol* My compost pile is layered with it. There seems to be alot of fungal activity in my pile - moreso now that it has already gone through the thermophylic stage and has been cooling down fow months now. I apologize for getting off topic but the pile has gone thru several "hot" cycles...(by adding alfalfa), but is still not completely broken down - or at least as much as I think it should be. My question is, should I heat it back up come spring with more alfalfa, or should it just get turned/aerated more, and let time do its thing? This pile is several year old leaf mold, manure, household vegetable scraps and some assorted ammendments. I'd like to use it this spring, but I dont think that its still broken down as much as it should be... I'm going to use it as worm food, and soil base, but also want to make teas with it, so maybe I'm not completely off topic... jerry.
FA - why would the Dr Earths brand be any better and thus more expensive than the 50 pound sacks I buy at the feed store? I'm just wondering why you have 2 types? jerry.
The main difference between fish hydrolysate and fish emulsion is the way it is processed. Fish Hydrosylate uses a cold process extraction which leaves the delicate and heat sensitive enzymes, proteins, and amino acids in check. When using a Hot Processing measure such as with the fish emulsion it damages most if not all all the goodies like I stated previously. We need these enzymes, amino acids, and proteins to help feed the microherd in our teas and in our soil. Whenever you recycle soil, need a fungi boost or to water your new soil mixes fish hydro is the best hands to get the soil critter party started!
Jerry I myself have quite a few Dr earth products including my base soil mix. POTting soil. The only difference in his amendments compared to other imo is that he uses what he calls "7 champion strains" Which are Supposed to be his mix of champion Myco strains. Common sense tells me though that all myco is the same. I mean for F@#$'s sake it is all over the damn place and we prolly have millions of myco spores under our feet as we speak. Just my 2 fellas
If your pile is not broken down use more alfalfa. The final breaking down after the thermo process will be slower, the hot process works faster, but both are needed to finish it.......MIW
DG - They put mykos in thier ammendments? (alfalfa)? MIW - I might need to. Then again theres still 3-4 months of the heap sitting all winter. I've hear bad things about using compost if its not ready, tho...right here in the boards. Not sure who said it. I vaguely remember somebody making tea w/ unfinished compost and having bad results? Its been awhile. jerry.
I am a newbie when it comes to the soil food web growing premise. I started this thread because there is still a lot I have to learn. I was wondering is there a difference in the ingredients one would use in a brewed tea during flowering then during veg? Or do flowering plants require more fungal dominance? I hope someone can explain this to me.
I used unfisnished ewc and compost for teas all summer without negative effects, other than a chunky tea that needs straining. I think the air in the bubbling tea helps protect us, just like turning a pile would. I have used almost finished compost and ewc as a top dress, with only one negative, fungus gnats. If it smelled bad then all bets are off. Now if the compost was putrid, well then, that's another story. But if you look close enough at compost there is always some little undigested parts here n there. But for mixing with soil you want it to be composted enough so as to not heat up your mix. Kind of a judgement call i'd say.....MIW
Per gallon of water i use: 0.5-1 cup compost and/or earth worm castings (if using just one use 1 cup per gallon, if using both, 0.5 cup of each) 1 Teaspoon Bat and/or seabird guano (high N for veg, high P for flowering) 1 Teaspoon Kelp Meal 1 Teaspoon Alfalfa Meal (if using pellets use twice as much as the pellets take up more area then the meal would) 1 Teaspoons Fish fertilizer (not fish emulsion the other kind) 1 Tablespoon Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses (use half as much molasses if half way through flowering or more) (sorry i cant remember the measurement at the moment) Fox Farms Big Bloom (or any organic bloom booster, make sure its designed to feed microbes and has very little if any organic acids, you will be using very little bottled bloom booster so do not worry) Bubble with an airstone for 24-48 hours
48 hours? why do you add the guano to the tea as opposed to top dressing? thanks... here's what i use... I store it in cool temps, leave cap on loosely.
Crypt dude, when you add too much to microbe style teas your defeating the purpose. If your purpose is to mutilply the microbe numbers for great soil, your better off using a proven recipe. Adding things willy nilly like the infamous bloom boosters, and or guano, or too even too much good stuff like fish or alfalfa, is a recipe for something other than a microbe tea. And when your microbes are all fat and happy, you will need little in the way of nutrients. The game is to make what's there available, not pour more nutrients on all the time, despite what you may have heard at the grow store.......MIW
you can bubble with and airstone for 24 to 48 hours, when i get home ill check my notes for the exact measurement of the fox farm big bloom, right now im using the General Organics Bio Bud (instead of the fox farm big bloom cuz i live in canada so none of the vendors/distributors can get fox farm for a decent price or get it at all) and using it at about 1/2 the amount the bottle recommends for light feeding plants, microbes in my tea seem to love it.
This is the same tea recipe that the Rev uses, there is not too much in this tea lol, ive never burned even light feeding finicky sativa's with this, you just adjust it down if the plant is super sensitive, this is a microbial tea not a nutrient tea.
MIW I'm not sure... Say I only like to let my bubbly tea go for 12 hours. would it still be 2 teaspoons of alfalfa? I'd think a cup per 2-3 gallons would do better? edit - Maybe the raw alfalfa is less useful that way but after a bit of process i bet 1-2 cups of alfalfa per several gallons is choice for tea inoculation. not that I know what i'm talking about Crypt lord. Are you testing with a microscope or just saying 'the microbes are happy?' seriously.