Snookie

What is your results from using/making compost teas for nanna's

Worth it or not?

Thanks in advance
Snookie

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Mayor of Lizard Creek

sunfish

yea

oakshadows

Mr. Mayor,
Is breakfast good for the kids? Is a good menu good for health? Compost tea if, made properly, will be become the most important item you add to your plants. We use it on a continuous basis and it does do the job. We use composted cow manure in water with molasses with aeration. The air helps the bacteria (the good stuff) thrive, the molasses adds sugar Which most chewing insects can't digest. Our tea increases the good bacteria into the soil which helps the plants gather the minerals we put in to increase growth. We do organic and it isn't as easy as throwing some synthetic stuff around but sure makes us feel good that we know what we are eating.
Also there are some growth hormones that will help but you will have to Google that and add that knowledge for your use.
Good growing.

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"What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds."

jasonlotp

No, it isn't worth it by a longshot.
Anecdotally people think it is but there is little scientific evidence that it does all of the great things people think it does.
I could point you to dozens of places but here is one article:
Still confused about compost tea, I turn to Rodale | Garden Rant

Save your time and money (and possibly your health due to E. coli risks). Apply compost instead.

Snookie

Hummmmmm..........

Anyone else:}

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Mayor of Lizard Creek

Velutina

Compost tea makes no sense to me. It reminds me of the "holistic" section of Whole Foods where you can buy expensive homeopathic remedies for anything! I've watched a lot of youtube videos showing people make their compost tea and it usually involves them adding small amounts of expensive ingredients and bubbling it to get aerobic bacteria to do their magic.

It seems the point of this is to have "beneficial bacteria" grow which somehow help your plants. I would imagine the bacteria growing in the tea die when added to the garden, meaning their only benefit is the chemical processes they do in the tea and the biomass they add to the garden. Seems more logical to provide an optimal environment in your soil for beneficial bacteria to grow and let them do their magic there.

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Adam

nannerfunboi

i have used compost tea for yrs.. i tried the aerobic system..read all
the stuff everyone else has..im sure.
for me..its more than i want to do..
as for the live bacteria in aerated tea..?? maybe..
what i do..i use 55 gal plastic trash cans.. put in couple
shovels of rabbit manure,and gal of alfalfa pellets.. fill with
water..let set for a week.. then use 1/2 1/2 tea with water..
i pour this over everything..sometimes me..when i slosh the bucket
yuck..LOL
im sold on my compost tea.. and plants seem to appreciate it..
the aerobic system.. i dont know...

trebor

Tea ! That aint Lipton baby.....
I have used it for years ! Sea weed and plant parts! Manures! Air pump is the best way to go .. It just needs some bubbles .. then poor it around the plants . You can see the plants like it .. Lots of people do not like to use it because it can smell wile being fermented. It can smell wile using it .. Fish emulation is nothing more the fish tea. And yes I have made fish tea also .. You need to dilute it! I use 25% tea 75% water . I spread it on the out side of the drip line of any plant I feed it to . Ive used it on Banana, Papaya, Citrus, Avocado, Was going to use it on my lychee tree but the dag gum snails ate my tree!
Now I am lychee-tree-less
try it on a plant you single out and see what you think! I just had a Williams that just seemed not to grow in a 5 gallon bucket. Same soil as the others had but it just stayed small/wimpy a few months ago I gave it sea weed tea.. Richard has informed me in one of his posts that sea weed is a growth hormone . Or it acts as one .. I believe it .. That Williams has now started to grow like a normal banana..

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

*dim*

I use actively aerated compost tea (AACT) all the time .... I have great results .... so do many others

the guys who grow giant pumkins (the ones that weigh over 1500 lbs) use AACT .... check the pumpkin forum and you will see that they do not manage to grow them that large with conventional fertilizers

it's not just a matter of adding poo to a bucket of water .... there are many other ingredients added such as seaweed, humic acid, rock dust, fish hydrolosate etc etc , and the main ingredient is worm compost (vermicompost) ...

you need a decent air pump (at least 45 litres per minute), and you need an aquarium heater set at 20 degrees C

the guys who grow medical cannabis in the lofts of their roofs use (and test different recipies of AACT ....

as for Linda Chalker-Scott ... she makes a real fool of herself on this subject (as well as many others ....) ... I have read some of her twitter comments .... she is in big pharma's pockets and only endorses what they manufacture ....

John Evans holds the world record for several giant vegetables .... watch this youtube video:



if you want to learn how things grow, learn about high brix gardening .... here are 2 good threads on the 420 forum (read all the pages ... you will learn):

Doc Bud: All Organic High Brix

Vapedogg223’s Got a Brand New Bag! All Organic - High Brix -Nirvana Ice- 49 Plant SOG

and once you have the food grade bucket, aquarium airpump and heater, it costs under £8 to make 25 litres (5 gallons) of really good actively aerated compost tea




.

trebor

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

*dim*

here's one recipe that I use often ... I do not dilute it and use it neat .... I do not use a bag for the ingredients ... I add them directly to the water ... I use 2 airstones ... a large cylindrical one, and a large 8 inch flat round one which sits on the bottom of the bucket:

5 gallon (25 litre) plastic (food grade bucket) ... £15 (I use a beer making bucket)

45 litres/minute aquarium piston airpump ... £35

aquarium heater ... £8

2 airstones and plastic pump tubing ... £8

total for the above is approx £66 ... no need to buy the expensive kits for $500 ... it soes the exact same .... the pump is the main thing ... make sure that for a 5 gallon bucket, the pump delivers at least 45 litres of air/minute

---------------------------------------------------

25 litres of vermicompost (worm humus) ... £10

1 litre of advanced nutrients iguana juice grow ... £20

10kg verve volcanic rockdust (£5.98 from B&Q)

3kg bucket of bat guano ... £13

1 litre of biobizz fishmix ... £10

1 litre of biobizz Alg-A-Mic (algae and seaweed extract) ... £9.99

1 large bottle of organic pure black strap molasses (unsulphured) ... £4

forest or garden topsoil or homemade compost .... for free

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

add 20 litres of rainwater or tapwater to the bucket .... let the airstones bubble and set the heater to 20 degrees C ... let it bubble for 12 hours (to remove the chlorine if using tapwater), and to bring the temp to 20 degrees C ... if your tap water has chloramide, you will have to use the stuff that they use for aquariums to get rid of that ... rainwater, R/O, or pond water is the best

to make the tea, add:

3 heaped tablespoons of molasses

6 cups of vermicompost

6 cups of forest/garden topsoil (or homemade compost)

1 tablespoon of bat guano

5 heaped tablespoons of volcanic rock dust

let it bubble for 24 hours .... then, add 80ml of iguana juice grow, 80ml of biobizz fishmix and 80ml of biobizz Alg-A-Mic

switch off the airpump/heater and place the 'brew' in a watering can and use that as a soil drench and foliar feed on your plants/veg (dont put it in a sprayer as you may kill the fungi/bacteria)

use it as soon as possible, as when you switch of the air, the beneficial fungi/bacteria start dying .... I have read that you must use it within 2 hrs

smell the brew before adding the fish/algae/iguana juice.... if it smells rotten, dispose of it (it should smell like good compost/topsoil)

thats the best stuff that you can use .... you can experement and add additional additives such as alfalfa, humic acid etc etc (iguana juice has humic and fulvic acid)

the sludge that is left in the bucket is used as a mulch/topdressing around your prized plants

use this every 2 weeks during the growing season ...

sunfish

Yea

momoese

I've tried both ACT and thrice daily hand stirred compost tea and neither made any difference in plant growth, plant health, productivity or taste. Now I just compost the soil and let nature run it's course.

This was a great link with lots of info in the comment section btw.
Still confused about compost tea, I turn to Rodale | Garden Rant

*dim*

the link to gardenrant was crap ... read the comments and you will find that the commentators have not tested AACT brewed properly

I wonder why Harvard University have now started using actively aerated compost tea on their properties???

http://www.uos.harvard.edu/fmo/lands...is_greener.pdf


but if you are a sceptic, and you have never tried or tested it (properly) stick to petrolium based fertilizers

momoese

I garden organically without using any synthetic or petro ferts. Nice of you to assume that though.

I read a lot about ACT before ever trying it. It just didn't provide the results I hoped for. Your mileage may vary.

I do just fine working the soil so I see no need for the hassle of ACT. Again, that's just my opinion from real life experience, and I was asked for my opinion so there you have it. If it works for you then that's great.

*dim*

great ... I'm happy that you have found a way that works for you

Rmplmnz

Like Mitchel we are strictly organic.

The "Forrest Floor" is key.

Once a year..but it takes several months to complete.

5 tons of leaves
5 tons of tree mulch
7-8 tons of horse manure
Plus newspapers, cardboard and misc. other items....
'Praying Hands' and jumbo leaves



Not attesting one way or the other on the Tea (no real experience to have a basis)...if it did work we would need a swimming pool full....

Snookie

How Ya'll Are?

Glad to get so much feed back. Thank you all so much.

Well I made my first batch of tea 55 gal so we'll see how she goes:}

Oh here a picture of my first attemp at removing a pup and repotted it.

Benn 24 hrs so far so good...any suggestions on how long to leave in pot before putting in the ground would be appreciated.

Peace B with You all...

Snookie

[IMG]Adult Image Hosting[/IMG]

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

trebor

How Ya'll Are?

Glad to get so much feed back. Thank you all so much.

Well I made my first batch of tea 55 gal so we'll see how she goes:}

Oh here a picture of my first attemp at removing a pup and repotted it.

Benn 24 hrs so far so good...any suggestions on how long to leave in pot before putting in the ground would be appreciated.

Peace B with You all...

Snookie

I hope every one agrees with me on this one
If you know where you want to put the pup.... Ya dont need a pot!
Just plant it in the location you want it ! It will grow ….

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

nannerfunboi

rmplmnz.. wow..thats super man!!
i go thru alot of leaves too.. last yr the boys mowed
down over 300 bags.. they are almost all gone now..
i use shredded leaves in my soil mix for my amorphs..