Large batch worm tea?

[Tracydr]

I need some hints on making worm tea. I have plenty of worm poop now and 75 tomatoes, plus other stuff.
Everything is going to need water and fertilizer this weekend. Should I make a concentrated batch to dilute or a batch of 40-100 gallons in a tank? What kind of air pump would I need for a big batch?
How much poop, anything else I should add?
Also,would my worms like some dolomitic lime?

[wormgirl]

It sounds like you are going for an aerated compost tea. There's the simple answer and the complicated answer... I'll outline the simple one, and give some links for more info. I should mention it's been nearly a decade since I've made any and some of the protocols have changed since then. The soilfoodweb folks keep refining their work.

Would you have something large enough to make 100 gallons? You want something really clean, that you can wash out really well. It sounds like this is your first time, and you might want to start the experiment a wee big smaller, in case something goes south. Just sayin'.

Okay so the basic procedure is to dechlorinate your water first... This used to be accomplished by running the pump in plain water, but if your area has switched to chloramine instead of chlorine I hear you have to use a charcoal filter. If there is disinfectant in the water, you can't grow the good bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other soil life. (You are making liquid compost and you want it to stay alive!) If you are lucky you have well water and this isn't an issue.

So you're going to need some kind of air pump and distribution system. I used to use a 10 gallon trash can, with a large aquarium pump and a big airstone to create the bubbles. If you were to use a 40-100 gallon tank, you really need to engineer this and it will take some R&D.

Put your worm compost in some pantyhose as a kind of a teabag. Suspend in the dechlorinated, aerated water. The bacteria need food; I used to use Neptune's Harvest fish emulsion and their liquid humate, as well as molasses (apparently they have removed the molasses from the recipe since then, not sure why). See the link below for proportions. Let the mixture brew for 24 hours.

It should smell GOOD, not bad. If it smells bad, it IS bad, do not use it because it could harm your plants (I have horrible visions of 75 tomatoes reacting badly, thus my advice to experiment on a small scale). Some people get it analyzed before they apply it!

Now, apply full strength. It's great as a foliar - it outcompetes diseases. Drench the soil too.

Worms absolutely love/need lime or another gritty calcium source. What I used to do was save my eggshells, powder them in the blender and use that. (This is a case where the powdered eggshell really DOES work!)

If all this is way more than you bargained for, there is another recipe at the link below for "compost extract," where you just sort of manually make tea with the compost. This might be much more doable for you this weekend. GOOD LUCK!

Here's some links.

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Compost_Tea_Recipe.html
This shows the recommended proportions, but doesn't discuss the method on this particular page. Explore the site for more on equipment.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/verm
This is where I learned much of what I know about vermicomposting. This forum has a great search feature, you can bring up lots of old threads on questions you may have.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=33882
Just found this thread elsewhere at TV!

[Gerardo]

A few things to keep in mind:

1. A little goes a long way.
2. Humic acid, kelp, and fish emulsion promote fungi
3. Longer duration (>24 hrs) higher protozoa
4. Lots of recipes out there, find one that works for what you have in hand.
5. Keep it under 10 gallons for your pilot stage and just dilute it out with non-chlorinated water. 1:5 dilution should provide for initial watering.

Best of luck.

[Gardeneer]

How much and what nutrients are there in worm casting ? Just a question.

Gardeneer.

[Lindalana]

plain compost tea per Dr Ingham
http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Compost_Tea_Recipe.html
there is PDF for compost brewing manual by Dr Elaine Ingham, it is very informative http://ecologiesurleweb.free.fr/docs...post%20tea.pdf

[wormgirl]

Gardeneer, any type of compost including worm castings have different compositions depending on what was used to make the compost.

But, the compost or compost tea is not so much about N-P-K or micronutrients - instead, it is about soil life

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by wormgirl

It sounds like you are going for an aerated compost tea. There's the simple answer and the complicated answer... I'll outline the simple one, and give some links for more info. I should mention it's been nearly a decade since I've made any and some of the protocols have changed since then. The soilfoodweb folks keep refining their work.

Would you have something large enough to make 100 gallons? You want something really clean, that you can wash out really well. It sounds like this is your first time, and you might want to start the experiment a wee big smaller, in case something goes south. Just sayin'.

Okay so the basic procedure is to dechlorinate your water first... This used to be accomplished by running the pump in plain water, but if your area has switched to chloramine instead of chlorine I hear you have to use a charcoal filter. If there is disinfectant in the water, you can't grow the good bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other soil life. (You are making liquid compost and you want it to stay alive!) If you are lucky you have well water and this isn't an issue.

So you're going to need some kind of air pump and distribution system. I used to use a 10 gallon trash can, with a large aquarium pump and a big airstone to create the bubbles. If you were to use a 40-100 gallon tank, you really need to engineer this and it will take some R&D.

Put your worm compost in some pantyhose as a kind of a teabag. Suspend in the dechlorinated, aerated water. The bacteria need food; I used to use Neptune's Harvest fish emulsion and their liquid humate, as well as molasses (apparently they have removed the molasses from the recipe since then, not sure why). See the link below for proportions. Let the mixture brew for 24 hours.

It should smell GOOD, not bad. If it smells bad, it IS bad, do not use it because it could harm your plants (I have horrible visions of 75 tomatoes reacting badly, thus my advice to experiment on a small scale). Some people get it analyzed before they apply it!

Now, apply full strength. It's great as a foliar - it outcompetes diseases. Drench the soil too.

Worms absolutely love/need lime or another gritty calcium source. What I used to do was save my eggshells, powder them in the blender and use that. (This is a case where the powdered eggshell really DOES work!)

If all this is way more than you bargained for, there is another recipe at the link below for "compost extract," where you just sort of manually make tea with the compost. This might be much more doable for you this weekend. GOOD LUCK!

Here's some links.

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Compost_Tea_Recipe.html
This shows the recommended proportions, but doesn't discuss the method on this particular page. Explore the site for more on equipment.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/verm
This is where I learned much of what I know about vermicomposting. This forum has a great search feature, you can bring up lots of old threads on questions you may have.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=33882
Just found this thread elsewhere at TV!

Thanks! I do have a big container. And, well water. I'll start small though.
I'll need to figure out a pump system, unless I can jury rig my pump that I used to pump the pool with somehow.

[Tracydr]

This all good info.
Do I want Protozoa or fungi?

[Cole_Robbie]

http://www.starrfarms.net/composttea.htm

[JRinPA]

Thanks wormgirl for the explanation. I've had worms now for about a year and a half and have used the vc for soil amendment and planting but have not done tea. I have a lot to harvest when I get around to it.

I was wondering why you stopped making aerated compost tea?

[wormgirl]

JR, I have lived different places over the years and some of them I've been able to garden, and some of them not. I have gotten rid of all my garden stuff a few times over (and that always hurts.) The last time, all of the stuff went to my ex because I was moving into an apartment that didn't even have a balcony. It's possible I could get some of my stuff back from him now...

Last year I moved to a different apartment, and promptly went crazy gardening. I realize I would have a problem plugging in a pump outside overnight, but I might be able to rig something up. I would love to just get a worm bin going again; top-dressing with the castings then watering produces a great effect. The foliar spray for diseases, I don't really need because we are lucky to not have a lot.

[JRinPA]

It sounds like I should probably do the avct for disease defense but I would have to buy a lot of equipment and supplies. I don't even have a sprayer. When I first read about it I thought it was just vc, molasses, and an air pump.

[wormgirl]

JR, that is pretty much the basic setup. Making a 5 or 10 gallon brewer is not hard, except there is that darn chloramine issue. I suppose, though, one could get bottled water? For 5-10 gallons that wouldn't be too cumbersome. I am not sure how much a hose inline filter might cost, maybe it's not that bad.

Then you just need the container, air pump, along with some tubing and airstone. Maybe a stocking (or some people just throw the compost in and do the filtering after making the tea, although this can lead to the airstone clogging a bit.) You could use molasses (even though the recipe has been changed now, I used it for years!) or fish emulsion or kelp or rock dust - whatever you've got. All the tweaking after that is entirely optional.

It doesn't need to be worm compost, either. Just any kind of really good, earthy smelling compost.

Also, don't forget about the super easy "Compost Extract" (scroll down past the recipe for Compost Tea).
http://www.soilfoodweb.com/Compost_Tea_Recipe.html
This only requires filtered water, bucket and stocking.
Of course she says to test, but you don't really HAVE to. Again, let your nose be your guide.

[dustee1]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

I need some hints on making worm tea. I have plenty of worm poop now and 75 tomatoes, plus other stuff.
Everything is going to need water and fertilizer this weekend. Should I make a concentrated batch to dilute or a batch of 40-100 gallons in a tank? What kind of air pump would I need for a big batch?
How much poop, anything else I should add?
Also,would my worms like some dolomitic lime?

Sorry for my late reply my ram & hard drive both started failing at the same time on my very old computer.

If you want to become somewhat of an expert on vermicompost tea please read the entire page in the link below. Then reread again. When you think you've
grasped it read it one more time. There is so much priceless info on this page it's hard to soak it all in the first time through.

http://microbeorganics.com/

An airlift brewer is definitely the way to go.
I started with the 5 gallon mini microbulator & have since started brewing 12 gallon batches in a 14 gallon container.
I'm sure someday I'll move up to a 55 gallon drum.I currently use a Hailea ACO-9730 pump that puts out 60L/min of air.
This is a great whisper quiet pump, but it's a little over $100 from Pentair.
I place my worm castings directly into the brewer & strain the finished product through a 400 micron strainer.
I use the strained product straight on my garden & orchard.

A complimentary product to use with compost tea is Teraganix EM1.
I usually alternate the products every other week or so.
EM1 can be fermented which will result in 18 to 20 times more product depending on the ratio (I use 18) so a little goes a long way.

I always prefer a holistic / biologic approach to gardening because it's all about the microbes in the soil. They are the key to an amazing garden!

Ted