compost tea

[rick9748]

Made for first time and did not activate.Recipe; compost [composted worm castings] in bag, molasses 5 table, humic acid 1/2 cup, fish & kelp liquid. Brew for three days with aeration, no froth or bubbles. Just a mixture of original ingredients. What am I missing, I followed the recipe.
Thanks
Rick

[Sydney Grower]

Did it smell earthy? Sweet? Bad?

You don’t necessarily need bubbles and froth to have a good brew.

[Barb_FL]

It could be your pump.

I only have a cheapie pump and didn't get foam until
1. I took off the airstones and weighted down the air tubes.
2. I put in LOTs of worm castings - almost filled a 5 gallon paint strainer bag.

I also never brewed it that long. Did you keep feeding it? I think microbes would die off so could have diminishing returns.

[heirloomtomaguy]

Once you brew it for 24 hours you need to use it or the microbes begin to die off. Mine never froths or foams it just brews and has a nice earthy sweet smell. It seems to be working wonders so i keep on using it.

[beeman]

I believe foam is caused by proteins in the mixture. Possible cause, worm parts in the castings.
Foam is not a sign that the tea is 'active'. You need a microscope for that.
I will sometimes extend my brew times, especially if it's a bit cold and activity will be lower, I brew in an outside shed.
Smell is a good indicator, should have little to no earthy smell.

[Rairdog]

I get froth without worm castings. The way I understand it, if you brew more than 24 hrs you can add more molasses/sugars for feeding.

[Jonnyhat]

I have been avidly researching tea, check out boogiebrew.net (i know lame name) but these are some of the best and brightest in the " Organic California Tomato" scene...

[dustee1]

Rick, Start off with just quality vermicompost & molasses. If you get foam a small amount of hydrolyzed fish (I use 1oz in a 12 Gal. brew) will eliminate it. After a few batches then try adding other stuff in, although you don't have to. Just vermicompost & molasses can provide you with some of the best microbe counts possible. Isn't that the purpose? I CRINGE every time I see what I'll call the kitchen sink approach to brewing sure the ingredients will do your garden good, espically if it has never had them before. But I would sure like to see the microbe counts under a microscope for myself.

Please see the post I did here just prior to this one.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ghlight=brewer


Ted

[Mike723]

Too much molasses in the mix if it was an average 4-5 gallon brew... What were the measurements of your ingredients? I have a wonderful app "Compost Tea Calculator" that will give you the ingredients per gal. For example: a 4 gallon brew would call for approximately 1 tbs of molasses. I personally use about 2 cups of compost (ancient forest if I'm out of homemade) to 1 tbs molasses (4 gallon brew). I'll occasionally add 15-20 ml's of liquid seaweed as it's beneficial for fungal growth. Water temp plays a large part in brew time - 50-60F brew minimum of 48 hours - 70-80F brew minimum of 24 hours. Be sure your providing enough o2 as well.. You should be above 6 mg/l.

In response to the bacteria/archaea explosion there's a reactive increase in protozoa population beginning around the 24 hour period (decreases with higher temps). The flagellate (protozoa type) population can double every 2 hours or so, usually resulting in sufficient diversity around 36 hours into the brew.. A properly brewed molasses fed tea should have a sweet earthy smell..

The efficacy of this method is proven (to me at least lol) when I throw a sample under the scope and it's TEAMING with life.. I notice a large increase in diversity if I go more towards the full 48 hours of brewing..

Good Luck and have fun!


Edit: Just an FYI - While worm tea is a decent alternative, it does not contain the microbial diversity that a compost tea will.. You're better off adding some castings to a regular compost brew to further increase diversity..
Initially took this for granted: be sure to use chlorine free water - I personally use RO.. You could always set out 5-10 gallons and aerate it for 24 hours to facilitate the chlorine's evaporation.. The only problem with that is it won't break the chloramine bond if your local water company uses it... You could also buy bottled water as a last resort..