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Adustus
Multiple Personalities




Registered: 11/14/13
Posts: 521
Loc: USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Compost and compost tea recipe needed
#19371773 - 01/05/14 08:25 AM (10 years, 26 days ago) |
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Im looking into this compost tea. Theres some world record breaker who has veggies that look like they should be from fukushima. I mean they are bigger than Ive ever seen produce get. And his secret is compost tea.
So im looking into a good compost recipe for said tea. And since I know he adds stuff to it like every other youtube compost tea maker does. Im looking for a good recipe.
Ive heard of everything from molasses to alfalfa and im trying to just get a concrete compost and compost tea recipe from an experienced grower.
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hookahhead
Planeteer



Registered: 01/10/11
Posts: 638
Loc: The Middle of Penns Woods
Last seen: 10 years, 18 days
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: Adustus]
#19372045 - 01/05/14 09:52 AM (10 years, 26 days ago) |
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Here's my experience with compost tea. I raise worms and you can check out what I do in my signature. Anyhow, compost tea is truly great stuff, and the most important ingredient in your tea is well...compost. Now this may seem like "DUH", but not all compost are created equal. The crap you buy in the store is certainly compost, but its not the end result that makes the compost... its everything else that goes into it.
Think of compost almost as an extraction process. You take all of this bulk material, and greatly reduce it to a concentrated form. In the traditional outdoor compost pile, you lose a large amount of what your after. If your only goal is to reduce waste, this method is great, but if you want to capture the nutrients this is the worst possible system. Rainfall will wash away your nutrients, and insects and animals will convert it to new biomass before leaving the pile. In my worm bin, everything is mostly contained. Second, you want to be adding "high quality waste", low nutrient bulk material = low nutrient compost. While sticks and a few lawn clippings do have nutrient values, variety is the spice of life. In most store bought compost your dealing with composted manure from animal feed lots that get fed the same shitty meal day in and day out, and landscaping wastes. Better in - better out.
Ok lets suppose you now you got some good quality compost, sure mixing it into the soil or surface application will work. However, compost tea provides additional advantages. Aside from the compost, the second best amendment in my opinion is sugar. Which is why molasses is great, it provides the carbs the bacteria and fungi need to flourish AND has more nutrients than white or brown. Actually I guess oxygen is just as important as sugar, but not really an amendment, just make sure your bubbling your tea with an aerator. Bacteria and fungi are insane when it comes to their reproductive ability. With optimal nutrient and oxygen levels, they grow to populations 100's of times greater in just 24 hours. I can't remember the exact specifics, but I remember one professor telling me that if bacteria were allowed to flourish unregulated on earth for 24 hours, they would cover the entire surface like 7 ft deep.
These bacteria and fungi are decomposers, breaking down what was once living. You often hear "they turn nutrients into a form more readily useable by plants", which while true is a oversimplification. There are indeed dissolved nutrients in your tea, as the metabolic process produces things like ammonia and other chemical forms. However, in a properly brewed compost tea, these nutrients are not simply suspended in the water..they are actually incorporated into every living thing inside of it. Trust me there is no "excess", as each individual is competing for these limited resources.
Well how the hell do the plants benefit then, since there is actually very little nutrients for them? Well the bacteria die, and release their little packages, right at the plant roots. Not only that, but the starving bacteria and fungi quickly spread through your soil searching for any undigested bits of organic matter, thus unlocking them for future use by your plant. There are also the added benefits of rhizomorphic fungi, and protection against "bad" organisms such as nematodes.
So in conclusion, you can add any extra amendment you want to your tea. Kelp & Comfry are good because they are good at accumulating micronutrients. Think of it as less of fertilizer for your plants, and more of a nutrient broth for bacteria and fungi. This is where worm castings also are handy. Because they are typically "fresh" and moist.. they already have a healthy population of organisms. In the ideal composting scenario.. you are essentially creating "miracle grow", which is just a super concentrated form of essential nutrients. The problem with synthetic fertilizers is that we often have to add some form of salt to get it to that nice easy to handle crystalline structure. It's not the fertilizer that is harmful, its the buildup of salts. Since, my worms don't get french fries, compost has healthy natural levels of sodium, calcium, etc.
-------------------- "My worm farm" "96 Gallon Worm Tote" "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" "Respect Your Roots" "A KNEW IDEA"
"Nothing New" "Willkommen im EthnoGarten" "Don't Be a Backeberg" "Mites and Mealy Bugs" "The Heart and the Sun"
If someone doesn't want your LIGHT, shine it some where else. Everyday there are people who LOVE, ACCEPT, and LOOK FORWARD to making CONTACT with you. YOU are capable of GREAT THINGS even if you feel neglected or mistreated in OUR current SPACE. Change your ways, change our WORLD, there is SAFTEY in NUMBERS. Welcome to the PRESENT. ~ 144,000 Anonymous Voices “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. [NOW]” - Jane Howard
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theMallacht
Clandestine Hero


Registered: 04/25/09
Posts: 3,428
Last seen: 1 year, 30 days
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: hookahhead]
#19372833 - 01/05/14 12:57 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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This is a very simple worm tea write-up I did a while back. This recipe is very basic and bat guano can be added for flowering plants. I also usually add a product called Great White now that is a Mycorrhizal and Beneficial bacterial inoculation.
Enjoy. 
Quote:
theMallacht said: I have noticed that there has been quite a bit of interest in Worm Tea or Compost tea recently in the EG, so I decided while I was cleaning my Aerobic worm tea bucket system and everything is actually viewable that I would write up a little Tek for you guys to enjoy.
SWIM (Someone Who Isn't Mallacht) might or might not have drank a couple of cups of some pretty potent pod tea, so I'll try to keep this relatively lucid.
Materials Needed:
- Enough Worm Castings to fill around 2 socks (for teabags) (Bag of Worm Castings: $10)
- 2 socks
- Molasses, I have read Black Strap Molasses is specifically better ($2)
- Airstones (preferably 4 or more) (around $10 - $20)
- Air Pumps for the Airstones (Depending on how all out one goes, $15 - $30)
- Standard 5 Gal Bucket (Home Depot one pictured, $2.50)
Here's a picture of what mine looks like without water:

As you can see, there is 4 Airstones in the bottom. I have recently made improvements and tied the smaller ones to the large one. The reason I have done this is because the smaller ones tend to end up floating when they work much better fixed to the bottom.
Here is a picture with it connected to the Air Pumps:

A pic of the Grandma's Black Strap Molasses

With water added and bubbling...

2-3 Tablespoons of Grandma's Black Strap Molasses added to the bucket

With worm castings, molasses, and in full operation

I wired a pump with a switch, like this
  so that I could more easily fill one gallon jugs to keep up with all of my plants, but it also works out to further aerate the tea as well.
Of course this is somewhat overkill, but I've found that it helps to create the large amount of frothy foam that you're looking for before it's ready for use.
It should be bubbling for anywhere from 48-72 hrs (Some say more), but the foam is the real guide IME. The more foam the better. I have read that the foam is insinuative that there is a large amount of beneficial bacteria present.
So FOAM = Ready for use.
I have heard other people say add things like an extra sock full of fresh soil from the garden to help jump start the beneficials, since garden soil tends to already have a lot of it, unless it's horrible soil of course.
There's a lot of other stuff that you could add I suppose, but I like to keep things simple and my plants are thriving like crazy so I don't feel the need to add anything more.
Anyway, that's about it... Enjoy!
EDIT:
Essentially what you are doing is creating a culture of beneficial Aerobic bacteria. When water sits for a long time without moving, it eventually becomes bacteria ridden and disgusting because of the fact that the harmful bacteria, or Anaerobic (anti-air) bacteria thrive in an environment lacking oxygen. So, when you use the bubblers to oxygenate the water, you are creating an environment that is perfect for the beneficial, Aerobic bacteria thus creating a thriving culture of them. Beneficial bacteria help break down components in soil that would otherwise be useless to plants and render them more immediately available.
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turtle_hermit
Psychedelic Ranger



Registered: 06/03/10
Posts: 1,626
Last seen: 1 day, 21 hours
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: theMallacht]
#19373241 - 01/05/14 02:24 PM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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There is a good write up here
Nice info, HH. Need to get more worms from you. Keep it up, man
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Adustus
Multiple Personalities




Registered: 11/14/13
Posts: 521
Loc: USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: turtle_hermit]
#19375370 - 01/06/14 12:08 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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gnarly shit guys this is exactly what im after!
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hookahhead
Planeteer



Registered: 01/10/11
Posts: 638
Loc: The Middle of Penns Woods
Last seen: 10 years, 18 days
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: Adustus]
#19375551 - 01/06/14 01:41 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Another thing to consider when choosing amendments to your tea, is vitamin B1. Ever heard of the product SUPERthrive? It does appear to be beneficial to overall plant health, though it can cause some weird stuff to happen when over used. The recommended dilution is 1 drop of highly concentrated liquid to 1 gallon of water. Because it is so strong, it is fairly inexpensive. However, it is not FREE or ORGANIC. The company protects it's contents as a "trade secret".
Want the scary truth about whats in this product? It contains detectable amounts of heavy metals, and the synthetic plant hormone Naphthaleneacetic acid. "The hormone NAA does not occur naturally. In the United States, under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), products containing NAA require registration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as pesticides." Additionally it contains vitamin B1, and is believed to benefit root development., Liquid K-L-N rooting concentrate adopts the same idea, but contains higher traces of heavy metals.
http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/detail.lasso?-op=eq&product_id=3260 http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/detail.lasso?-op=eq&product_id=615
Want a better source of B1? Leafy greens! Comfrey, kale, spinach, the same rabbit food that is good for you is also good for your plants. Unfortunately, B1 is very water soluble and quickly leaches out of an outdoor compost. Therefore unless your using high quality compost, supplementing your tea is probably a good idea.
-------------------- "My worm farm" "96 Gallon Worm Tote" "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" "Respect Your Roots" "A KNEW IDEA"
"Nothing New" "Willkommen im EthnoGarten" "Don't Be a Backeberg" "Mites and Mealy Bugs" "The Heart and the Sun"
If someone doesn't want your LIGHT, shine it some where else. Everyday there are people who LOVE, ACCEPT, and LOOK FORWARD to making CONTACT with you. YOU are capable of GREAT THINGS even if you feel neglected or mistreated in OUR current SPACE. Change your ways, change our WORLD, there is SAFTEY in NUMBERS. Welcome to the PRESENT. ~ 144,000 Anonymous Voices “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. [NOW]” - Jane Howard
Edited by hookahhead (01/06/14 01:42 AM)
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Adustus
Multiple Personalities




Registered: 11/14/13
Posts: 521
Loc: USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: hookahhead]
#19375712 - 01/06/14 03:16 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Quote:
hookahhead said: Another thing to consider when choosing amendments to your tea, is vitamin B1. Ever heard of the product SUPERthrive? It does appear to be beneficial to overall plant health, though it can cause some weird stuff to happen when over used. The recommended dilution is 1 drop of highly concentrated liquid to 1 gallon of water. Because it is so strong, it is fairly inexpensive. However, it is not FREE or ORGANIC. The company protects it's contents as a "trade secret".
Want the scary truth about whats in this product? It contains detectable amounts of heavy metals, and the synthetic plant hormone Naphthaleneacetic acid. "The hormone NAA does not occur naturally. In the United States, under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), products containing NAA require registration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as pesticides." Additionally it contains vitamin B1, and is believed to benefit root development., Liquid K-L-N rooting concentrate adopts the same idea, but contains higher traces of heavy metals.
http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/detail.lasso?-op=eq&product_id=3260 http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/detail.lasso?-op=eq&product_id=615
Want a better source of B1? Leafy greens! Comfrey, kale, spinach, the same rabbit food that is good for you is also good for your plants. Unfortunately, B1 is very water soluble and quickly leaches out of an outdoor compost. Therefore unless your using high quality compost, supplementing your tea is probably a good idea.
But if i do indoor compost and have plenty of greens i should be alright?
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hookahhead
Planeteer



Registered: 01/10/11
Posts: 638
Loc: The Middle of Penns Woods
Last seen: 10 years, 18 days
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: Adustus]
#19375728 - 01/06/14 03:33 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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I believe so. My compost tea recipe is fresh worm castings, molasses, air, and occasionally kelp. Keep it simple, your less likely to overthink or screw something up, and more likely to enjoy the beauty of nature
-------------------- "My worm farm" "96 Gallon Worm Tote" "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" "Respect Your Roots" "A KNEW IDEA"
"Nothing New" "Willkommen im EthnoGarten" "Don't Be a Backeberg" "Mites and Mealy Bugs" "The Heart and the Sun"
If someone doesn't want your LIGHT, shine it some where else. Everyday there are people who LOVE, ACCEPT, and LOOK FORWARD to making CONTACT with you. YOU are capable of GREAT THINGS even if you feel neglected or mistreated in OUR current SPACE. Change your ways, change our WORLD, there is SAFTEY in NUMBERS. Welcome to the PRESENT. ~ 144,000 Anonymous Voices “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. [NOW]” - Jane Howard
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Adustus
Multiple Personalities




Registered: 11/14/13
Posts: 521
Loc: USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Re: Compost and compost tea recipe needed [Re: hookahhead]
#19375734 - 01/06/14 03:39 AM (10 years, 25 days ago) |
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Quote:
hookahhead said: I believe so. My compost tea recipe is fresh worm castings, molasses, air, and occasionally kelp. Keep it simple, your less likely to overthink or screw something up, and more likely to enjoy the beauty of nature
I do love me some simplicity.
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